Energetica doesn’t have a single optimal strategy. Success depends on a player’s location, available resources, weather conditions, and the decisions of other players.
For those curious to explore these complexities further, the Energetica wiki provides a detailed breakdown of the game’s mechanics, offering a glimpse into the depth and realism of its design.
Teaching through play
The educational potential of games is immense but often overlooked, especially for adult learners. Energetica demonstrates how games can be used to teach complex topics in an accessible and engaging way. During a pilot test at ETH Zürich, students showed high levels of engagement, working together to understand the game’s mechanics and experimenting with different strategies. This hands-on learning approach helped them grasp key energy concepts, including the critical role of fast-ramping power plants in responding to fluctuating power demand or generation, and the mechanics of energy markets, such as why bidding at marginal cost or revenue is often the most optimal strategy. These are just two examples of the many insights players gained through Energetica.
Previous runs of the game have revealed emergent behaviors driven by player decisions—outcomes not preprogrammed but arising naturally from the game’s dynamic systems. For example, controllable power plants that provide grid flexibility were shown to significantly influence market prices, even with relatively low installed capacity. On the resource market, competition among multiple players drove prices close to marginal costs, while a single resource supplier could command far higher prices. Another notable behavior was the tendency for most players to initially prioritize “clean” technologies. However, one player would often exploit the low production costs of coal power plants, generating significant emissions that impacted all players and underscored the challenges of collective action.
Energetica allows players to see how their decisions play out, they gain a more nuanced understanding of real-world energy systems—knowledge we believe is crucial for informed public discourse and action.
An open invitation to collaborate
Energetica is currently available as a beta version at energetica.ethz.ch, and we are eager to collaborate with the energy science community to refine and improve the game. By making the project open-source and free to play, we hope to maximize its societal benefit, ensuring accessibility to everyone interested in engaging with this project.
We invite you to test the game, explore its features, and share your feedback. Whether you’re a researcher, educator, or enthusiast, your insights will help us improve Energetica as a tool for learning, discussion, and innovation.
Together, we can build a community that uses games to better understand and address the challenges of our time. If you have questions or ideas for collaboration, please don’t hesitate to reach out. (felixvonsamson@gmail.com)
