City of Corals is a colourful coral reef adventure game where players learn about how the coral reef ecosystem works as part of the gameplay. Its main aims are to teach the player about corals, the species that live on the reef, and how coral bleaching happens.
The first chapter of the game is available to play now for free, with further chapters in development.
Game overview
The game begins when Sea Bunny arrives at a bleached coral reef. Here, players meet the colourful residents of an underwater city, explore the streets, befriend different species of fish and help them restore the corals to their former glory!
Learning through play
Throughout the game the player will learn about the corals symbiotic relationship with algae, collecting zooxanthellae as they explore the city and using it as a currency to restore the corals. In this way the terminology is blended into the gameplay to aid learning.
Real species and their interactions within the environment are also included to familiarise people with the diversity of life on a reef. For example, players will meet and befriend species such as parrotfish and clownfish. These can eat seaweed and pass through anemones, which will help the player progress past obstacles throughout the city.
The human characters in the game are also based around reef species. The main character is inspired by a cute inhabitant of the reef – a sea bunny (Scientific name ‘Jorunna parva’).
As the player guides sea bunny through the game they will unlock and discover different types of coral and see the colour return to the bleached areas they have helped. Hopefully by creating a cute and colourful world that demonstrates what is currently happening to corals, the game will act as an interactive way for players of all ages to enjoy learning about coral reefs and spark further interest.
While the first chapter focuses just on coral bleaching, more chapters are in development that will explain issues such as sedimentation and loss of seagrass habitats.
Photo credit: Miranda Bennett Margrave
Bio
Made by Miranda Bennett Margrave, an artist and game developer who is interested in using games as a platform for learning and reaching new audiences, and whose aim is to create games that blend art, natural history and education to inspire people to take an interest in nature. Many elements of these games are handcrafted, such as City of Corals including real paper models for the buildings and watercolour illustrations.
Previous games include ‘Peat the Lapwing’, a game to teach children about peatlands and their importance, created with Natural England.
Contact info and links
Email: [email protected]
Website: mirandasgamejournal.wordpress.com
Stream: store.steampowered.com/app/2393460/City_Of_Corals/
The first chapter of the game is available to download and play for free on popular gaming platform Steam. More chapters are under development and plan to be released in 2026.
