Fate of the World

Fate of the World is a strategy/management game driven by the poignant topic of the future of the human race and the planet Earth. The game was developed by UK indie studio Red Redemption, who is focused not merely on making cool games, but on making games that are relevant to society and will hopefully have a social impact.

Available through their website and digital download services, the launch price is US$10 (±R70). For this attractive price point, the game packs a hefty punch. A percentage of the proceeds also go to charity.

Fate of the World begins in the familiar setting of planet Earth. The year is 2020 and the planet is on the brink of numerous environmental disasters. Coupled with the complicated political situations in the various regions of the globe, humanity is walking the knife-edge between a descent into ruin or survival and prosperity. The GEO (Global Environment Organisation) is formed with the intention of stepping in across the 12 regions of the globe and implementing political and environmental policies that will hopefully bring about positive change.

The game features four scenarios: The Rise of Africa; Fuel Crisis; Three Degrees; and Dr. Apocalypse. The Rise of Africa scenario is essentially a tutorial which serves well to introduce the gameplay mechanics and basic concepts. Soon enough the player is thrown into the deep end, having to combat a resource crisis, keep global temperatures below the ecological tipping point, and in a darkly humourous role-reverasl, actually engineer the downfall of planet Earth.

The gameplay is turn-based and is built around the concept of playing cards across 12 regions of the globe; China, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, Middle East, North America, Northern Africa, Oceania, Russia, South Asia, Southern Africa. The six categories of cards are: projects; environmental; technology; resources; society; and political.

Within each region the player can play a maximum of six cards per turn. The cards achieve various goals, such as setting policies, social projects or focusing on research. There are numerous cards under each category and players must decide which will best counter the looming disasters and pressing issues of a region. Some cards come into effect after one turn, and others will take multiple turns for results to be seen. Cards cost money to play, and money is a finite resource available to the GEO. More money is earned from regions that are stable and happy; the player’s decisions in one region may have an impact on the global economy, so card plays must be carefully considered. This gameplay method is simple yet effective, and allows players to easily keep track of the numerous strategies they are employing across the regions of the globe.

There are over 100 major policies which fall under categories such as geo-engineering, technological research, international aid, diplomacy, economics, emergency defences, species protection, forestry, health, energy choices, population, politics, and clandestine operations. There are 40 future technologies to develop, each with pros and cons. These include nuclear fusion, biofuels, nanotech, robots, AI, smart grids, advanced medicine, synthetic food, and space exploration. A content encyclopaedia is built into the game, which provides some fascinating reading. All of the cards and their effects are adequately explained within the game when making card play decisions.

To help players make decisions, there is a constant stream of media, political, economic and environmental feedback. One will quickly sink into the routine of checking the news headlines for each region and then attempting to play cards that will solve problems and maintain a positive outlook. On this note, the player had best enjoy reading and getting comfortable with analysing statistical trends. While one can operate on intuition and luck, those that delve into the detailed statistics and information screens will find they perform far better. The game boasts simulation models based on years of scientific research, and the climate science was overseen by Dr. Myles Allen of the University of Oxford.

When a turn is ended, the game simulates five years into the future and presents the results. The simulation stretches from the year 2020 to 2200. Carbon emissions, global population and global temperature are summarised each turn, along with the broader impacts of one’s policies (or lack thereof). There are more than 1,000 impacts, including storms, floods, heat-waves, flash fires, desertification, glacial melt, sea level rise, resource wars, drought, famine, dissidence, extinctions, epidemics, technological breakthroughs, energy shortages, and political backlash. There are 50 signature animal species to save against the backdrop of biodiversity loss. There are 6 world changing ‘tipping points’ such as the Amazon collapse and the Antarctic ice shelf collapse. While the game does unavoidably travel into the realm of the scientific hypothetical, with a possible detour through science fiction, none of it comes across as outrageous.

It is difficult to tell how regional policies will affect the globe, or if policies that run indefinitely are having a profound positive effect. For this one will have to analyse the statistical trends, which is fair enough when considering that the game is trying to convey the complexity of managing the planet, but it does sap a lot of the fun form the gameplay. This means that Fate of the World will require quite a bit of gameplay investment from the player as they attempt to figure out the impacts of various policies through trial and error. Some gamers might expect a bit of hand-holding here to guide them through the difficult elements, but I feel that would rather detract from the point of the simulation.

The game is an incredibly haunting and challenging experience. The topic is serious and the gameplay reflects this. The difficulty is a rather severe balancing act, although not impossible. Don’t expect to be saving the planet on your first couple of attempts at the big scenarios. With so many variables to consider, one will often be surprised by how things play out.

For example, while I was busy focusing on staving off political unrest in North and Southern Africa, famine and overpopulation in India, and a fuel crisis in Europe, I began to lose focus on Japan, which had been behaving itself and producing a lot of technological advances to boot. However, a couple of simulated turns later, and my fuel policy decisions in other regions of the globe had led to economic collapse in Japan, which was suddenly plunged into famine and civil unrest. While trying to repair this damage, and coupled with funds diverted to the Africa situation, the Middle East imploded and kicked the GEO out of the region. Then all the polar bears died.

At this point one might think that things are beyond repair and the scenario should be restarted, but this is not the case. Fate of the World will allow players to keep on struggling for the survival of humanity and one will likely limp into the future, with plenty of environmental and human disasters in tow. As long as the overarching objectives are met, the planet can survive. This brings the harsh realisation that there may likely be no overwhelmingly positive future for the Earth, and damage control is the best case scenario.

The challenge is really self-imposed as one has an understandable affinity for the Earth. Somehow victory feels hollow when half of the human race as died due to famine and the black rhino, polar bear, and various other species don’t make it into the future. This breeds motivation to restart the lengthy campaign to try and do better.

Visually, things are clear and simple. The Earth is depicted as a navigable 3D globe which shows climate related changes with Earth ‘telemetry’ – visually graphing past and future change. There are Earth overlays which reveal local temperature change, devastation, and population. The simulation is quite fascinating as it obviously hits home. The cards each feature a unique piece of artwork to convey concept behind them. Although the visuals are static for the most part, they aren’t unappealing, and they don’t distract the player from the task at hand.

The sound effects are few and far between, and the bulk of the audio experience is delivered through a compelling soundtrack. Each region of the globe has its own unique theme built on the overture of the game’s theme music. This is an area of remarkable quality – no surprise considering that award winning composer Richard Jacques produced the musical score. Jacques is known for his work on Mass Effect (BioWare), Alice in Wonderland (Disney), Headhunter (Amuze/Sega) and Starship Troopers (Empire/Sony Pictures). It is also worth noting that the script was written by David Bishop of Dr. Who and 2000AD fame.

Fate of the World is a deep and rich strategy management sim. It is inherently challenging, and that’s the way it should be – nobody said that saving the Earth was going to be easy. Despite the difficulty of doing things perfectly, it is still accessible. Fate of the World has a compelling story to tell through its gameplay that many would do well to pay attention to.

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Fate of the World has been nominated for the 2011 Index: Design Awards and as a Top 10 Social Impact Games of 2010-11 by Games for Change. To get an idea for the basic mechanics of Fate of the World, one can check out Red Redemption’s free-to-play Climate Challenge, the progenitor of Fate of the World.