Press Start: Video Games and the Climate Crisis

Climate One

News, Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science, Earth Sciences

4.7 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2026

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

About half the global population spends some amount of their leisure time playing games, whether it’s a board game after dinner with friends or online role-playing experience through an alternate world. While many video and board games have long incorporated elements we can imagine in a climate-altered future — such as resource scarcity, conflict, and survival — some in the industry are working to shift players’ mindsets towards protecting nature and reducing their own climate impacts in the process. Daybreak is a cooperative board game about stopping climate change. Cities: Skylines lets players do urban planning with climate-friendly policies such as offering free public transportation or implementing congestion pricing. And the UN’s Environment Programme is backing the Playing for Planet Alliance, which awards games that spark engagement while delivering an environmental message. How can games encourage people to explore climate realities and possible futures in a way that allows greater engagement, rather than anxiety and despair? Guests: Jacob Geller, Author; Video Essayist Laura Carter, CEO and Founder, TreesPlease Games Sam Barratt, Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy, UN Environment Programme For show notes and related links, visit https://www.climateone.org/podcasts Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 00:30 – Kousha and Ariana play a video game 05:00 – Jacob Geller on video games and climate themes 11:00 – World-building games that employ climate solutions and strategies 21:30 – Laura Carter on her early love of games and environmental issues 26:00 – LongLeaf Valley and storytelling in games 33:30 – Why build tree-planting into the gameplay 40:00 – Sam Barratt on why video games medium is so critical for engagement 46:30 – Playing for the Planet Alliance and Green Games Jam 52:00 – Why it’s important for games industry to decarbonize 58:00 – Climate One More Thing ********** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today at patreon.com/ClimateOne. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Indeed Presents.
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0:31.7	I'm Ariana Brocious.
0:33.3	I'm Kushan Navadar.
0:34.6	And this is Climate One.
0:38.9	This week, we're all about games.
0:43.2	So to prepare for this week's episode, Kusha and I decided to play a video game together online.
0:48.8	He helped me get set up, including choosing an avatar.
0:52.4	I really like the lizard. I'm going to go back to being the lizard.
0:56.0	Yeah, I normally don't play as the mouse,
0:58.0	but I found it very charming last time.
1:00.0	Okay, I'm going to invite you.
1:02.0	Okay.
1:03.0	We watched the opening story for the game, called Overcooked 2,
1:07.0	to get a sense of what we were supposed to do.
1:09.0	It's very spooky. Yeah. It's very spooky.
1:11.3	Yeah.
1:13.1	It's a graveyard.
1:15.4	Oh, it's like Frankenstein.
1:17.4	The unbred.
	...

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