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Climate Jam 2024 - Ideation

Hosted by IndieCade · #climatejam
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A jam submission

Team 1-P Project IdeationView project page

Ideation phase submission for Team 1-P of the 2024 Climate Jam
Submitted by Samuel Tang, Jack Gruber, Daniel23114, spiritbeard, James Benson — 1 hour, 18 minutes before the deadline
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Team 1-P Project Ideation's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Overall#14.5004.500
Well Planned Production - Is there a clear production plan?#15.0005.000
Aesthetic / Art / Sound - How cohesive is the aesthetic? Is there a clear theme?#54.6674.667
Reasonable Scope - How reasonable is the scope for the timeline of the jam?#84.3334.333
Promising Idea - How interesting is the concept? Would you want to play it?#184.3334.333
Use of Themes - how effectively or uniquely does it engage in the jam's themes?#254.1674.167

Ranked from 6 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

How does your concept engage in the jam's themes?
Our concept engages with "Change the Story" by highlighting untold stories of climate justice through the lens of a nature spirit protecting a forest. Players are presented with a balanced view of environmental struggles while using weather powers, media influence and more to preserve a fragile forest ecosystem. We wish to avoid excessive pessimism or unrealistic optimism, emphasizing the complexities and interconnectedness of real-world climate issues.

Use of Theme / Inspiration
Our themes revolve around the intricate balance between nature and human impact. We are inspired by the rich narratives and emotional depth found in games like Endling - Extinction is Forever and Wildermyth, incorporating elements of environmental activism and the struggle for sustainability into our gameplay mechanics. The narrative hook of being a nature spirit harnessing weather powers to protect a fragile forest ecosystem allows us to explore themes of resilience and the interconnectedness of all living things.

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Comments

IronConMan2 years ago

This idea is freakin' epic! The pixel hex style works perfectly for what  you're going for and good for scope as well. I recognized a lot of your style references right away which is great because it means your style is clear and cohesive. I love the mechanic of the player being able to combine actions to create new combinations, definitely lean into that more! The gameplay loop is good and can keep the player guessing. Make sure that the environmental challenges you bring forth force the player to think and adapt using and learning about their different actions and combinations of said actions to overcome each escalating challenge. I absolutely can't wait to see how this turns out!

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flavedogameSubmitted2 years ago

true our game share some similarity and has some difference! Sounds like a very cool and fun idea with the turn base and combine stuff together and change the environment. Somehow this game gives me a feeling of into the breach .. without the battle part lol. Looking forward to it!

Submitted
Climating Design
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hlee1242 years ago(+1)

I was very drawn in by the amazing storytelling from the ideation document. I love the core gameplay idea and the actual default/combo actions and what they do. I think they make sense in this gameplay and also play a role in limiting what the player can actually do. 
One thing that caught my attention is that although this game sounds like a fun one to play ( lots of cool characters and their unique roles), I am a little worried about whether this game would do its best to educate players about the root cause/solution to the climate change issues. I think this is just coming from the grey area of either to make a game more fun or to make it more educational, and it is hard to combine both. I think the turn recap phase really helps with the educational aspect of it, and using that to your fullest (even adding some explanations of the root cause of the climate change issues) would be great.
Overall really cool ideas! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

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spiritbeardDeveloper2 years ago (1 edit) (+1)

Thanks so much for your comments!

That's a great point about connecting the game more closely with the big picture of climate change. We liked how the PDF in the jam resources talked about how not every game needs to be focused on both in-depth education and emotion in order to be effective, so I think we are landing more on the emotion side. That said, I agree that the game shouldn't be devoid of approaches for addressing climate change. Within the relatively small regional scale of the game, I think we're trying to land on the importance of regulatory changes at the policy level for protecting key carbon sinks like rainforests. It's definitely just a subset of the societal changes needed in the coming years, but hopefully it presents something that feels both impactful and actionable for players.

We'll keep this concern in mind as we work, and hopefully it will remind us to present the narrative in a way that's connected to the big Whys and Hows. Thank you again for the response!

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Evan EversSubmitted2 years ago

Hello! This looks like a very solid concept to me; I'm impressed with how much you all have figured out already. I will say that I wish things were a bit less black and white with the divide between opportunists and environmentalists. There are sustainable ways to log and hunt, even if they are often ignored by corporations. However, I understand that you may have to make some simplifications to real-life situations in order to create an interesting game loop.

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spiritbeardDeveloper2 years ago(+1)

Great perspective, Evan! I think we could clarify this with the kinds of policies that show up--they wouldn't need to be all-out bans of practices, but sustainability policies like annual limits, designated spaces for certain activities, regulations of equipment used, etc.

We've also discussed how a lot of environmentally destructive activities are actually results of economic inequality, as providing employment opportunities for remote communities can often help push companies toward more sustainable models of both employment and impact. So we're definitely not looking to villainize individuals and groups acting out of necessity or using environmental resources responsibly--I think we are largely equating opportunism with the kind of corporate decision making for profit without regard for effects on regional ecosystems and economies. Hopefully we can get that kind of nuance across in the narrative!

Really appreciate the input! :)

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