Green Game Jam 2024: Turning Gamers into Environmental Stewards
This year’s Green Game Jam (GGJ) paved its way in a new direction, shifting its focus from not just in-game green activations but also encouraging community-driven actions. The theme of the campaign, “Small Actions, Big Impact,” was a call-to-action encouraging our player community to go beyond the virtual realm of gaming and take action, thereby setting in motion a ripple effect. And it is with a spirit of collective action that the GGJ 2024 returned this year, challenging players and gaming studios both alike to step up and contribute to real-world environmental impact one small action at a time.
Behind this year’s GGJ efforts are
, Senior Marketing Manager, and
, Community Manager, who laid the foundation in shaping and executing the campaign. From brainstorming creative challenges, to engaging with the community on social media, both Galina and Dario have been the driving force behind making this year’s event bigger, bolder, and more impactful.
We sat down with them to dive deeper into the motivations behind Wooga’s ongoing involvement in the Green Game Jam, their creative approach to blending environmental advocacy into gaming, and the key takeaways that made this year’s campaign a success.
Behind the scenes: Insights from Wooga’s Dynamic Duo
Q: This is Wooga’s fourth year in the Green Game Jam. What keeps you coming back year after year?
“We’ve been running environmental campaigns for a while now, not just with June’s Journey but also with some of our other games like Pearl’s Peril and Tropicats. Through these campaigns, we noticed a genuine interest from our player community to get involved in activities that make a real-world impact. For instance, over the past years, we’ve contributed to planting over 200,000 trees and helped protect the snow leopard habitat in the Himalayas through our partnership with the Snow Leopard Trust. We’ve also made a point to educate our players about environmental issues and give them opportunities to share their knowledge. These campaigns have brought our community closer, creating a group that truly cares about making a difference. The collective participation, contributions and the positive feedback we get from our player community drives our motivation to keep going and make each year better than the last.” says Galina with a smile.
Q: What was the inspiration behind this year’s Green Game Jam challenges?
“Well first of all, our collaboration with Playing For The Planet (P4P) defined the theme for GGJ. This year we decided to step away from looking just into the green activations, we wanted to focus on community-driven actions. Our aim was to run a community-driven campaign that encouraged players to share their small, real-world actions that protect the environment.” says Galina. She further added, “Through numerous brainstorming sessions into what green actions our players would enjoy doing, to make sure the challenges were easy to participate in and accessible to all, the ‘Seeds of Kindness Challenge’ and the ‘Grand Green Gourmet’ contest was developed. It was designed in a manner where players could share photos of their green actions and win in-game rewards. The challenge revolved around themes like cleaning up, planting, recycling and sustainable foods. What’s interesting to note was that planting was the most popular, which could also be due to the nice summer weather that the contest was run in”. She also mentioned that in the player feedback survey conducted last year, players had requested to have these green-activations more often which signal that this campaign was well-received and oiled the wheels towards this year’s campaign and curation of challenges.
Q: How has June’s Journey become a benchmark for green initiatives in gaming?
“We’ve definitely made a mark by winning the Best in Wildlife award and the Player’s Choice Award from the Green Game Jam so we know our efforts are well-recognised. But it’s more than that, we also meet with other studios to share best practices and learn from each other, and also gather feedback from our players. Since we’re a story-driven company, we try to incorporate our learnings within our games. Noteworthy examples of this would be having an additional content piece about young June learning from Mr. and Mrs. Talbot, about how to become more sustainable. In addition to this, we also align the layout of the game with an on-theme visual in order to keep it consistent with the campaign. The challenges of the campaign which resonate well with our players combined with the story in our game, the consistent visuals and branding tie everything together, which is what makes JJ a benchmark for green initiatives in gaming. It’s a collaborative effort, and we listen to what our players care about too. This combination of working with other studios and listening to our community helps us set the bar higher for future green activations” said the Community Manager.
Q: How has the Wooga team contributed to the campaign internally?
The aim was to show our players that we’re in this together, so the team launched the campaign by going to a farm together with P4P where our community managers highlighted ways to support local farming in hopes of inspiring a larger audience. Additionally, Woogas also participated in the campaign and celebrated the community efforts together with our players, by submitting sustainable recipes. “One of my favorite parts was the digital recipe booklet that featured contributions from both the Wooga team and our players, it was a hit!” says Galina. We also celebrated Wooga Food Day in the office where we conducted an informative session and shared this year’s participant entries, sustainable recipes that our players and fellow Woogas shared, the impact it created and key takeaways from the campaign. The day ended with a three-course sustainable menu curated and catered by a zero-waste restaurant- FREA,” she recalled.
Q: Wooga’s company purpose is to inspire joy in work and play. How did this campaign foster joy for both players and the Wooga team?
Galina commented that real joy came from knowing that we’re making a difference. “Our players loved activities like decorating trees in the game that led to real-world reforestation.They got rewards and surprises, and we got to see how excited they were about participating. Additionally, seeing the amazing content we create, like the beautiful illustrations and animated stories brings so much fulfillment to the team. It’s also about the bond we’ve built with our community. We don’t see ourselves as separate from them; we’re all in this together.”
“I agree”, added Dario, “ We had a blast making new content and also to get our creativity flowing through thoughtful beautiful illustrations. The players weren’t just participating, they were sharing photos of their green actions and showing us how they were making a difference in their communities. It was like putting a face to a name, and building that connection with our player community was so inspiring. One of the highlights for me was seeing the players’ reactions to a small animated dragonfly in the game. It was such a simple addition, but it became a huge talking point in the community.” Both Dario and Galina agreed that moments like these really inspire joy for the whole team.
Q: What are your key takeaways from this year’s campaign in terms of sustaining player engagement, promoting real-world impact, and communicating effectively?
Reflecting on the campaign, Galina shares “The biggest takeaway is balance. Our players come to June’s Journey to enjoy the game, so when we introduce environmental activities, it’s crucial to integrate them in a way that enhances player experience rather than disrupts it. That’s why we focus on tying environmental topics to gameplay, whether it’s through special offers, celebrations, or fun elements. We also learned a lot about how long we can keep players engaged in these activities. Ideally, environmental events could run for about a week, which we found works best for maintaining interest. But smaller, more frequent activations throughout the year would also keep players excited and engaged.”
“Well, adding to what Galina said, we know that our players love to escape into the game, so any real-world actions we ask them to take need to be seamlessly tied into the gaming experience. One of the most successful events was the ‘buy a tree, plant a tree’ initiative. Players were doing something meaningful without leaving the game, and that’s the sweet spot. They feel like they’re contributing, but it doesn’t require extra effort outside the game.” says Dario.
Q: How do you envision the role of gaming studios evolving when it comes to environmental advocacy through gaming?
Both Galina and Dario nodded in agreement that they envision enhanced collaboration between gaming studios in the future to create a bigger impact, with Green Game Jam being an excellent example of this.
Galina further added, “We’re also involved in research studies, like one organized by P4P in collaboration with Edinburgh University, to better understand how players perceive environmental topics. The more we learn, the smarter we can be about how we encourage players to take action. And of course, working with organizations like Playing for the Planet is key. They provide valuable insights and help us connect with the right partners.”
Tying it all together, Dario comments, “I think gaming studios have a unique opportunity to reach a massive audience. We can use that reach to understand what motivates people and what resonates with them. By collaborating and sharing what we’ve learned, we can fine-tune our approach and create campaigns that really make a difference.”
They also share the sentiment that our involvement in the Green Game Jam is about engaging the community, fostering joy, and driving real-world change.
Q: Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to your players now that the campaign has ended?
“Every small action matters. Whether it’s planting a tree or picking up litter, it all adds up.” says Galina smiling.
“ And don’t worry, we’ll be back with more! Until then, keep that cozy, warm feeling alive.” says Dario enthusiastically.
Key Metrics & Participation Stories: A Community of Changemakers
The Green Game Jam 2024 campaign sparked impressive engagement from our global player base, making it one of our most impactful events to date. The Seeds of Kindness Challenge alone saw an overwhelming response across social media, with players sharing their personal green actions whether planting trees, recycling, or supporting sustainable food practices contributing to the larger environmental movement we aimed to inspire.
Conclusion: Small Actions, Big Impact
Wrapping-up this year’s campaign, it’s clear that the spirit of environmental stewardship runs deep within our Wooga community. The Green Game Jam 2024 campaign beautifully showcased how the gaming community can be a powerful force for real-world change. By rallying our global player community to take action in their own lives, we proved that small actions collectively do indeed create a big impact. As we look to the future, we hope to continue building a more sustainable world, one game and one action at a time. Until next time, stay tuned for fun and impactful initiatives from Wooga!