Essay by Eric Worrall
“… After each round, you are sent back to a roundtable of NPCs (non-playing characters) who scrutinise your decisions before revealing a sustainability score …”
I tried out a new version of Minecraft to see why environmental storylines help children learn
Published: October 22, 2025 4.07am AEDT
Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda
Senior Research Associate, Environmental Sciences, University of East AngliaA new version of Minecraft aims to teach students about coastal erosion, flood resilience and climate adaptation, and shows how children can use computer games to learn about complex situations.
CoastCraft is a new custom world from the educational arm of the Minecraft team that can be downloaded and added to the game. It is set in the seaside town of Bude, Cornwall, and players attempt to protect the coastal landscape from the various effects associated with sea-level rises and climate change. The game takes about an hour or two to complete.
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In the game, students use animations to help them understand coastal erosion and rising sea levels before being able to explore and engage with a range of coastal management strategies (including relocating key infrastructure, using nature-based solutions such as plants, or potentially doing nothing at all).
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If you do a bad job, the sea encroaches on the terrain and certain infrastructure is lost (for instance, a car park or toilets). These dynamics add to the immersive experience of the game. They also really nail the realities of future climate change in a way that is potentially far more relevant and digestible than scientific models and projections.
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After each round, you are sent back to a roundtable of NPCs (non-playing characters) who scrutinise your decisions before revealing a sustainability score on how well you managed to reconcile the competing economic, societal and environmental demands. Once you have finished the game, you can return to the main base and also chat to NPCs about different careers in coastal management.
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Minecraft is the best selling kids game of all time, 350 million copies sold as of 2025. Very popular with primary school age kids. It is simple enough for four year olds to get into it, and keeps them engaged up to the age of 12.
Imagine taking one of the world’s most popular games and twisting it into yet another green propaganda tool. Isn’t there already enough youth climate anxiety in the world?
Minecraft isn’t unique in experimenting with climate themes, other popular games like Sid Meier’s Civilisation games were experimenting with global warming themes in the 1990s.
But what really upsets me about this new Minecraft game is the age of kids who are attracted to Minecraft. Young kids, pre-school in some cases, who don’t have the experience and perspective to realise they are just playing a game, when the fake AI non player characters criticise the kids for making climate change decisions the game creators disagree with.
I’m sure this game will be popular with UK education boards. How many primary school kids will be introduced to this game by teachers, as part of their climate education?
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