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Keep Cool (board game)
Encyclopedia
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
created by Klaus Eisenack and Gerhard Petschel-Held of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and published by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
company Spieltrieb in November 2004. The game can be classified as both a serious game
Serious game
A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment. The "serious" adjective is generally prepended to refer to products used by industries like defense, education, scientific exploration, health care, emergency management, city planning, engineering, religion,...
and a global warming game
Global warming game
A global warming game, also known as a climate game or a climate change game, is a type of serious game. As a serious game, it attempts to simulate and explore real life issues to educate players through an interactive experience...
. In Keep Cool, up to six players representing the world's countries compete to balance their own economic interests and the world's climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
in a game of negotiation
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy...
. The goal of the game as stated by the authors is to "promote the general knowledge on climate change and the understanding of difficulties and obstacles, and "to make it available for a board game and still retain the major elements and processes."
Reception
After Keep Cool was released in stores, it was sold out in only four months, prompting a second edition of the game to be released. The game has become very popular in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and the game's creators were surprised at the success. Petschel-Held explained, "With 'Keep Cool,' we've been able to open new channels for dialogue between scientists and the public," and Eisenack commented, "Feedback has revealed surprising insights and exciting discussions about conflicts of interest in climate politics as highlights of Keep Cool." Keep Cool has been used by NGO's, schools, universities, and gaming conventions, besides being used by families and the general public. The German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) has now included Keep Cool as a part of its teaching materials.
Countries
The game can be played with three to six players. The countries that players will use for the game depends on the number of players, as shown in table below.| Number of players | Countries |
|---|---|
| 3 | USA & Partners, Europe, & Tiger Countries |
| 4 | Above + Developing Countries |
| 5 | Above + Former Soviet Union |
| 6 | Above + OPEC |
Each of the countries has a distinct starting position in the game and some have special abilities/bargaining chips which can greatly affect negotiation. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
begins the game with the most factories on the board (five black and one green) and always goes first. Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
begins with three black factories and one green, and the Tiger Countries begin with two black.
The Former Soviet Union begins the game with one of each kind of factory, but has the special prerogative to demand one carbonchip from any player at the beginning of their turn. OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
and the Developing Countries only start with one black factory each, but they both have special attributes which they can use to their advantage. OPEC
OPEC
OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of twelve developing countries made up of Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC has maintained its headquarters in Vienna since 1965, and hosts regular meetings...
receives an additional carbonchip as income for every four black factories on the game board. The Developing Countries can either add or remove up to three carbonchips to/from the carbometer from/to the chip pool.
Targets
A player needs to fulfill both their economic target and their secret target to win the game. Once both of their targets are fulfilled, the game ends, whether or not the targets are met during that player's turn. It is possible that multiple players could achieve their targets at the same time.Economic Targets
A player's economic target is met by having a certain minimum number of factories on the board. For this goal, only factories which are owned by that particular player count toward the total. This number is different for every group of countries, and it based on that group's number of starting factories and rate of growth. Players cannot receive factories from other players, but players may receive funds from other players which may go towards the cost of building new factories.| Countries | USA & Partners | Europe | Tiger Countries | Developing Countries | Former Soviet Union | OPEC |
| Target | 12 Factories | 8 Factories | 5 Factories | 4 Factories | 5 Factories | 4 Factories |
Secret Targets
At the beginning of the game, players are randomly dealt a card with two secret targets printed on it. Players do not share these targets with other players. Players only have to meet one of the printed secret targets, though having two to choose from allows for some flexibility in their strategy. A player may switch between strategies at any time. There are eight different secret targets in Keep Cool. All targets are minimum or maximum numbers of protection tokens, green factories, or black factories. These minimum and maximum numbers can either be global targets or G77Group of 77
The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has...
targets. G77 targets only count the number of game pieces in the Former Soviet Union, Developing Countries, and Tiger Countries.
| Area | Maximum (global) | Minimum (global) | Minimum (G77 countries only) | |||||
| Target Name | Environmentalists | Climate Skeptics | Oil Industry | New Technologies | Insurances | Economic Growth | Tech. Cooperation | Development Aid |
| Type | Black Factories | Green Factories | Black Factories | Green Factories | Protection Tokens | Factories (either color) | Green Factories | Protection Tokens |
While there are only eight secret targets, there are eleven secret target cards, so it is very likely that at least two players in a game will have a common secret target.
Disasters
The very first thing a player does on their turn, even before the usual steps of collecting income and the rest, is draw a greenhouse card. Greenhouse cards are the random generators of disasters in Keep Cool. Most greenhouse cards are disasters which effect a particular region (consequently only one player) such as MalariaMalaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
Pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
or Cold Winter in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Greenhouse also include rarer events, such as global disasters (e.g. Sea-level rise) and beneficial events due to global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, like more rain
Rain
Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...
in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The degree of the disaster or beneficial climate event is dependent on what level of warming has occurred in the game thus far, which is measured by the carbometer. In the blue zone, many disasters and other events have little or no effect. In the yellow and orange zones, disasters are particularly more potent as well as the benefit received from positive climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
s. In the red zone, climate events are catastrophic and beneficial events from positive change are severely reduced.
Countries
The different coalitions of countries used in Keep Cool are based on the groups of similar interests which have emerged through the conferences held by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...
(UNFCCC). Throughout the various conferences of the UNFCCC, the countries belonging to the group "USA & Partners" have been generally hesitant about signing on to mandatory emissions targets and commitments. The countries of the Former Soviet Union have had emissions below the oft-cited '1990 level' for many years now, so they play a special role in emissions reduction by keeping their emissions low. The countries of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
have tended to have stronger commitments to reductions. The remaining groups of countries all belong to the G77
Group of 77
The Group of 77 at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but the organization has...
. The G77 countries are divided accordingly because of their different interests, i.e. countries like China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
want to rapidly expand their industry and use their own coal, and oil-exporting countries have made no commitments to reduce emissions.
Developing countries are singled out as their own group partly because of their control of the world's rain forests. Depending on whether developing countries protect the rain forests in their lands and reforest or if they decide to clearcut in favor of expanding farmlands and industry, the developing countries can either act as another source of carbon pollution (via clearcutting) or as a carbon sink (via conservation and reforestation).