In Water Ways, you’re a water molecule traveling through time, trying to reverse key historical events that cause environmental destruction.
The player is initially tasked with stopping a dirty business deal that would destroy rainforests in Indonesia to grow palm oil. You must solve puzzles to proceed, utilizing all of the properties of water. The first, for instance, requires the player to conduct electricity from a frayed wire, condense into a slippery spot on the floor, and fog up a window in an animal shape, in order to prevent the deal and save the rainforest.
On their tour through history, the players encounter challenges relating to ocean acidification, lead poisoning, and climate change. The game teaches the fundamental science of water in the environment, but is also actively solution-conscious in each episode, emphasizing actions that can be taken on local and global levels.
The game ends with an episode about the Paris Agreement, emphasizing the importance of actions right now in determining the climate of the future. The player must ensure that international targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are met. The player will learn that the large impact of global warming on the water cycle means this problem must be addressed, both in game and in the real world.
