This study addressed the challenge of educating the public about extreme heat, a climate risk that's often "invisible, frequently chronic and subtly pervasive" compared to more dramatic events like wildfires or flooding. The researchers identified twelve heat planning strategies from the literature, including cool roofs, green infrastructure, urban tree canopy, and cooling centers, then scored each for social impact, environmental impact, and relative cost across three climate zones: hot and dry, hot and humid, and temperate.
The game board depicts a "small town Main Street" where players drag and drop different strategies to see their impacts. A temperature meter drops as players implement strategies until they reach their target temperature and win. The researchers focused on creating gameplay that would produce "flow" (full immersion due to strong usability, clear goals, and fast feedback) and "pleasurable frustration" (challenges that are exciting and achievable yet difficult enough to promote learning).
81 players took part in this study. The game and accompanying survey was distributed to two target groups: first, a group of K-12 teachers participating in an environmental education professional development course, and then a snowball sample of non-expert members of the general public. Players demonstrated understanding of tradeoffs, describing their decision-making as seeking "the most bang for the buck" and "lower cost strategies with a higher payoff." They reported that the game was "fun" and "non-judgmental," allowing them to learn without feeling the information was politicized.
One design challenge was that the game may have implicitly encouraged players to prioritize private, small-scale strategies despite the importance of coordinated public planning efforts. The researchers suggest future iterations could include different "player perspectives" to encourage engagement with public sector strategies.
The study concludes that games like Chill City have potential as environmental education tools that focus on action-oriented solutions rather than just the negative aspects of climate change, and emphasize local, tangible interventions rather than abstract global concepts. The game is freely available online at http://chill-city.com for educators who might want to use it with their students or adult learners.
The Bottom Line
This 2023 research study developed and tested "Chill City," an interactive educational game that teaches players about urban planning strategies for extreme heat mitigation. Using a design-based research methodology, researchers created a game where players experiment with different heat mitigation strategies while balancing environmental, social, and economic tradeoffs. The game addresses extreme heat, which has become the top weather-related cause of death in the United States due to climate change and the urban heat island effect. Qualitative findings showed that after playing the game, participants reported increased knowledge about extreme heat strategies and greater confidence in implementing them, despite quantitative results not showing statistically significant changes.