A team of UzhNU students created a board game about the ecology of Ukraine – with antagonists, conspiracies, and real disasters

Imagine Ukraine on the verge of ecological collapse. The Carpathians are under threat of landslides, the Black Sea is suffering from oil spills, Polissya is in the flames of peat fires, cities are in smog. And now you can prevent the catastrophe… at the game table. This is exactly the idea that two UzhNU students, Nikita Lisovets and Daryna Yantso, came up with.
The game was created as part of the Viridis project, which was implemented as part of the Re:Source initiative of the public organization Teplytsia Initiative Platform with the support of the German government through the KfW development bank and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). But behind the formal name is a personal story, doubts, rejections, and seven months of hard work.

“We didn’t get a grant, but we didn’t give up on the idea”

The idea for the game was born in the spring – during the Re:Source training. The participants had only three days to come up with an eco-project. It was then that the idea to create a board game came up – a format that could interest young people.

“At first, we didn’t get funding at the hackathon. But faith in the idea didn’t allow us to give up. Later, funding became available – and Viridis got the green light,” says the author of the idea and project manager Nikita Lisovets.

Together with Daryna Yantso, they set about full-fledged development. Nikita was responsible for management, finding designers, game mechanisms and production control. Daryna became the director of the game world – a scriptwriter, character author and the person who tested the game with real players.

An alternative Ukraine that is too similar to the real one

In Viridis, you find yourself in an alternative Ukraine — one that is on the verge of ecological collapse. But this “alternative” is scary precisely because all the game scenarios are based on real events and scientific forecasts.

The Carpathians — landslides after logging. Polissya — fires in drained swamps. The Black Sea region — oil spills. Donetsk region — man-made risks. Kyiv — smog hanging over the city.

And to prevent a catastrophe, players must recognize who can be trusted and who remains an antagonist. First, participants choose roles: an ecologist, a farmer, an activist, a journalist, an engineer. Each has their own capabilities and weaknesses.

At the center of the game is Ecotrek, a scale of the state of the environment. If the team reduces it to zero, the country can still be saved. If, due to betrayal, indifference or mistakes, the level reaches a critical level, everyone loses. “You constantly have to ask yourself: who can you trust here? And whose solutions really save, and not mask the problem,” say the developers. Viridis shows a simple but painful truth: even good intentions without cooperation can destroy the system.

15 characters — and none are random

The game features 15 unique characters. Each has its own story, character, and style. Co-developer Daryna Yantso was responsible for this.

“We wanted the player to not just move the chip, but to feel a connection with their hero,” she explains.

It’s easy to recognize yourself here — in the Teacher who fights for education, or in the Journalist who tries to convey the truth even when it’s inconvenient.

A game that continues after the game

After the game, the players do not disperse in silence. They discuss, argue, analyze: where they went wrong, what could have been done differently. “It is this moment of reflection that changes thinking. You see how decisions lead to consequences,” say the authors.

“Viridis” is an example of how a student initiative can turn into a tool for environmental education. And to remind us that the future of the country — even in a game — depends on whether we are able to act together.

UzhNU Media Center — Anastasia Dzhupina