Many of our urban centres face a precarious future due to climate change. Geographic positions that were once favourable to trade and exchange will become inhospitable. In this context, Symbiocity is a game that prototypes a future where cities become more tightly integrated with nature, allowing players to explore different mitigation methods through a virtual rewilding of the urban environment.

In the game, players can use a series of ‘environment’ brushes to alter the city, introducing different biomes that attract animals and plants – generating new urban microclimates through procedurally naturalising the city. Players must grow and nurture habitats for both human and non-human inhabitants. As different biomes are applied to the city, players can change from the ‘gods eye’ view of the human administrator to embody various different animal types that proliferate in these new environments. Embodying a bird, a bee, a squirrel or even a tortoise, players are able to engage with the city through the unique ‘umwelt’ of each species, investigating the agency that each creature has as part of a larger ecosystem. By combining human and non-human players together into one multiplayer game environment, Symbiocity allows us to explore the potential of cities that are closely integrated with nature, prototyping new urban forms through rewilding.