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World Oceans Day is just around the corner (mark your calendars for June 8th!), and it's the perfect time for the amazing games community to celebrate our amazing underwater world.
This year's theme, Waves of Change: Collective Actions for the Oceans, underscores the importance of our collective efforts. We want to highlight video games' amazing role in inciting collective action through fundraising and exploring important subjects.
From exploring vibrant coral reefs to battling plastic pollution, video games are becoming powerful tools to raise awareness and inspire action. Gamers have a unique opportunity to contribute to important challenges we are all facing. Non-profit organisations like Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) partner with gaming platforms like Steam to host charity sales events. For example, their "Games for Waves" initiative sees participating game developers donate a portion of their proceeds directly to WDC's vital conservation efforts!
Speaking of the Games for Waves sale - our game Crab God is included in the upcoming games section! If you haven’t yet already, wishlist the game now, and it comes out so soon on June 20th.
Participating in these charity sales events is a win-win situation. You get to enjoy fantastic games at a discounted price while contributing to protecting whales, dolphins, and their ocean habitats. And it's not just WDC making a splash with Steam sales. Other organisations and game developers are also finding innovative ways to harness the gaming community's passion for a cause.
Samudra, a game by Khalayan Arts, has themes around the dire situation of piling up ocean plastics and raises awareness of these issues. Bigger game studios like Ubisoft, which made Skull and Bones, have included a timed campaign to raise money for ocean conservation charities.
We want to highlight recent games that celebrate our oceans, bring awareness to important issues, and call communities to action!
5 Underwater Games to Play on World Oceans Day
Crab God
Crab God is our very own underwater strategy game! You play as the Crab God, leading your crablings on a journey across the ocean depths. On your way, you will restore diverse coral reefs and protect the egg of the next Crab God. Through a partnership with dots.eco, we allocate a portion of the game's revenue to support ocean conservation. This will be done through in-game actions - so you’re participating matters! You can propagate coral, save baby sea turtles or clean up ocean plastic through in-game challenges.
Another Crabs Treasure
You’ve probably heard about Another Crab’s Treasure unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past few months, but we just had to shout it out as an incredible game to play! This soulslike adventure is set in a crumbling underwater world. Playing as Kril, the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.
Endless Ocean
If you played the original game on the Wii, you and your mates will love the sequel to Endless Ocean - Luminous. This Nintendo Switch game tasks the player with exploring the Veiled Sea, a fictional, unexplored region of our oceans where you will encounter and document marine life. The game has over 500 species to learn about, including creatures deemed mythical or extinct, such as the Mosasaurus. The player can also explore underwater structures such as temples and shipwrecks. A bonus to this new rendition of the popular game is the ability to play online with up to 30 other players, exploring the ocean together!
Under the Waves
A love letter to the oceans, Under The Waves invites you to dive into a gorgeous underwater world set in the depths of the North Sea in the techno-futuristic 1970s. Explore caves, wrecks, and underwater aquascapes, following the mysterious manifestations of Stan’s (the protagonist) memories. The isolation of the deep sea mirrors his state of mind, and as he retreats further into the solitude of the deep, he starts to experience strange events far beneath the waves.
Fathomverse
FathomVerse is a cozy, immersive game where you’ll encounter real scientific images collected by robots and researchers worldwide. The game aims to increase our capacity to measure and monitor marine life in a changing ocean. Scientists estimate that 30-60% of life in the sea is still unknown to science. Fathomverse uses the collective curiosity of ocean exploration by engaging a community of passionate ocean enthusiasts to work alongside researchers.
An ocean of games for change!
Our role in exploring and celebrating the diversity of our oceans is essential for a brighter future. The power of games and the magic of play are powerful tools to help save our oceans. Want to know about some more exciting ocean games to play during this time? Check out our previous blog here!
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