New Game “Ecosfera Baltica” Spotlights Environmental Urgency

The Baltic Sea needs urgent action. Ecosfera Baltica, a new educational board and online game, transforms science into interactive play — inviting players to work together to restore the sea.

Today, HELCOM, the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission launched a new game where players team up with the shared mission of saving the Baltic Sea. By turning complex ecological concepts into accessible gameplay, the game demonstrates how play can foster environmental understanding and inspire action for a more sustainable future. Ecosfera Baltica is an educational, cooperative multiplayer game that immerses players in the fragile marine ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. Offered both as a classic board game and a free interactive online version, it invites players to team up, make strategic decisions, and tackle environmental threats, all while having fun.

The Baltic Sea’s condition is becoming increasingly critical, as pollution, marine biodiversity loss, and a changing climate push its ecosystems. Rooted in science and inspired by the findings of HELCOM’s State of the Baltic Sea 2023 report, Ecosfera Baltica encourages players to broaden their understanding of ecological principles, marine species and habitats and most importantly: the value of collaboration. “It is amazing how well the complex Baltic Sea ecosystem can be translated into a board and online game,” said Jannica Haldin from HELCOM. “Ecosfera Baltica lets us explore our relationship with the environment. While we can cause harm, we also have the power to provide solutions or prevent damage. The game has strong educational value, but these aspects are subtly built into the gameplay as the main focus is on a varied and exciting gaming experience”.

Designed for players aged 8 and up, the game is colorblind-friendly and largely language-independent. Rulebooks are currently offered in eight languages: English, Finnish, Swedish, Estonian, Danish, German, Russian, and Lithuanian, with more Baltic Sea languages on the way. To support environmental education, over 1,500 copies of the board game will be distributed free of charge to schools, libraries, and public institutions across the Baltic Sea region. The digital version, developed together with Reaktor, is open-access and globally available.

The development of Ecosfera Baltica was made possible through the support of the Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation, and was launched together with Julibert Games and Reaktor game developers. For anyone interested in trying out Ecosfera Baltica, more information is available at helcom.fi/ecosfera-baltica
The game is live at: https://ecosferabaltica.helcom.fi/
Creating the game – video: https://youtu.be/50TAUlYYMEY

More information about the online game: https://www.reaktor.com/work/ecosfera-baltica

About HELCOM - The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission – also known as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) – is an intergovernmental organisation (IGO) and a regional sea convention (the Helsinki Convention) in the Baltic Sea area. A regional platform for environmental policy making, HELCOM was established in 1974 to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution. The headquarters of HELCOM, the Secretariat, is in Helsinki. helcom.fi