Undoubtedly, video-gaming is one of the fastest developing sector of our world. It’s hard to believe how advanced they have become. Thousands of programmers, graphic designers and servers working to power up the coolest and smoothest game experience. Besides consuming energy [1], can videogames contribute to the environment?

Some city-building games touch environmental issues from the side. If you decide to dive into Cities Skyline, Anno 2070 or Sim City you’ll soon have to learn how to deal with appropriate land use and extraction of (non) renewable resources to make your city prosper. That’s a good start to start thinking about sustainable city management!

Government simulation games also deal with green stuff. In Democracy 3, oil protests, air quality and other environmental factors affect the happiness of your voters, and thus your success as leading party. Fate of the World brings government simulation to a greener level. Balancing the protection of the Earth’s resources and climate versus fulfilling the needs of a growing world population, is the goal of the game. So go on and greenify the the fate of the world!

The plot of many adventure games unfolds in dystopian environments. Devastated or deadly landscapes caused by human-triggered ecological breakdown. A new beginning is a point-and-click adventure game, where the two main characters have to travel back in time to stop the ecological disaster, save the human race and many other lifeforms. Botanicula, instead, is the adventure of five little tree creatures who set out a journey to save the last seed from their home tree which is infested by evil parasites.

Journey games bring the attention to the travel experience of the character. The environment where the journey takes place becomes the most important element of the game. For example, the vast, void and mysterious desert environments in Journey; or the astonishing, deep blue and diverse oceanic ecosystems in Abzu. The first is an unbelievable emotional traveling experience through infinite sand dunes; the second an amazing journey to explore underwater wonders.

Pixels can be so beautifully inspiring also for environmentalists!

Take a deep breath and pick your favorite eco-videogame for your quarantine period.
Of course, we advice Journey and Abzu as first choice. Take a look at the trailers!