Virtual Climate Activation: A Framework Approach to Sustainable Food Consumption in Games

The climate, biodiversity, and inequality polycrisis is one of the most pressing issues humanity has to tackle. Demand-side changes in the food sector can help to address it. Video games have been identified as a potential tool to communicate environmental issues and support such societal change. This study analyzes three current games featuring sustainability messages in the food sector, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Beecarbonize, and Bear & Breakfast, to assess how they communicate these issues and what can be learned from them for future game development.