About This Game

Glacial Guardians is a data-driven educational video game that explores the lifecycle of Antarctic icebergs through interactive gameplay grounded in real-world scientific data.

Players travel to Antarctica and learn about icebergs, climate change, and polar ecosystems by interacting with emperor penguin researchers and exploring an Antarctic-inspired environment. By earning Research Points, players can construct research bases on iceberg A68, one of Antarctica's most famous "celebrity icebergs."

The game follows the real-world journey of iceberg A68, which calved from the Larsen C Ice Shelf in July 2017 and continued to drift, fracture, and melt until its eventual disappearance in 2021. Using tracking data from the U.S. National Ice Center, Glacial Guardians recreates the movement and breakup of A68 and its fragments, allowing players to witness the challenges scientists face when studying a constantly changing environment.

As the iceberg fractures and drifts across the Southern Ocean, players must decide where to place their research bases and hope their structures survive the journey. Some bases may remain safely supported by the ice, while others may tumble into the ocean as the iceberg breaks apart beneath them.

Features

• Explore a data-driven recreation of iceberg A68's lifecycle
• Learn about Antarctica, icebergs, and climate science through interactive NPC dialogue
• Earn Research Points and build research stations on a real Antarctic iceberg
• Watch a simulation based on real iceberg movement and fragmentation data
• Experience environmental storytelling inspired by real Antarctic research challenges
• Developed in Unreal Engine using Blueprint visual scripting
• Created using scientific literature, satellite observations, and publicly available iceberg tracking data

Educational Goals

Glacial Guardians was created to bridge the gap between scientific research and public understanding. Through interactive storytelling, exploration, and simulation, the project aims to help players better understand iceberg dynamics, climate change, and the importance of Antarctic research.

By combining real-world data with engaging gameplay, the game encourages curiosity about environmental science while providing an accessible introduction to one of Earth's most remote and rapidly changing regions.

Presented at IEEE IGARSS 2025

Developed by Olivia Patterson and Dr. Rebecca Williams at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as part of the NSF-funded Institute for Harnessing Data and Model Revolution in the Polar Regions (iHARP).

Complete credits and third-party asset attributions are available in the game and on the GitHub repository.