Lately, I’ve found myself drawn to games that offer a sense of greater impact, and many of these experiences center around the environment. Whether it’s restoring a ravaged landscape, rescuing endangered creatures, or simply cleaning up pollution, these games have proven surprisingly fulfilling. In this article, I’ll share some of my absolute favorites – games that weave environmental themes into their core gameplay. And trust me, there are plenty, so get your wishlists ready!
Spilled
First on the list is Spilled, a cozy cleaning game where you take on the role of a little boat tasked with tidying up the ocean. This isn’t just about aesthetics; you’re actively removing oil, plastic, and other rubbish left behind by larger vessels. As you cleanse the contaminated waters, the environment visibly improves, and wildlife begins to return, making the transformation deeply satisfying. You can even trade in the collected materials and rescue adorable animal companions along the way, solidifying its place as a fantastic environmentally focused cleaning experience.
preserve
If you’re after a relaxing puzzle with an environmental twist, Preserve is an excellent choice. This game challenges you to bring life back to a barren world by strategically placing different biome tiles. By grouping three identical tiles, you create habitats that can then be populated with various animals. With different map types, each boasting unique biomes and creatures, and the need to consider water sources for certain placements, preserve offers a tranquil yet engaging experience. It’s easily one of the most soothing puzzle games I’ve played and definitely worth checking out.
aloft
Moving into the realm of open-world survival crafting, Aloft offers a unique premise. You establish a home on a floating island and navigate a vast world filled with other islands to explore. However, many of these islands are corrupted, and your task is to cleanse them to access their valuable resources. This involves not only eliminating the infecting fungus and its mutated creatures but also rebalancing the environment itself. This might mean planting new trees, removing diseased ones, or introducing beneficial insects to restore the island’s atmosphere. With its engaging co-op option, Aloft presents a cozier take on the survival crafting genre and is well worth considering.
APICO
For those who enjoy a more laid-back experience, APICO is a delightful beekeeping simulator where you breed, collect, and conserve bees. This exploration and crafting game starts you with virtually nothing, requiring you to craft your equipment and then collect and breed various bee species. The depth of the bee-keeping mechanics is impressive, with numerous bee types to unlock and different breeding methods and modifiers to discover. It’s the perfect game for bee enthusiasts who prefer to admire these vital creatures from a safe distance.
I Am Future
I Am Future throws you into a bizarre survival scenario where you awaken on an abandoned rooftop with no memory of who you are or how you got there. You’ll need to scavenge the rooftop for resources to craft essential objects and furniture. While it incorporates survival elements like managing hunger and thirst, these don’t overshadow the core gameplay. As you unlock new tools and technology, you can explore more of the rooftop environment. Set in the future, the game features cool futuristic elements like drones, and the scavenging mechanic, where you repurpose materials from disassembled items, adds a unique environmental touch that’s truly captivating.
Creatures of Ava
If you’re seeking an action-adventure game with a strong environmental message, Creatures of Ava is a must-try. You journey to the planet Ava, which has been afflicted by a mysterious withering. Initially, your role as a scientist is to rescue as many creatures as possible, believing the planet to be beyond saving. However, after encountering the local inhabitants and discovering ancient artifacts, your perspective shifts. You find a staff capable of curing the withering, transforming your mission from preservation to active restoration, with the potential to save Ava itself. With its compelling story and rich lore, Creatures of Ava is a fantastic action-adventure choice.
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge puts you on a mission to save the frogs by creating the ultimate frog sanctuary. This charming creature-collecting game involves setting up a refuge and attracting a diverse range of frog breeds and types. To entice these amphibians, you need to revitalize the refuge by ensuring its biodiversity is thriving. This means planting various plants, gathering different resources, and collecting specific bugs. The game’s adorable sticker-like aesthetic and the ability to place furniture to attract frogs add to its charm. With multiple locations to explore and progress through, it’s a delightful froggy creature collector.
Lightyear Frontier
Lightyear Frontier casts you as a crash-landed explorer on an alien planet, tasked with determining if life can flourish there. Equipped with a giant mech, you’ll navigate the planet, farm crops, gather resources, and unravel the mysteries of what happened. A significant aspect of the game involves cleaning up areas infected by a mysterious slime before you can access their resources. This planet-cleaning element is central to the gameplay. Featuring animals and a co-op mode, Lightyear Frontier offers a unique blend of farming simulation with an intriguing alien twist.
Loddlenaut
In Loddlenaut, you take on the role of an interstellar custodian sent to clean up a polluted ocean planet. This alien adventure sees you exploring an open world, raising aquatic creatures called Loddles, and using a special bubblegum to clear away icky goop and floating debris. The ability to grow different Loddles based on their diet adds a fascinating layer to this adorable cleaning game. You can also recycle collected trash to craft useful items and unlock upgrades to tackle various types of pollution, making it a cozy and environmentally conscious experience.
Terra Nil
Terra Nil presents an intricate, environment-focused strategy game where your goal is to bring life back to a lifeless world. You’ll purify soil, clean oceans, plant trees, and reintroduce wildlife using various eco-technologies. The objective is to reclaim the wasteland, creating plains, wetlands, beaches, rainforests, wildflowers, and more, ultimately re-establishing diverse ecosystems and then leaving without a trace. This is a truly unique strategy puzzle game with a profound environmental focus.
Mudborne
Mudborne is an open-world crafting game where you play as a frog who awakens from hibernation to discover that your entire species has vanished. Your mission is to restore the frog population by exploring the world, collecting different frogs and bugs, and gathering resources like wood and mushrooms. You can build various equipment to breed different frog types, influencing the breeding process with different ground-up mushrooms. The game also features a cool psychedelic dreamscape that unlocks unique resources and other interesting elements. If you enjoy breeding and collecting mechanics, Mudborne is a fantastic choice.
Crab God
Crab God, a cozy roguelike game, tasks you with hatching the next crab deity. As the custodian of a colony of crablings, you must guide the next Crab God egg to maturity. You’ll journey through diverse ocean environments, each with unique plants, creatures, and enemies, as you descend to the optimal hatching depths. In the crabling culture, the Crab God is a true deity, so you’ll assign your crabs to worship it to gain favor and unlock upgrades. You’ll also need to assign crabs to other roles to ensure the colony’s protection and resource growth. Notably, Crab God has a real-world impact: your in-game progress contributes to actual ocean conservation efforts, with a portion of the profits donated to a cause of your choosing. This makes it a truly unique strategy roguelite experience.
So there you have it – a selection of some of the most engaging and fulfilling environmentally focused games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.
Until next time, stay caffeinated!
