Serious game development: turning climate science into a strategy game

Gamification works when complex topics become decisions players actually feel. Together with CAU, we developed a role-based strategy game that illustrates the effects of climate change on the oceans and the ecological and social challenges that follow. The focus is on how changes in the ocean, such as rising temperatures, oxygen depletion, and the displacement of marine habitats, can affect coastal cities and their populations.

Game design and mechanics

Players take on the role of mayor of Sunset City, a fictional coastal metropolis that is increasingly affected by a massive proliferation of jellyfish. Together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, they analyze the causes, develop long-term strategies, and take immediate action to curb the spread. Economic decisions, ecological responsibility, and the needs of residents have to be balanced against each other. That tension is the core mechanic, and it gives players a realistic sense of how complex sustainable solutions become in practice.

The game Go Jelly runs in the browser and uses a modern low-poly design to deliver a smooth, high-performance experience across devices, from older smartphones to powerful desktop systems. Beyond the technical design and programming, we handled the full narrative development, producing a game storybook that structures the characters, game world, and plot and ties them together into one coherent story.

React and TypeScript under the hood

The interface, graphics, and animations were built with React and backed by a clean, efficient development setup. ESLint, TypeScript, and Prettier kept the code consistent, maintainable, and easy to extend. The result is a visually appealing, technically stable game engineered for both aesthetics and performance.