Parents' Guide to Aquation: The Freshwater Access Game

In AQUATION: THE FRESHWATER ACCESS GAME, kids work to balance water resources around the world. A map of the world is divided into 20 regions, each of which is marked with icons and numbers (usually between 0 and 12) that indicate the region's water supply, its demand, and the region's current available "wealth." To play, kids select different regions of the world and make choices to ensure that every region in the world has enough water to meet its demand. Kids can transfer water from one region to another by building a pipeline (which requires both wealth and water); they can also use a region's wealth to build and run a desalination plant, conduct research, or send humanitarian aid (which transfers wealth from one region to another). Throughout the game, pop-up news flashes alert players to changes in resources, like an especially rainy season (which adds water supply), a drought (which depletes it), or a change in water usage (which could go either way). Wealth sometimes increases through a newly discovered cache of gold. Research sometimes results in new wealth or a change in the cost of using desalination plants, and, as with real research, sometimes there isn't a tangible or immediate benefit. About halfway through gameplay, users are prompted to reflect on the strategy they're using to play the game, like building pipelines or funding research. After making a few moves, a pop-up asks kids to identify the strategy they're using by selecting one from a list of possible choices, and they're also asked to consider whether they plan to stick with that strategy or adjust their choices to try something else. They're invited to reflect on their strategy again once they've met water demand in every region of the world and gameplay ends.