Solarpunk is going mainstream. This couple’s $1M Kickstarter proves it

Canary Media’s Climate Meets Culture column explores the intersection of energy, climate and the culture at large.

During a recent Instagram Live Q&A session with U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–New York), a viewer asked about her thoughts on climate doom.

AOC replied that she doesn’t ascribe to climate doomerism but instead is a big believer in ​“solarpunk.”

Most people watching the livestream were probably scratching their heads at that moment, as some of Canary’s readers might also be doing right now. So what is solarpunk?

One definition of solarpunk is ​“an optimistic environmentalist subgenre of speculative fiction, art, and design that envisions future life on Earth transformed by the use of sustainable energy, close co-existence of human beings with nature, and progressive sociopolitical values.” (Grist and Vice also have great explainers on the topic.)

AOC continued on the Instagram livestream: ​“It’s way easier to imagine everything going to hell than it is to imagine things working out and actually getting better. That’s where science fiction [of solarpunk] plays a role. […] You’ll see depictions of what a better future could look like.”

Solarpunk has been popping up in my feed over the last few years in various forms, including Grist’s positive climate-fiction contest, a dedicated Reddit community, a number of books and a ton of AI-generated art.

More recently I’ve come across a couple of solarpunk videogames on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, including the aptly titled Solarpunk, and another called Loftia that has raised, at the time of this writing, an impressive $1 million from over 13,300 backers.

The game is being developed by a couple in Australia who have been documenting its progress on TikTok and growing a following of hundreds of thousands along the way.

I wanted to learn more about Loftia and its solarpunk influence, so I reached out to the co-founder couple, Michael Su and Martina Qin. We had a lengthy email exchange, followed by a video call, both of which appear below, edited for brevity and clarity.

Munsell: Can you introduce yourselves?

Su and Qin: Hello, we’re Michael and Martina, the founders of Qloud Games! Qloud is a new indie gamedev studio currently focused on developing Loftia, a multiplayer online game. We’re from Sydney, Australia, and we originally come from the tech and finance/​marketing industries, respectively.

Munsell: Can you tell me about Loftia?

Su and Qin: Loftia is a cozy online game where players can engage in activities like farming, crafting, exploring and customizing, all with a solarpunk twist. As an alternative to the traditional soil farming in many other games, players will be able to use hydroponics and aquaponics, and crafting will involve recycling materials and upcycling unused items. Clean energy generated by solar, wind and hydro farms across the game world will power many of these activities, giving players the opportunity to learn about renewables.

As a massively multiplayer online game (also known as an MMO), Loftia also weaves in traditional systems from that genre, such as guilds and group content in the form of Clubs and Adventures — where players will be able to group up with their friends and other players, and go on fun side quests to tackle challenges. On top of that, what we think will really bring the community together is the concept of World Progress projects, where everyone in the game world works together to gradually transform Loftia City into a vibrant, sustainable paradise.

Munsell: How do you define solarpunk?

Su and Qin: Our definition of solarpunk is ​“standard” in the sense that it’s a vision for the future where humanity, technology and the natural environment grow and thrive in harmony. It’s an optimistic vision — one that challenges where many believe the future is headed in our modern-day society.

Loftia​’s solarpunk world will project what life could be like in one version of such a future. On the environmental sustainability side of things, we’ve integrated solarpunk features like hydroponic farming, renewable energy generation, sustainable crafting and upcycling. And on the social and community side of things, we’ve designed gameplay systems that will encourage joint play and hopefully foster genuine relationships between players.

Munsell: What inspired you to make Loftia a solarpunk-themed game?

Su and Qin: Both of us have had varying degrees of interest in gaming and sustainability throughout our lives. Upon taking some time off work in early 2022 to figure out what was next in our lives, we decided to embark on creating a video game inspired by Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, games we had really enjoyed during the tough times in 2020–2021.

The idea to focus on themes of sustainability and solarpunk emerged early on, soon after we had settled on the cozy and MMO aspects. Building a solarpunk world is particularly compatible with the other pillars of Loftia: the relaxing, non-combat-oriented and ​“altruistic” style of gameplay, as well as the goal of working together with the community.

Even if video games haven’t been a conventional medium by which to share ideas that shape the world around us (yet!), we’re hopeful that Loftia, in its own way, will help inspire more people to dig a little deeper into sustainable technology, innovation and ways of living.

Munsell: Have you worked with any clean-energy or climate professionals at all in the development of the game?

Su and Qin: In the past year, we’ve been in contact with various representatives within the clean energy and climate space, and we hope to connect with even more industry professionals going forward.

In April 2023, we traveled to the Gullen Range Wind and Solar Farm in our home state of New South Wales, Australia to tour the farms with a representative from BJCE Australia, and it was a great opportunity for us to learn more about how the technology operates and what other renewable innovations are on the horizon. Through this experience, we were able to take what we learned about wind and solar energy, and apply it into our game.

Since I work for Canary Media, I wanted more details about how Su and Qin plan to integrate renewable energy features into their game, so I followed up our email exchange with a short video call to discuss that topic.

Munsell: Do you think you will add more clean energy technologies into the game, or are you far enough along in development that you’re done building those out?

Su: We’re open to introducing additional technologies as we learn more. At the moment we’re about to enter the post-Kickstarter, full-blown development phase where we need to balance scope with additional research and introducing more features. But yeah, we’re open to new ideas.

Munsell: I’ll throw out a few you could start exploring: heat pumps, a direct air capture system — that’s a hotly debated topic — or how about battery-powered vehicles?

Qin: None of those yet, but we do have some concepts that we’re exploring. We have done some research on various vehicles that would be most suitable for our city and how they interact with the whole energy system we’ve designed.

Munsell: In the game, do the solar systems just power individual buildings and homes, or do they feed into a larger power grid?

Qin: We have this overarching concept of progress. You do things in the game that progress and improve the overall city. So I would say that we probably would have some kind of energy grid system that benefits the whole city, but players will also be able to install solar panels and other energy systems in their own homes as well. But that’s a great question that has actually got me thinking.

Munsell: Would you consider adding a Canary [bird] into the game somewhere?

Qin: We don’t have any flying animals yet, so I think a Canary would be a good one. The community would love that.

Loftia​’s Kickstarter campaign ends on August 31, and the team estimates an early version of the game will be available for select backers in late 2024, with a final version coming in December 2025. If you’re looking to get your hands on a solarpunk-themed game now, check out Terra Nil.