Looking to fill the idle hours in Covid-19 lock-down – not least with teens 14+? A renewable energy card game inspired by memories of an oil exploration and production industry game that a wind power engineer played as a child might be worth a flutter.

The game, Age of Renewables, pits opposing players against one another in a race to build renewable energy projects, backed by either a hero, ‘Mr Pioneer’ and father of modern electricity Nikola Tesla, or villain, ‘Mr Nimby’, coal-digging US President Donald Trump.

In the game, which uses 108 hand-drawn cards, players assemble their the ECO (engineer, contractor, operator) team, and find a location to build their project, a source to provide clean energy and a technology to transform the energy to electricity.

The winner is the player that builds the most projects harvesting as widest range of renewable energy resources.

“In 2017 after giving a lecture in renewables at the university of Lisbon, [Portugual] I took a picture at the port of the city,” the game’s inventor, Marios Papalexandrou, who heads UK-based renewables consultancy Aeolus. told Recharge.

“The picture reminded me of a board game I used to play with my brothers as a kid called Searching for Oil and there I had a pause and a thought. What would I like my children to play with? This is how Age of Renewables was born.

Design, building and operating renewable energy projects is the game's “goal”, Papalexandrou added, “but it is also a card game for youngsters and adults explaining what renewables is all about in an entertaining way”.

“I hope this game will allow more children and adults to understand the importance of renewables and for some kids to pursue their dreams becoming renewable energy professionals and changing the world for a better place for future generations.”

Age of Renewables, which can be played by 2-4 players, was launched with a £3,500 ($6,000) Kickstarter fund.