Wood & Weather

Wood & Weather is an independent simulator in which we play as a god, influencing the lives of the residents of a small town. The game lets us influence weather, causing phenomena such as natural disasters or permanent climate change. The game was developed by the Australian studio Paper House, while the soundtrack was composed by Dan Golding (Untitled Goose Game).

Mechanics

Wood & Weather takes place in an open world inhabited by people resembling wooden toys. They go about their regular lives in a bustling town. Our job is to solve their problems and inspire them. Our divine presence in the toy world manifests as a giant hand, which can directly interact with the community. We use it to make the people's lives easier or more difficult (like throwing somebody's car into a lake).

Interfering with the world can bring long-term consequences, especially if we mess with the weather. Changing the atmospheric conditions affects the townspeople's lives and can expose them to being struck by lightning or falling ill due to pollen in the air. Our actions can also cause natural disasters or significant climate change - persistent rain can cause a flood, while extremely high temperature will gradually shift the landscape into a desert.

Trivia

The developers at Paper House, intrigued by how the game industry affects climate, decided to measure the energy consumed during the development of Wood & Weather. They plan to use the acquired date to make production smoother as well as to share information with other studios.