Reviews, Previews and Interviews

This is where you will find links to our press and blog interviews, reviews and previews for our games:

What the reviewers are saying about Fate of the World:

  • "Its brilliance is in its simplicity" - RockPaperShotgun.com
  • "Already being hailed by gaming experts as a potential breakthrough for social change titles" - The Guardian
  • "In playing it, I’m struck by how potentially powerful Fate of the World is" - PC Gamer
  • "A compelling video game" - Treehugger.com
  • "While ‘Fate of the World’ arms you with environmental data and renewable energy policies rather than grenades and rocket launchers, the result is still compelling" - New York Times
  • "This game is a unique experience. There is a lot of promise behind it" - GamrReview.vgchartz.com

Fate of the World

Reviews

Blog Mentions and Forum Threads

Fate of the World Beta

Previews

Game site news and interviews

Forums and Blog Mentions

Mainstream press

Science press coverage

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Climate Challenge Press Coverage
Here is some of the press on Climate Challenge. Climate Challenge was released in 2007, so some of the links may be a bit out of date now!

Play This Thing
Global Warming Tradeoffs
The ideal global warming game, it seems to me, would be a detailed simulation of the global climate as well as the global economy -- and preferably one that would allow you to tinker with the assumptions, both at the macro and micro level. At the macro level, I'm imagining scenarios ranging from "We're all doomed!" to "Bah, the Copenhagen Consensus has it right," and at the micro allowing you to twiddle individual knobs (e.g., "nuclear power plants are safe as houses" to "they go blooey with alarming frequency").

Climate Challenge is not the ideal global warming game -- but it's surprisingly engaging.
[Read More...]

El Pais
Dos juegos reproducen las catástrofes del cambio climático
'Stop Disasters' y 'Climate Challenge' enseñan, con estadísticas reales, a reducir el impacto de las catástrofes generadas por el calentamiento global

"Eres el presidente de las Naciones Europeas. Tu objetivo es luchar contra el cambio climático y convencer a los demás gobiernos que hagan lo mismo. El futuro está en tus manos". Con estas palabras se inicia Climate Challenge, un juego de Red Redemption desarrollado para el portal Ciencia y Naturaleza de la BBC.

Convertido en presidente de las Naciones Europeas, el jugador tiene 100 años, divididos en 10 niveles de 10 años, para reducir las emisiones de dióxido de carbono, principales responsables del calentamiento del planeta. Al mismo tiempo debe preservar los recursos naturales y mantener el nivel de desarrollo económico, para no perder el apoyo de los votantes, ser reelegido y llevar a cabo su tarea: reducir las emisiones a los niveles requeridos para detener el calentamiento." [ Read More ] (article in Spanish).

LA Times Article
Gaming gets its consciousness on
A growing movement of "activist" videogame designers is showing that not only can you make good games about problems like global warming, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the childhood obesity epidemic but that gaming itself can be a powerful medium for spreading awareness and getting people involved. These game makers are not offering the escapist trances so many of today's mega-budget games provide. On the contrary, they want to wake you up.
[Read More...] or [Read the scanned article]

Big Issue in the North
Games Without Frontiers
"In breaking news, the president of the EU has just been crudely ejected from office after leaving the entire continent facing economic ruin. Following decades of suffering the government's increasingly intrusive legislation and tax hikes, the populace had simply had enough. The sad thing is, this all happened right on the eve of Europe reducing its carbon emissions to practically nothing. Environmental equilibrium has finally been achieved, but at what cost?" [Read More...]

Sunday Times
The Climate Challenge game made by Red Redemption for the BBC.co.uk Science and Nature site and ClimatePrediction.net have been featured in an article in today's (21-JAN) Sunday Times [Read More...] or [Read the scanned article]

Gamasutra
Q&A: How Climate Challenge Could Change Minds
Environmental simulator Climate Challenge is the latest title from Oxford based serious games developer Red Redemption. The Flash game was funded by the BBC, and is playable on the broadcaster’s website. [Read More...]

Climate Challenge: Can Pro-G save the world?
Pro-G wrote:
Pro-G is never one to back away from a challenge, unless it involves trying to reach level 70 on World of Warcraft in under 28 hours, so when the BBC announced it was giving us the chance to stop the cataclysmic effects of climate change with a new web game, we bravely stepped up to the plate. The world needs saving and there is only one video games site that's up to the task. That's us - in case you were wondering.
[Read More...]

Renewable Energy Magazine
Renewable Energy Magazine wrote:
From January 16, people around the world will be able to test climate change and its effects thanks to a new initiative launched by the BBC (British Broadcast Corporation). We all will then be given a (virtual) chance to stop this global and worrying concern.

The game, which will test the players' ability to drive a clean Europe from 2000 to 2100 by making smart choices affecting humanity. Among the numerous factors to be controlled for such a demanding task, the BBC has included food, water and energy production and delivery. Players will be the Politicians responsible for delivering the expected results...
[Read More...]

Celsias Blog
Celsias wrote:
Here’s your brief. You’re president of the European nations, and you have to find solutions to our climate change blues. But, you have to do it whilst retaining enough popularity to remain in power. Got it? Okay - go and get the job done.

It was my first attempt at politics. I must admit that leaping in at a multi-national level was a little stressful, but I didn’t do too badly. There were no assassination attempts, and I met my climate change targets. I think my not having enough money left to pay for the 2040 Olympics annoyed a fair chunk of my constituency, but we got past that. I mean, who needs the distraction when you’re trying to save the planet, right? [Read More...]

WorldChanging.com
WorldChanging.com wrote:
Worldchanging ally Serge de Gheldere sends along this fiendish time-suck: Climate Challenge. We like serious games and we think climate change is the most pressing issue of our day, but sending us this little flash-based simulation of the choices a European leader faces attempting to steer a better course -- well, that's just unfair.

This thing is catnip for climate geeks. Go waste an hour. [Read More...]

Christian Today
Christian Today wrote:
Interactive Climate Change Game to Launch
An interactive climate change game, entitled Climate Challenge, will be launched by BBC, 16 January 2007.
Climate Challenge builds on the BBC's Climate Chaos collaboration with Climate Prediction, the world's largest computing experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century.
[Read More...]

Play Girlz
Play Girlz wrote:
The BBC will be launching a new game called Climate Challenge on January 16th
[Read More...]

Pipex Entertainment
Pipex Entertainment wrote:
Review: Climate Challenge
The interactive climate change game 'Climate Challenge' on the BBC.co.uk interactive network is funded by the BBC and produced by Red Redemption.

It builds on the BBC's Climate Chaos collaboration with www.climateprediction.net - the world's largest computing experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century. [Read More...]

QJ.net
QJ.net wrote:
Al Gore must be ecstatic over BBC's forthcoming interactive climate change game, Climate Challenge. Produced by Red Redemption Ltd, a leading developer specializing in scientific, educational and environmental games, Climate Challenge builds on the BBC's Climate Chaos collaboration with the world's largest computing experiment to try and produce a forecast of the climate in the 21st century.
[Read More...]

And here are a few more:

August 26, 2010