Endgame: Syria creator tackles global warming in Climate Defense

By Anthony John Agnello Published January 23, 2013

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Auroch Digital released the next game in its Game the News project on Wednesday. While its last game, Endgame: Syria, sought to illuminate the ongoing rebellion against Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, this follow up highlights a global issue rather than a regional one. Climate Defense re-appropriates the rules of tower defense games like Iron Brigade to explain the calamitous results of world governments’ dismissal of global warming.

“Normally with a video game, the developers will have made huge concessions to ensure the game is fun so with a shooting game you may be able to be shot and recover many times over which is not realistic, but does make the game fun,” explains Auroch’s Thomas Rawlings, “In Climate Defense, that distinction is apparent so you can have fun playing the game or you can choose a more realistic experience and see how our continues [CO2] emissions will impact our world.”

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Rather than use trebuchets and gun turrets in Climate Defense, you arrange trees around a field to collect excess CO2.

Climate Defense was made in five days, following the end of the Kyoto Protocol, the last major effort to form a global alliance between nations to slow global warming.

Digital Trends spoke with Rawlings on Jan. 11 to discuss Endgame: Syria and Auroch’s mission to make games quickly to accommodate crucial topics in the news.

Climate Defense can be downloaded from Google Play here.

Anthony John Agnello

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…

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