Enspire Learning Blog

Starbucks, partnering with Global Green usa has developed a new serious game on a "hot" topic - global warming. The Planet Green Game challenges the learner to explore a simulated hometown and discover way to reduce their carbon footprint and help their community be more eco-friendly.

Despite the serious subject, the learner gets to be creative, control their experience, and have fun along the way. Highlights of the game include a gas conservation activity and an experiment in designing an eco-friendly park while learning about environmentally hazardous and helpful elements that go into the construction. The game even features a mini-branching conversation between the learner and the town mayor.

Planet Green Game is a diverting and informative simulation that reveals the innovative and the activist sides of Starbucks. It remains to be seen whether the game will reach its target audience, but this could be an interesting step toward not only furthering issue awareness, but also a new dimension in marketing and consumer education.