Ecogame Hacking Toolkit
Hack the games you know with free eco-themed assets for virtual tabletops
Welcome to our Ecogame Hacking Toolkit!
A free library of 3D board game assets for hacking and remaking games with environmental themes.
This Ecogame Hacking Toolkit gives you a collection of ready-made digital game pieces, from butterflies and mermaids to power plants and airships. You can use them in a virtual tabletop to reskin a game you know, test a new rule, or build a quick prototype with players anywhere in the world.
The toolkit was created with the help of students at Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Digital Arts, overseen by Owen Calderbank, a Senior Lecturer in Games Art. It was made in collaboration with STRATEGIES partner Plasticity Studios, developers of the 3D virtual tabletop Tabletop Playground, and based on the hacking method developed by Paul and Chloé Wake.
New to game hacking? Start with our introduction to game hacking as a method of critical literacy and creative research, which you can find in our Game Hacking Education Report.
What’s in the Library…
The assets were designed by three recent graduates of the BA (Hons) Games Art course at Manchester Metropolitan University: Kim Hoang, Ellie Little and Victoria Rayner. The collection covers living things, mythical creatures, energy infrastructure, transport and weather.
You can download the asset library here. Please credit our artists and the STRATEGIES project. For example: “Weather tokens by Ellie Little, Ecogames Hacking Toolkit, STRATEGIES project, CC BY-NC 4.0.” For more information about our licence, see below.
Weather Tokens Created by Ellie Little
Assets created by Kim Hoang
A range of industry-themed assets created by Victoria Rayner
How to Hack With These Assets
Hacking means taking a game that already exists and changing it, typically playing with the rules, to reveal the ideas built in. These assets let you do that online, without buying or printing new components. Follow our five-stage hacking method:
Identify. Choose a game you want to explore, ideally one with an environmental theme or one that raises questions about resources, growth or competition.
Play without the rules. Load the assets onto a virtual table and explore them freely. What kinds of play do a power plant, a butterfly or a storm token suggest?
Play by the rules. Play your chosen game as designed, and notice how its mechanics work.
Play with the rules. Hack the game. Swap its pieces for assets from the library, change a rule or a goal, or add a new element.
Critical reading. Talk about what changed. What did the original game say about nature? What does your hack say?
Three hacks to try
Reskin a game. Replace the pieces of a competitive game with these eco-themed assets. Does the green theme change what the game is about, or does it hide the same competitive mechanics underneath?
Flip the win condition. Take a game about accumulating resources and change the goal so that players must cooperate, restore or share instead. What happens to the play dynamics?
Add the weather. Use the weather tokens to introduce an environmental force that no player controls. How do players respond to a system they cannot control?
Remember, hacking is not about making a “better” game than the original or “correcting” bad design. It is about curiosity, debate and imagining alternatives. Messy, unfinished hacks are welcome!
Getting Started in Tabletop Playground
We’ve made this collection of resources in collaboration with STRATEGIES partner Plasticity Studios whose powerful 3D virtual tabletop Tabletop Playground is the perfect platform for creating and playing tabletop games.
Try the beta. A new version of Tabletop Playground is in development. You can join the closed beta for free by filling in this form.
Claim a free code. When the full version is released, we will offer 100 free codes on a first-come, first-served basis. To request one, email us (info@strategieshorizon.eu).
Import the assets. Follow the step-by-step guide to importing assets into Tabletop Playground.
Format, Compatibility and Licence
Format. All assets are supplied as 3D .obj files.
Compatibility. The files work in Tabletop Playground and should also suit other game-making environments, including Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator.
Licence. All assets are offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0).
You are free to:
Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
Adapt: remix, transform and build upon the material.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the licence terms:
Attribution: you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made. You may do this in any reasonable way, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial: you may not use the material for commercial purposes.
No additional restrictions: you may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.
How to credit. Please name the creator of the asset and the STRATEGIES project. For example: "Weather tokens by Ellie Little, Ecogames Hacking Toolkit, STRATEGIES project, CC BY-NC 4.0."
Get Involved
We'd love to hear from you if you would like to request a free code for the full version of Tabletop Playground, share a hack or game you have made using the library, or contribute new assets to the collection.
Email info@strategieshorizon.eu.
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