Virtual Frontier

Ecopoly XR Edition

A collaborative XR game where players have to work together to keep a forest alive and healthy, while also using it to earn money.

The original Ecopoly is a board game developed by CETIP to let players experience the environmental and social dilemmas of the the Tragedy of the Commons. Under guidance of a moderator, up to twelve players must manage the state of the forest, while harvesting trees to earn money. Each turn, natural events take place in the forest, which can be good or bad. The game is suitable for all ages, and has been played with groups in elementary schools up to university classes.

Ecopoly XR Edition extends the board game with XR elements. Each player has an Android device to see the state of the forest, and to perform in-game actions. Animations and sound effects bring the forest to life. The workshop moderator has a PC-based console that lets him guide the game progress.

The final outcome of the game is in the hands of the players. Below you see how some of the games ended up.

Virtual Frontier is providing the technical realization and integration, with help from the Trans-Realities Lab of the Design Academy Eindhoven and CETIP.

We have been running pilots with volunteer and school classes in the past months. You can get an impression from the posts below! We are running the final pilots, and will be analysing the outcomes soon.

Ecopoly XR Edition was created in the ECO-EXT project, which has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).