Loving the Environment through Gaming

The EcoGaming Revolution

Written by Christina Amato

EcoGaming will forever be in vogue. There has been a surge within gaming in recent years, with developers coming out with stories that focus on nature and the environment. Some of these are cosy, cuddle-up-on-the-couch games, while others can feature forms of harsh survival. They immerse players in the natural world, making the discovery of a new species or the ascent of a mountain that much more enjoyable. It allows you to understand more of the world without leaving your seat.

Would you know what a Gazami Crab was if it wasn’t for catching it in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? If you did, that’s fantastic. However, many have inadvertently learned a great deal about the world around us through just playing their cute, cosy game. The peak of this game was during the COVID pandemic, when so many people were stuck inside, unable to go out and explore nature on their own. I know I was deeply invested in completing parts of my museum without cheating and going to a treasure island (okay, maybe once).

The Animal Crossing series in general has been renowned for being a great natural educational platform that has spawned so many exciting real-life activities! Across the world, aquariums partnered with Nintendo to bring the public immersive animal experiences.

For example, earlier this year, the Seattle Aquarium brought our favourite characters to life, right next to all of the different animals that live at the aquarium.

This also spawned more across the world, including the Sea Life Aquarium in France. Where you can interact with Isabelle, Nook and many other aspects of the game. Bringing it into real life allows for so many other ecologically educational experiences that would wouldn’t get in the game. It’s super cool how Nintendo was able to imagine them to life. 

Nintendo being one of the most well known studios out there, is creating a great basis for ecological games. There are a lot of devs out there, especially indie devs, that have created some amazing games that are both informative as they are beautiful and fun. 

Shelter, which came out in 2013, is a game created by Might and Delight that lets you play as a momma badger, who is trying to take her young to a new burrow, while dodging all the dangers that come along with it. When I tell you that when I first played this game, I didn’t realize how much heartbreak could come from (SPOILER ALERT) losing one of your babies to wildfire or predators. You get very attached to those little guys, and it’s hard to keep them all alive on your first play through. There’s no blood, no gore, it’s still cozy, but it really gets in your head. It’s a beautiful game that really makes you think about the circle of life and the raw power of nature itself. This spawned a whole series, with Shelter 4 rumored to be coming out soon. 

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It’s so important that games like this exist, as it is a worldwide issue that we aren’t taking nature seriously. In the same way that some of these games are bringing awareness to what is already out there, the dystopian games that combine nature and technology bring us an insight on maybe what’s to come. Games like Stray, which came out in 2022, where you play as a cat in the future, where only robots inhabit underground dwellings, you see the fight between nature and technology, looking into the way that humans have impacted the environment. 

Firewatch image taken from Steam Store 

Firewatch, by Campo Santo released in 2016, is an emotional rollercoaster story of a man who lives in the Firewatch tower. Although this game is mostly a mystery, it’s gorgeous and inspired an uptick of people who wanted to work in Firewatch towers, inadvertently getting more people involved in ecological jobs. There are even multiple threads on Reddit of people asking about how to even inquire about those jobs, what the experience is, and how they can get one. 

The list goes so deep, and there are going to be even more coming out within the next few years (Keep a lookout on your console/PC of choice stores for environmental tags). They increase environmental literacy, and honestly, are fantastic in educating through an approachable, fun way. Environmental games have had such an impact on my life, and everyone should experience them. Keep on gaming, and saving the world.