Echoes of the Future Designing a Game for Green Software Engineering

While research in Sustainable Software Engineering has grown significantly, we still need to catch up in educating current and future IT professionals. We develop Echoes of the Future, a 2D role-playing game designed to teach sustainability practices in Software Engineering and raise awareness about the climate crisis. This paper explores the design and educational strategy behind the game development process. To assess the educational effectiveness of our approach, we conduct a preliminary survey measuring player engagement, understanding of sustainability principles, and alignment with Intended Learning Outcomes. Additionally, we analyze the environmental footprint of the Game Engine Unity, comparing its energy efficiency with alternative game engines. Our research demonstrates how interactive, narrative-driven games can effectively convey complex Software Engineering concepts while raising awareness of real-world sustainability issues, contributing to the growing field of green software education.