I loved this mechanic from a game called Tides of Tomorrow. Certain players see ghosts of another actual human playing the same game – and what they do affects you (and vice versa).

these visions are not pre-programmed encounters but other players connected to you via the internet, and they have already played through the same events. Think of this as an asynchronous multiplayer system like ghosts in Elden Ring, only here they tangibly affect your game, perhaps leaving a key item such as a knife to plunge into said, unsuspecting kingpin.

You only ever follow in the footsteps of one player at a time, getting to know them through their decision-making impulses.

It’s a very apt mechanism for a game about the climate crisis, where collective action problems abound.

For all the whiz-bang novelty of this component, the lead designer maintains that it speaks to the game’s deeper themes – indeed, that the mechanic doubles as a carefully considered metaphor. After all, what is navigating the all-enveloping climate crisis, and perhaps even mitigating its worst effects, but a gargantuan collaborative effort involving people spread across vast continents?