Brave new worlds, or more green games

greenlagirl — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:29:37 -0500

Eco-games're all the rage, evidently -- meaning more and more fun new ways to waste time at work while telling yourself it's for a good green cause:

Consumer Consequences: A cross of sorts between virtual worlds and a carbon calculator, this game basically generates a picture of what the world might look like if everyone on Earth lived like you. I'd require 2.1 earths -- my biggest eco-faux pas was caffeine and wine consumption habits. Odd factor: At the outset, I created an avatar I really liked -- but she never actually made an appearance during the game -- an omission that also puzzled rags at the Berkeley dmec blog.

The Carbon Cutting Scavenger Hunt: See how quickly you can scope out 25 places to make household changes to be kinder to the environment. I really kinda sucked at this, but if all else fails, you can just click around madly and hope to hit on something --

For the kids, there's Whyville: An eco-virtual world that lets kids play games, make friends as well as, um, deal with huge climate disasters. Adults can play too, as carpentergrrl of The Goode Life does. Does the idea of experiencing virtual climate-related crises and consequences appeal to you? Then get an avatar.

For kids with shorter attention spans: Global Warning's a simple eco-educational game that basically gets kids to pick 1 or 2 actions out of 4 each round. Unfortunately, Global Warning's got some real quirks for a basic game; for example, eating garlic or going to the theater scores you lots you praise, for unknown eco-reasons....

Want more games? Don't forget about The Adventures of Kabman -- a simple yet effective game covered in my last green game roundup. Since then, I've found out via kairyl's blog that Kabman's even got a mug.

All images are screenshots from the games. BlogHer Contributing Editor Siel also blogs at greenLAgirl.com.

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Brave new worlds, or more green games