Downstream is an open-world video game aimed at improving the catchment’s ecological health and flood resilience. Players can install leaky debris dams to slow floodwaters, build storage ponds to store water, and plant trees to reduce runoff. The player is guided by a set of SCIMAP maps that show where sediment and floodwaters originate and where strong hydrological connections exist from land to rivers. Once the player has built the dams, ponds, and woodlands, the game will simulate a flood event and show the resulting flood reduction. This game is intended for community or outreach events to show what can be achieved in the catchment and the scale of work needed to reduce flood risk.
The game is written in TypeScript and uses Three.js for the 3D graphics and SCIMAP for the risk maps. Each time you run the game, it generates a new landscape based on a random seed. If you use the same seed, you can revisit the same landscape. Built with Claude Opus 5 and 5.5.
You can read more about the game here: here and play it here