Township Flood Challenge
Challenge
NIWA wanted a follow-up, after the success of My Coastal Futures, that focused on another pressing and relatable risks for New Zealand communities: flooding. Across the country, small towns are already grappling with rivers that burst their banks and storms that hit harder and more often. The challenge was to create a game that captured this unpredictability while also bringing the science closer to home, by letting players step into the lived experiences of people whose properties, farms, and cultural sites are directly at risk.
Solution
Township Flood Challenge is a strategy and role-play game developed by NIWA with creative design support from Hum Interactive and Geo AR. Played decade by decade over 70 years, the game mirrors the uncertainty of real life. Some decades bring multiple floods, others none at all. Players choose a community character such as a residential homeowner, a dairy farmer, or a Māori land tenure with buildings and ūrupa (burial sites). Each decision about adaptation, from building defences to relocating or restoring land, comes with trade-offs that affect safety, cost, and community wellbeing. By weaving role-play into data-driven gameplay, the game makes climate resilience both personal and collective.
Positive Impact
Township Flood Challenge has been used in workshops to help communities and stakeholders explore how floods affect different people in different ways. By combining science with character-driven storytelling, the game encourages players to think about adaptation not just as policy, but as decisions that touch homes, heritage, and livelihoods. It has proven to be an engaging way to start meaningful conversations about resilience, paving the way for the next step in the series, Future Coasts Aotearoa.
Overview
NIWA wanted a follow-up, after the success of My Coastal Futures, that focused on another pressing and relatable risks for New Zealand communities: flooding. Across the country, small towns are already grappling with rivers that burst their banks and storms that hit harder and more often. The challenge was to create a game that captured this unpredictability while also bringing the science closer to home, by letting players step into the lived experiences of people whose properties, farms, and cultural sites are directly at risk.
Video Trailer
Township Flood Challenge is a strategy and role-play game developed by NIWA with creative design support from Hum Interactive and Geo AR. Played decade by decade over 70 years, the game mirrors the uncertainty of real life. Some decades bring multiple floods, others none at all. Players choose a community character such as a residential homeowner, a dairy farmer, or a Māori land tenure with buildings and ūrupa (burial sites). Each decision about adaptation, from building defences to relocating or restoring land, comes with trade-offs that affect safety, cost, and community wellbeing. By weaving role-play into data-driven gameplay, the game makes climate resilience both personal and collective.
