(h/t Raining Sky) Video-game developers are competing this week in a contest that will reward games that combat neither mortal enemies nor monsters but climate change.
Four finalists have made it to the last round of the Games for Change Climate Challenge, the winner of which will take home $10,000 on Friday.
The contest taps the creativity of video-game makers to address the serious issue of climate change, said the head of the competition, Susanna Pollack.
The games could “make this issue accessible to the general public in a way that’s relatable and understandable,” she said.
Among the finalists is a game called Eco, which puts players on an idyllic planet teeming with wildlife, waterfalls and lush vegetation.
Players must build a civilization and develop technology to knock an incoming meteor off course while weighing how each move affects looming climate change.
Game developer John Krajenski, who works out of a Seattle studio, said he has tested the game on middle-school children and watched as they celebrated getting pollution under control.
Read rest: U.S. contest challenges video-game makers to battle climate change
