Dolphin Spirit: Ocean Mission
“For thousands of years, our clan has protected the island’s ecosystem.”
In this 2023 videogame aimed at a middle grade audience, players take the role of either a girlish or boyish protagonist who visits their grandfather on their family’s ancestral homeland, the fictional Pacific island of Maupiroa. Here, the player supports a group of local environmental scientists in their efforts at ecological restoration and marine conservation by collecting trash, helping animals trapped in plastic waste, and taking photos of animals to document the island’s biodiversity. As the story progresses, the player learns more about fictionalized Indigenous environmental practices that emphasize the interconnectedness of all beings and befriends a dolphin (who joins them during their diving missions) and a dog (who accompanies them when exploring the island on foot).
Dolphin Spirit: Ocean Mission is very explicit about its environmentalist messages. Its audiovisual design with lush landscapes filled with the sounds of birdsong and the roar of the surf enables players to experience the beautiful biodiversity of its ocean and tropical island settings. The game also includes unlockable, short encyclopedia-like entries that provide background information on issues connected to marine conservation, such as the risk of biodiversity loss due to climate change, or the dangers caused by plastic pollution or overfishing.
On one hand, the game invites young players to internalize a sense of personal agency regarding environmental activism, but on the other hand, it also communicates that there are limits to what any single individual can achieve by emphasizing the importance of collective climate action. While the Indigenous community in the game is fictional, Dolphin Spirit: Ocean Mission might inspire players to learn more about real-world Indigenous environmental practices, for example, concerning the responsible stewardship of natural resources or the preservation of ancestral ecological knowledge that the game exemplifies through the character of the grandfather teaching his grandchild.
Due to its low degree of difficulty, Dolphin Spirit: Ocean Mission is very accessible, even to children with little to no video game experience. Because the dialogue is conveyed only through subtitles, some reading skills are required to follow the story and enjoy the game.
©2024 ClimateLit (Alena Cicholewski)
This game is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox series X/S.
Pages: 3 hours
ISBN: N/A
Audience: Ages 8-13
Format: Games and Other
Topics: Ancestral Knowledge, Animal Companions, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change, Collective Climate Action, Ecological Restoration, Global Warming, Indigenous Environmental Practices, Interconnectedness, Kinship with Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Pollution, Oceans, Overfishing, Plastic Pollution, Pollution
Contributor(s):