The normally buttoned-down Atlantic Council is diving into the online gaming universe with hopes of raising climate disaster awareness among one of the world’s fastest-growing demographic groups: gamers.
A new interactive game called “Heat Wave Survival” was rolled out last week by the council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. The organization is trying to tap into the 60 million people who use the popular online gaming platform Minecraft with a new version that pits gamers against an animated fire-breathing “heat dragon.”
Players “embark on a quest to protect their virtual village from the notorious heat dragon,” the center said in a statement. “They are challenged to explore countries around the world in search of cooling solutions that can not only protect them in the digital world but also in real life.”
The game is available now via the online learning platform Minecraft Education, owned by Microsoft Corp., and will be available to all Minecraft players in a few weeks, officials said. It is the latest in a suite of game-based entry points into the subject of climate change. Beyond being fun, creators say such games promote climate literacy by immersing players in simulated climate disasters where they must adapt or die.
