Hi guys welcome back!

As we’re nearing the end of my blog posts, I figured we should try something a little more fun and different for today’s post. I’ve done a little scouring around on the Internet searching for sustainability-themed games and though there aren’t many, one caught my eye (also because it’s free).

So today we’ll be looking at Plasticity, where I’ll get to live my dream of being a professional game reviewer.

To start us off here’s a little context for the game. Fast-forward into the future and the year is 2140. Nope, we’re not living on Mars but rather, our world is a giant wasteland covered in trash and plastic and you’re playing as a girl named Noa who attempts to leave her home in search of a better life elsewhere (being Avalon Island). However, as you journey toward a cleaner paradise, you are made to witness just how dire a state the world is in and its consequences on our wildlife. To your dismay, as you finally reach Avalon Island, you realize that it’s just the same as everywhere else and that there’s no use in running away in search of a paradise because the solution is to start making a difference yourself. On a whole, the game’s rather short where I managed to play through it in less than 20 minutes. You can check out my playthrough below!

 

So the first thing that stood out for me was how clean the game is. It has a very minimalistic look and is reminiscent of Indie platformer games with its soothing soundtrack. When first starting the game, it doesn’t provide you with much context other than being a girl living in a place similar to a landfill. This is a plus point for me personally because it encourages exploration and interaction with various objects (e.g. throwing away plastic bottles, moving boxes).

While the game does require you to solve some puzzles along the way, it felt more like a cinematic experience where you’re given the option to interact with little things along the way such as saving a bird or patting a dog, which I felt was endearing in the light of how grim the world was. On the whole, I feel that the game did an amazing job in driving home the message of how “little actions matter” even when there seems like there isn’t hope and also how running away from our problems isn’t the solution.

Furthermore, it did so in a subtle way through dialogue and freedom of choice (through exploration) which wasn’t offputting. Looking back, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I was a little disappointed with hope fast the game ended. However, I feel that this is exactly the direction that game developers should take when making future sustainability-themed games, because the combination of a subtle message, good soundtrack, great visuals was really what did it for me.

If you guys are interested in checking the game out (which I definitely recommend) it’s free to play on Steam and you can download it here!

Till next time!

Cheers,

Tricia