Are you tired of the boiler plate, run of the mill action emails steadily filling your inbox? Sure you want to help out—you want to change the world, end the war, save the environment, and so on—but does it have to be so boring? Skim the petition, enter your information and details, maybe email some friends; rinse, repeat.

What if instead of the standard request to sign a petition or donate to the cause, you were asked to play a game? Does an interactive and entertaining way to make a difference online sound too good to be true? It isn’t. Environmental action games of various shapes and sizes for all sorts of causes have been popping up all over the web and are beginning to make appearances in many online activists’ inboxes. You can help save whales, learn to reduce waste, calculate your carbon footprint, and my personal favorite–learn about and help bring an end to overfishing.

These games range in complexity and scope and can vary widely in the levels of entertainment and education that they provide. Many of the more entertaining games function in a simple arcade style, there are several games in this mode based on fishing practices in which you control a fish attempting to avoid various hazards and fishing gear. Other environmental action games work on more of a simulation model where the player makes a series of choices and is presented with the consequences of their decisions. While informative, this style doesn’t lend itself to repeated play or function as an interesting break from the daily grind, the way some of the action games do–with features like high score tracking and an increasing level of difficulty as you progress.

The best environmental action games are entertaining, re-playable, and informative. Whats the point to a game that isn’t any fun? Perhaps more importantly how can you create change without educating your audience? When these two qualities are combined to create an effective environmental action game the drudgery of filling out petitions and sending emails can be alleviated. You can have fun while making a difference online!

Three environmental action games to try:

• Whales Revenge is currently the leader of the pack, having generated over 1 million comments to date largely because it’s so fun to play. Its a bit like Missile Defense except with harpoons instead of bombs and bubble blasts instead of missiles. While Whales Revenge has done a remarkable job of collecting signatures and will help you wile away some time, you won’t learn anything by playing it.
• The Garbage Game has you make personal choices regarding a variety of common disposables, then you get to play garbage commissioner for New York City and decide where all that waste and recycling will go. This game is both interesting and informative, but it won’t have you coming back for more.
• Ocean Survivor lets you take control of a bluefin tuna cruising the seas and trying to avoid ending up in a net or on a hook. This game is fun to play, tracks high scores (you get to leave your name just like on Ms Pacman back in the day), and will also teach you about the fishing practice that eventually snags you.

What green games have you played recently?

- Henry Coppola