A Ready to Play Game on Cooperative Resource Management: Let’s Regenerate!

Abstract

Regenerate! is a cooperative resource management board game that simulates two decades of community-building at Fly Ranch, a 3,800 acre, off-grid property in the intermountain west (Nevada, USA). Starting with an undeveloped landscape, the team (1 to 6 players) must organize and prioritize projects, strategically budgeting resources (water, food, energy, capital) as they grow their community in the high-desert. Each player assumes the role of a unique partner and with that, must manage their special abilities and actions as they cooperate with their teammates. As the team manages resources and attempts to maximize their Community Score (the victory points of the game), they must also minimize degradation across the landscape, as the team is penalized for degenerative habitat conditions and rewarded for regenerative conditions at the end of the game. Further, the team must also manage random events which are revealed at the beginning of each round. To simulate the escalating impact of climate change on community development and landscape conservation, more event cards are revealed as the game progresses and the positive or negative impact of events are intensified.