Code for Climate 3rd Place

Pranav and Friends | United States

Eco Spark is a game designed to teach players about budgeting and taking care of the environment. The player enters the game after being elected mayor of a new city. The previous government, however, left the city in a not-so-great spot, with lots of factories, drills, and other things polluting the environment. As the new mayor, the player helps rebuild the city, turning it into a thriving metropolis fueled by renewable energy. The new mayor has to budget their funds properly, ensuring they can meet energy demands without polluting the environment. As the game progresses, new technologies are unlocked, which produce more energy and reduce surrounding pollution. The game is about maintaining the perfect balance between the happiness of the people, their energy usage and demands, and the health of the environment.

Looking around at the world’s problems, a clear struggle we as a nation are struggling through is the use of non-renewable resources, such as fossil fuels and crude oils. Specifically, the problem we are trying to solve is the population not knowing how to be environmentally sustainable and creating plans that will help them with that goal. For example, many citizens do not understand that installing solar panels is far better for the planet and how over time they are cheaper to use for energy. Thus, our inspiration stems from our deep-rooted interest in helping create a society that is knowledgeable about how to be environmentally conscious, striving to maintain the health of the people.

Creating a city-builder game was the perfect solution because games can both educate and entertain people in a way that simple apps are not able to. In the game, players can develop and work in their city where they are tasked to create an environmentally sustainable community that has the support of the people while also being able to generate electricity efficiently. By creating the game, we hope to empower players to see first-hand how being Eco-friendly can benefit a city. Furthermore, we hope to instill a sense of agency, by encouraging individuals to make a meaningful contribution to their community and maybe even their nation.