behind the scenes

Links: Depolarising climates, one tile at a time

Links is a board game created by Aengus Schulte, Luciane Fortes, Mariska Lamiaud and Poorvi Garag, intended to bring people together. The name was chosen for the core mechanic of the game and serves as a metaphor for social connections. This game aims to spark conversations on complex climate topics that are often avoided.

Links players use role cards through which they inhabit a specific character, develop their personal stories through life events, interact with governmental policies via coloured policy tiles, and tackle climate crises that occur as events in the game. “The aim of Links is to learn about different perspectives or opinions people can have about the climate discourse,” explains Mariska. “Why someone might not be interested, or why some of us are supporting ‘counter-productive’ measures when dealing with climate justice and climate change. By embodying different characters, and through experiencing contrasting life events, we hope players can put themselves in someone else’s shoes and thus combat polarisation.”

Memebers of the Links team

The game’s storytelling is intricately woven into its gameplay mechanics. Links creates a scenario in which players have been elected to participate in a fictional citizen council. This council is responsible for upholding the voice of the citizens and approving various policies. The policies are represented by little square tiles. Each tile has three of its four edges coloured with a different line (yellow, red, green, and blue). These colours represent different facets of that policy, such as environmentalism, society, culture, and economy. Throughout the game, players attempt to match colours – creating links – to earn tokens. Over time, the players, as a citizen council, start to develop a complex, interlinked political landscape, revealing what the group of players supports and what they neglect.

The role cards represent not only a fictional character but also a specific political identity that the player is likely unfamiliar with. “The game intends to depolarise opinions and conversations about climate justice,” says Poorvi. “The tension exists from the start in the roles that people take on, and winning within the character’s limitations.”

To create Links, the game jam team considered certain design aspects that became non-negotiable. These include a focus on exploring polarising political opinions; keeping climate justice, people, and the planet central to the game; appealing to a broad audience to make the game playable outside of the environmental bubble; and developing empathy while keeping it light and enjoyable. The game is very political, a deliberate move to challenge the norm in the Netherlands, where people of opposing political views don’t interact, limiting conversation and the development of consensus. This game aims to break down those walls, sparking diverse conversations on climate justice with people from all walks of life.

Playtesting Links during the game jam

Passion, empathy, and shared learning are themes that translated well within this team. These participants all met for the first time at the Mzansi Climate Justice Game Jam and had only four weeks to work together. However, members say that working on a shared goal was a highlight of their time together. “It was invigorating to see my groupmates enthusiastically working on our game. It’s a wonderful feeling when your energy is matched by others, creating a momentum that leads to greater heights,” says Aengus. Poorvi echoed these sentiments, saying, “The team I worked with is the biggest highlight of the Game Jam. My teammates were enthusiastic, which even translated into my other work and life, giving me energy to pursue more things towards climate justice.”

But like all games, the end must be clear. According to Poorvi, “The conclusion is definitely the standout feature!” Links’ unique game mechanic is its reflective conclusion. Departing from the initial concept in which the player with the most points wins, the final gong of Links was turned into a moment of reflection during which players are taken out of the game and asked to contemplate their actions. “The twist element of the Mzansi Climate Justice Game Jam reminded us to expand our vision beyond the game and into the effects it should/would have on players,” says Aengus.

Team Links still feels there is a lot more work to be done on the board game. For now, they want more people to get involved and play play play! “I would like to playtest the game to gather more feedback and experiences,” says Mariska, “Following which I would be very thrilled to continue working with my teammates on bettering the game and eventually looking into its distribution.” Poorvi says they can see the game being played in different settings, “We hope to develop the game further, with the aim of actually commercialising in the future.”

Links set up.

Links is available for you to print-and-play at home. You can find out more about Links on their project website and get in touch with the team if you are interested in learning more about this project.