I'm always already down for a good card game, but a good card game that might just teach me how to save the world? Now that's something special.
Beecarbonize is a card and resource management game that's all about building a modern industrialized society but balancing the scales to figure out a clean, safe future before the environment is destroyed by global warming. That means I was up against the clock in each game as I attempted to discover which combinations of industry, science, society, and ecosystems would lead to a brighter future—or even just any future at all.
As you might expect, cracking the code to solving global warming isn't easy. I have yet to successfully finish Beecarbonize, but over several attempts now I've learned how to better balance the inevitability of emissions with the scientific and environmental research that can help tip things back in favor of the planet surviving. It's a challenging but compelling loop, and I expect to stick with it.
One might be tempted to point out that we haven't actually solved global warming in real life, so how could this silly little card game present actual solutions? Fair enough point. If anything, though, I think Beecarbonize just does a great job of really making it clear how complex this issue is, and how figuring it out—whether in real life or in a game—is going to require many different fields with different concerns coming together and working in unison. Here's hoping it's not too late!
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