A research game that investigates ethical decision-making during climate-related crises — how professionals prioritize under pressure, and what the consequences are for individuals and society.
Game launching 2027
Saving of Swedovia is a research project developing an interactive simulation game to explore how people navigate ethical dilemmas during climate hazards. In the game, participants take on the roles of politicians, civil servants, and first responders in the fictional country of Swedovia, facing difficult decisions where competing values clash and there are no clear right answers.
The project brings together expertise in political science, game design, and emergency management to create a research tool that is both scientifically rigorous and engaging for participants. By simulating realistic crisis scenarios, we can study how different groups approach ethical trade-offs and what factors influence their decision-making under pressure.
The project is generously funded by the Swedish Research Council and The Crafoord Foundation.
Systematic review of research on ethical dilemmas in crisis management. Development of the theoretical framework.
Conducted in-depth interviews and a survey with practitioners in crisis management. Their real-world experiences directly informed the game's scenarios and decision architecture. The simulation game has been designed and developed.
Testing with practitioners and stakeholders. Iterating on game mechanics, scenarios, and the ethical dilemma framework.
The game will be released to the public in early 2027. During this phase the game will actively collect data from players, providing a large-scale empirical foundation for the project's research.
Once the game has finished collecting data, a fully anonymized version of the dataset will be released for the research community. During this final phase we will seek to publish the main studies based on the game and other data collected throughout the project.
For questions about the project, please contact PI Joel Martinsson at joel.martinsson@lnu.se.
The research behind Saving of Swedovia is an ongoing, interdisciplinary process. Below you will find information about upcoming presentations and — as the project develops — publications, data, and insights into how game mechanics can serve research purposes.
Linnaeus University
Linköping University
Ghost Lab
Harvard University
More information about publications, research data, game mechanics for research, and related topics will be published here as the project progresses.