Whale's Last Song

I want to raise awareness for the struggles bowhead whales have gone through in the past several decades, as well as highlight the changes that threaten them now. They were declared endangered in 1970 due to over whaling. In 1990, despite a recovery of their population levels they began to face changes in their migration patterns, their ability to hide from predators, and their health due to arctic ice melting because of climate change. By 2019, almost no bowhead whales have the same migration patterns as they once did, remaining in the Southern Chukchi Sea all year due to the aforementioned ice melting and effects on their population health. 

An article explaining this phenomena in further health can be read here: https://www.opb.org/article/2023/02/28/bowhead-whale-migration-pattern-climate-c... 

The design of the game is a looping set of rooms that change over time in order to reflect changes in environment, the population health of bowhead whales, and their migration patterns. Changes like the amount of whales, the color of the environment, and the amount of ice reflect this. I believe that by embodying a bowhead whale witnessing these changes affecting their own life, my game can create increased empathy for their plight. 

I use a few advanced options while making this game in order to enhance the experience and improve the game's creation process. I used a variable for the current year, which allowed me to recycle dialogue for the interactable whales and change what they say depending on the year. I also use conditional exits in the two sea rooms in order to keep the player exploring the room and collecting krill for as long as it takes for environmental changes to really be noticed by the player. 

I hope you like my game!