In “Energy Safari”, a game board represents an abstracted map of the province and is divided into hexagonal tiles that feature some special zones and risk zones (earthquakes, flooding) as well as urban clusters with specialised functions. Over the course of five rounds, players build up an energy network for their region. The game’s domain content is based on the Agreement on Energy for Sustainable Growth, the Masterplan for Energy-Neutral Groningen and other policy documents. Players move around the board and develop projects, determined by the colour of the tile where their playing figure lands. There are three general conditions required to realise a project: creating a network of partners (among the other players), obtaining a permit (either by rolling dice or answering a quiz question) and paying the implementation costs (by rolling the dice). Each realized project provides financial revenue (coins), a renewable energy output (KWpoints), and a community output (community points) to all networked players. Joker cards enable players to overcome certain steps. At the end of each round, players need to settle annually increasing energy costs and an event card is played describing a global event which enforces externalities such as political changes, natural disasters, or new taxes.
