The basic idea of the game and the cooperation to develop it.
The deckbuilding card game "Build As Nature" focuses on experimenting with resource cycles using a card-based modular system. Sustainability principles are meant to be experienced through the game mechanics. The intended use is in school or university settings with young people, allowing them to explore nature-based solutions through hands-on experimentation.
Players can choose whether to design scenarios using traditional engineering solutions from the fossil fuel era or nature-based solutions. The former offer short-term gains but reduce the system's resilience, making it more vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts, floods, or food shortages. Nature-based solutions are initially more expensive but lead to more stable and resilient systems in the long run. The goal here is to understand the complex mechanics of nature-based solutions to environmental problems and to constructively integrate their application into the simulations.
The game utilizes the deck-building card game genre in a three-dimensional representation. It depicts water cycles within a city. At the start of the game, the szenario represents a stable water cycle without human intervention. This system changes with each card played, creating different types of water (salt, fresh, grey, drinking, or storm water) as well as other resources such as food, building materials, and minerals. A game session spans ten in-game years. After each year, the system takes stock and calculates the impact of the placed cards on the meta-resources.
The core mechanics are tested using water cycles. Building cards direct or store water (e.g., through canals, floodplains, or dams) and convert different types of water (e.g., through wastewater treatment plants, factories, or agroforestry systems). Policy cards and natural disasters further modify resource dynamics. Players have access to economic potential, population health, resilience, and manpower as resources.
Instructors can create their own scenarios. These can be made available to all users as public scenarios, or they can be used in separate rooms only for specific classes. Instructors can then use the analysis function to check students' learning objectives.
We explain how the game works in detail in the video tutorials and the manual.
The development of the serious game "Build As Nature" is a European collaboration aimed at providing digital tools for instructors at participating universities and for educators across Europe. These tools playfully introduce students to the principles and mechanisms of nature-based solutions to societal problems.
To this end, the five partners are developing a digital teaching and learning game based on scientific and pedagogical principles. This game illustrates the complex interrelationships between human actions and their impact on ecosystems.
The partners in the development of the serious game are: FACHHOCHSCHULE DORTMUND, HASKOLINN I REYKJAVIK EHF, PANEPISTIMIO THESSALIAS, TALLINN UNIVERSITY and VIRTUAL CAMPUS LDA.
