This is my first written essay on the subject of a possible new game design that would address the likely collapse of civilization. Here are some possible titles:
The Fate of Humanity
Savior/Murderer
The player is cast in the role of a member of a very advanced civilization. Analysis shows that humanity is no longer capable of preventing a nuclear war; as a last-ditch effort the player has been tasked with making the attempt to help humanity get through the 21st century. The player has just one tool available: he can silently kill anybody on earth. By murdering the right people, it is hoped that humanity can be saved.
Actors
The actor set for the game will consist of all the leaders of the major countries, as well as a large set of secondary characters. The largest set of actors will be American political leaders.
Verbs
The player has only the single verb: kill DirObject. The human characters will have a huge set of verbs available to them. Those verbs will address a number of issues considered significant to human survival and will fall into two groups: actual policy actions, and policy statements: speeches, interviews, tweets, etc.
Issues
The most important issue facing humanity will be AGW. As it progresses, it will generate increasing costs in the form of flooding, sea level rise, hurricanes, forest fires, and droughts. Each of these events will levy an economic cost.
Second will be the economy, which will be dragged down by the costs of AGW. I’ll use a faily simple economic model concentrating on investment, R&D, labor, and AGW.
Third will be the rise of China. Can China be welcomed into the international order as a contributing member of global society, or will it come in under confrontational terms?
I think I want to set up a system for economic sanctions to be imposed upon countries. These might well be imposed upon the USA late in the game.
The basic game flow will have AGW tightening up pressure on all nations, forcing more and more confrontations, which eventually lead to nuclear war. The player can win only by clearing the path for the few world leaders who can show how to build a cooperative global society. This will be all but impossible to pull off.
A critical question arises from the set of global variables that are influenced by the verb choices. They must reflect issues such as the respect for rule of law, nationalism, mutual trust and fear. I am uncertain how to proceed here.