Climate Mystery
Young people are being encouraged to learn more about climate change through a new online computer game (File Photo)New computer game seeks to teach young people and adults about the effects of climate change
Four young people arriving in town to report on preparations for a major climate summit in December have disappeared.
Although it isn’t an actual news story, for young computer users from around the world, the made up story of the four friends will keep them glued to their monitors for the next sixteen weeks as they try to solve ‘The Climate Mystery’ while at the same time learning about climate change and the environment.
‘The Climate Mystery’ is a new computer game available for free on the internet as teaching aid for teens in the weeks leading up to the December climate summit in Copenhagen. ‘We wanted to use an engrossing story to capture and maintain interest in on climate issues,’ Christian Fonnesbech, creative director of Congin, the game’s designer, said during its launch yesterday.Each week players will be presented with a new problem they need to deal with in order to solve the mystery. The problems, such as floods and forest fires, should also help them to find the four main characters.
‘The Climate Mystery’ draws on ‘altered reality’ – reporting the game’s developments as if they were actual news – to draw players in and hold their attention, according to Fonnesbech.
An estimated 200,000 13- to 18-year olds are expected to follow along with ‘The Climate Mystery’, but Fonnesbech hoped that the game would also have an influence on adults as well.
‘Parents listen when their kids tell them it is better to energy saving light bulbs or to walk instead of drive,’ he said.
‘The Climate Mystery’ is Congin’s second attempt at changing reality. In 2006, it released ‘Galathea Mystery’ which served as a companion to the Danish scientific voyage of the same name.
