Abstract

We don’t talk about climate change with our friends and family and that’s a problem. The systemic harm of climate change will continue to impact us if we continue to avoid addressing what we can do to help. Strange Weather We’re Having is a semi-cooperative board game designed to cultivate conversation, inspire joy, and spread awareness about what you can do to help against climate change. This game accomplishes this through the use of collectively-supportive game mechanics, vibrant visuals, and dialogue designed to spark hope and delight. Players become residents who are susceptible to different stressors caused by climate change. Everyone works together to layer solutions and resolve harmful impacts to their community before time runs out. The game encourages players to think critically about their choices, as they must often choose between saving themselves, their neighbor, or the whole community from harm. Strange Weather We’re Having provides a fast-paced, modular environment for players to explore these choices with people that they trust and its modular gameplay keeps game sessions fresh whether it is your fifth or fifteenth play-through. The order of events, your character’s vulnerability, the level of difficulty, and the types of solutions available to you may change with every game. In short, Strange Weather We’re Having holds great value for its simple yet dynamic mechanics, boldly charismatic interface, and its ability to connect people to otherwise abstract and distant issues stemming from climate change.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Board games--Design; Climatic changes--Interactive multimedia--Design; Board games--Social aspects

Publication Date

8-10-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Visual Communication Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CAD)

Advisor

Adam Smith

Advisor/Committee Member

Mike Strobert

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

VISCOM-MFA

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