Playing within the trouble: ecoaesthetic games and environmental thought

Climate change. Everywhere around you, you hear about it and its attendant complications. Melting ice caps. Threats to human health. Massive species extinction. For the first time in human history, we recognize ourselves as a species capable of altering Earth’s systems. This is very serious business, certainly not a time for play. But, perhaps, play is exactly what we need. There is a plethora of scientific information capable of describing the situation we find ourselves in, and yet, a gap remains between scientific knowledge and actionable change among a general public. The question, what accounts for this gap and how to address it, has been the topic of much scholarly debate.

In my dissertation, I explore the idea that artist-made ecoaesthetic games may offer one way of addressing this gap. I look at three games that I made for this study: Tether, recollect, and Fringe-assay, to see how they can get people to think about growing human and nonhuman vulnerabilities in the age of climate change. The games were played by a diverse group of people and I share some of the insights gained from both the design process and the playing of the games. Games, I argue, are powerful sites for making meaning, generating emotion, and creating the space we need to think slowly, to find ourselves capable of responding to the crises we find ourselves in.