We did. Jake and Paige. Why does everyone always ask us this?

(Our cards were illustrated by artist Samantha Fowler!)

Children from all walks of life love Climate Detectives:Open for Business®!

Our game has been tested by over 300 children from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Climate Detectives: Open for Business® is designed for children and adolescents aged 8 to 15.

However, with a little hand-holding, children as young as 6 can play! (You may not be surprised to hear that younger children, when they see their older brothers and sisters play, want to join in on the fun!)

Climate Detectives: Open for Business® shows how good urban planning can help the environment!

As players create towns, they learn how human choices shape and impact the environment. Buildings can increase or lessen pollution, mitigate or worsen the effects of natural disasters, and influence quality of life for townsfolk.

Climate Detectives: Open for Business® does not guide players towards creating an environmentally-friendly town. Rather, the game equips players with the tools to make informed decisions about their world.

“Climate change has important implications for the health and futures of children and young people, yet they have little power to limit its harm, making them vulnerable to climate anxiety.” – The Lancet, Planetary Health

Climate Detectives: Open for Business helps reduce climate anxiety in children by showing them that they can take charge of their worlds. Through sustainable urban design, they can protect their townsfolk from pollution, natural disasters, and more.

Climate Detectives: Open for Business® meets the following NGSS standards:

K-ESS3-1. Earth and Human Activity

• Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.

MS-ETS1-1. Engineering Design

• Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

MS-LS2-5. Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

MS-LS2-5. Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

• Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Climate Detectives: Open for Business® can be played both in the classroom and at home!

If you’d like support in classroom integration, you’re in luck! We’re always happy to host free in-school workshops.

We’ve had many conversations about whether or not we want to make money from our game! Right now, our answer is no.

Currently, we make no real profit ($5 per game sold) through our game manufacturer, which just goes towards our operating costs.

The cost of the game is relatively high through our manufacturer because it is a huge game (there are over 100 cards!) and it is print-to-order. If you would like to play the game in your classroom, but it is out of your price range, we provide free gameplay and science lessons for students.

Our ultimate goal is to make the game freely accessible to all children and schools who’d like a copy.

That’s okay! You don’t have to!

Parents love Climate Detectives: Open for Business® because it teaches science and math skills. There’s no agenda presented in the game!