In 2023 a grass-roots community group was created in Stone, Staffordshire, in collaboration with Dr David White from Staffordshire University. The aim of the group was to create a board or card game with the purpose of being fun to play, but also educational, encompassing the themes of our environment, wild ecosystems and environmental change.
The game, although intended for all, would have a key audience in schools, and so would be aimed at children aged 10-15 years old. It has been recognised that climate change is under-taught in schools, and this research project would provide suitable classroom content, and would also address growing 'eco-anxiety' recorded in young people (see the University of Bristol Policy Document)
The group collected public perceptions of climate-change and board- and card-games. The data found a positive response to these games - they are simple, low-cost, and bring family and friends together. It was also found that competitive games were more attractive than a 'collective' (i.e. working together for a common cause), which posed an interesting dilema, given the main theme - essentially, there's nothing more fun than ruthlessly beating your opponents!
A card game format was chosen as it was simple to reproduce, reduced the complexity of rules and had a minimal setup time. Players, or optionally teams, would have the aim of building a complete ecosystem - a pyramid structure of lower-order to higher-order species. Players can hinder their opponents by stealing their cards, or inflicting environmental disasters. These actions in turn can be defended with cards promoting sustainable, positive, long-term environmental strategies.
Last updated 21st February 2024, 18:17