Saving the turtles doesn’t just involve going out there and doing your own saving, it also involves money—and lots of it. In a fun effort to build funds for the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Forest Foundation Philippines, and BIOFIN Philippines has released a game to close the 80 percent finance gap in the national natural conservation budget.
“Animal Town: Cute City Builder” is a mobile game developed by BIOFIN Philippines that lets players help save the environment through their gameplay duration and in-game purchases. It’s a cute, relaxing game that lets you build your own town, help animal villagers, and accomplish quests to make your town better.
It’s similar to games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley, but with the added benefit of funding important natural conservation efforts.
You start as the mayor of the town, and grow it by welcoming in villagers, building commercial structures, and adding roads. It’s an easy, fun, low-commitment game for when you just want to focus on simple tasks (something we all need from time to time, to be honest).
The villagers are all animals, and some of them (like the cute little pawikan) are endemic to the Philippines. You’ll have to help them find homes, jobs, and direct them to places to earn more gold to help build a better village. It’s all very basic community-building tasks that resemble what we need to do in the real world.
You also get to learn more about the basics of biodiversity, endemic animals, and other aspects of the environment through the game’s special features.
“Animal Town: Cute City Builder” is available through Google Play and the App Store.