ElectroCity

Since the dawn of Pong video games have provided an outlet for energy that would have otherwise been spent productively. It started with simple games and has continued to evolve to the point that you can now live alternate lives through your computer. There has been a never time to completely throw away your chance at a real life and invest fully in an alternate universe than now. World of Warcraft, Second Life, Civilization V, just a few of the vices that drag down today's gamer.

There have been attempts to make games that were both educational and fun. A few shining examples are Math Blaster, Number Muncher, and Oregon Trail. Oregon Trail is noted for its ability to explain to small children that no matter how hard you try to avoid it, somebody is going to get typhoid and die. Unfortunately, there was very little social balance in Oregon Trail. Looking back I remember overhunting the plains to the point that my wagon could never hold all the game I killed, and since all pioneers had the minds of second graders I can only assume that is why the buffalo is now endangered.

Last weekend while trying to avoid writing for this blog I found what appears to be a game with a very rare balance between education and fun, ElectroCity. Now unfortunate name aside, ElectroCity is actually pretty fun. You have the chance to control a small city from its inception through 150 game turns, and every action has a consequence. If you build three mining camps and a coal refinery people get pissed off about pollution. On the flip side, if you build a bunch of wind farms and parks there is no power and the conservatives go bat shit crazy.

The real twist to ElectroCity is its developer, Genesis Energy. An energy company run out of New Zealand, Genesis Energy put out ElectroCity as an attempt to help teachers educate their students on the difficulties of providing energy while balancing a responsible environmental footprint. The game is actually fun, and it helps acknowledge both sides of a difficult situation. Potential abuse of power aside, this is a really good idea that I think a bunch of different companies could use to provide educational discourse about their industry.