UN Green Game Jam Research Project
Research on the efficacy of green game activations
The United Nations Environmental Programme funds the Playing for the Planet Green Game Jam, an annual event. During the event, game studios of all sizes participate in educational webinars and workshops centered around a specific climate theme and game design best practices. At the end of the event, studios develop and integrate a climate message into an already released game, with the goal of inspiring behavioral change in players.
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This project is in press. Check back for a published version by May of 2025.
Design Case
Role: Designer / Researcher
Who is it for
This research was commissioned by the United Nations Environmental Programme.
Goal / Problem
Despite its size and reach, the Green Game Jam had not yet been able to produce hard evidence of the efficacy of their work. Simultaneously, years of games for climate education research had produced promising results in controlled situations, but there was a critical lack of at-scale research on the impact of climate messages in games in a natural/organic setting outside of the lab or experiment.
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The 2024 Green Game Jam research project aimed to solve both issues at once.
Research Solution Design
Given the scale of this research project, a team of researchers decided on a longitudinal study design using simultaneous mixed methods. We partnered with three major game studios. For all three of these studios, we worked to understand their impact goal, design theory, and details of their in-game designs or social media campaigns. We designed pre and post-surveys to measure likelihood of behavioral shifts specific to the context of the game and their chosen impact goal. We also engaged in dozens of interviews and worked with two key informants to receive daily journals over the three month period. Finally, the project included an analysis of the social media ecosystem surrounding the event.
Hurdles / Challenges
The primary challenge of this project was partnering with individual game studios. Game studios are notorious for their demanding work schedule, especially around launch events. This was compounded by the fact that the Green Game Jam event is specifically a mission-oriented event that does not directly translate into profit for the company.
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We partnered with studios by focusing on top-down buy in at the highest levels possible. By building these relationships first, we were able to forge commitment to a project that led to institutional support of directing studio resources (primarily staff time) towards the research.
Results and testing
Though only a pilot project, this research found significant evidence for the impact of games on climate behavior. The studios worked with integrated climate messaging into games that hand millions of weekly players but no previous climate messaging built into the game. This made for an ideal environment for understanding both the reception and impact of this messaging.
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From a quantitative perspective, we found evidence that key predictors of behavioral change improved over the course of the event (three months). Players who participated in both pre and post-surveys showed increased indicators of improved knowledge on the topic and a more positive attitude towards relevant climate issues.
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Qualitative data provided key insights into community reactions to the shift from entertainment-focused messaging to impact-focused messaging. We also found strong indicators of the ability of these games to influence significant behavioral predictors through an increase in perceived self-efficacy, connection to a mission, and perceived communal collaboration.