Next Tuesday, April 22, is Earth Day, and Xbox is celebrating by showcasing a collection of games designed to educate and inspire players to consider their impact on the environment. The company wanted to remind players that it’s committed to becoming carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030. Some of the steps it has taken include implementing energy efficiency features and using the Xbox Sustainability Toolkit to help reduce its environmental impact. Along with game recommendations, Xbox also shared some anecdotes from the developers themselves.
The first game Xbox is spotlighting is Another Crab’s Treasure. This fresh spin on the soulslike genre has players taking on the role of Kril, a hermit crab who has lost its shell. Players must use trash found around the sea as a temporary shell, while discovering the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean on a journey to get Kril’s actual shell back. The game is receiving its Year of the Crab update on April 21.
“As a kid I would go tidepooling with my mom on the rocky shores of Puget Sound, finding whatever little creatures would show up at low tide, which included hermit crabs! Hermit crabs are interesting little guys, I can’t think of another animal that has to find someone else’s discarded home to live in, in this case a snail’s shell,” said Nick Kaman, Studio Head at Aggro Crab. “And we’ve all seen the videos online where a hermit crab is living in a bottle cap instead. There’s a sobering theme already there that gave us the perfect canvas to explore these ideas of overconsumption, wastefulness, and human impact on our environment. Plus it turns out finding shells to swap in-and-out of makes for a pretty fun game mechanic.”
The next recommendation is Coral Island from Stairway Games. It’s a cozy reimagining of farm sims, where players live off the land, tend animals, build relationships, and work to make the world more harmonious. “We wanted to make the farming game we always dreamed of playing as kids. A cozy farm sim with merfolk, seasonal outfits, kids that grow up, all that fun stuff we thought would be super cool. And with the upcoming 1.3 update, it’s finally starting to feel like that dream’s really coming to life,” said Soma Putera, COO of Stairway Games and Producer of Coral Island. “From the start, we wanted Coral Island to make players more aware of pollution and sustainability, but in a light, feel good way. Like, you dive in, clear out some trash, and suddenly the ocean starts thriving again. And you might even spot a merfolk while you’re at it! We hope that kind of positive reinforcement sticks with players, and maybe even gets them thinking twice before littering in real life.”
The Merge Games Cleaning Bundle includes two titles: Fresh Start and No Place Like Home. The former is a relaxing single-player game where players clean up the world and restore nature by helping animals, solving puzzles, and growing plants. The latter, No Place Like Home, is a relaxing sim where players take on the role of Ellen Newland, who visits her grandfather on Earth before moving to Mars.
“We wanted to combine the relaxing vibe of cleanup games with a message that matters — giving players the satisfaction of restoring something broken while subtly highlighting the impact of care and effort. The idea came from a love of cozy, meditative gameplay and the urge to explore how our actions can make a difference — both in a game and in real life,” shared Adrian Komarski, Developer at Chicken Launcher. “We hope to teach players that even small actions — like picking up trash or nurturing a plant — can create real, visible change. It’s about making sustainability feel achievable. If Fresh Start and No Place Like Home spark even a little more curiosity or compassion for the planet, we’ve done our job.”
Then there’s Paradise Marsh, a casual game where players catch bugs and interact with various characters while exploring peaceful scenery. It’s a short narrative game made by solo developer Etienne Trudeau, who had this to say: “Paradise Marsh was heavily inspired by my childhood in the countryside when I was spending my days catching frogs and bugs by myself. It’s a game about nature, peacefulness, silliness, solitude and the wonders of curiosity.”
For those who would rather spend time underwater, there’s Under the Waves. This title puts players in the shoes of Stan, a professional diver in the North Sea who is struggling to overcome a life-changing loss. It’s a narrative-driven adventure game set in a techno-futuristic version of the 1970s.
“When I was a teenager, I witnessed the wreck of an oil tanker off the coast of my home region, Brittany, which left a deep impression on me. Oil washed up all over the beaches. Back then, I was just beginning to learn programming, and that experience sparked a desire in me to use video games to address marine pollution and environmental issues—though it wasn’t until later that I was able to truly move forward with the project,” said Ronan Coiffec, Game Director for Under the Waves. “Twenty years later, thanks to Quantic Dream, we had the opportunity to revive this project and create a unique and impactful underwater adventure, where we could talk about the oceans, their fragility, and our environmental impact. We quickly partnered with an NGO, Surfrider Foundation Europe, to enrich our message and deliver a more substantial and relevant story to players.”
The final recommendation from Xbox is We Are The Caretakers, from Heart Shaped Games. This is an Afrofuturist sci-fi squad-management RPG where players assemble a team of protectors to defend endangered wildlife. It features 23 missions and a squad-building system inspired by the likes of Ogre Battle, Darkest Dungeon, Black Panther, and XCOM.
“Beyond being generally more conscious about the environmental impacts of our day-to-day choices, one small thing I did during the development of We Are The Caretakers was switching to a vegetarian diet,” said Scott Bordie, Game Director at Heart Shaped Games. “I’ve stayed with it for almost 7 years now, and eating mostly plant-based food is something I can do that has environmental and health benefits, while also doing my small part to walk-the-walk of one of the messages behind WATC, which is to minimize suffering for the animals we share the planet with.”
