Endling: Extinction is Forever - can a video game raise awareness of the climate crisis?

Take on the role of a maternal figure in nature – well, what’s left of it.

Endling: Extinction is Forever is a video game in which you control the last mother fox on Earth, raising her four cubs.

The aim is straightforward. Keep her children alive by feeding them regularly whilst avoiding scavengers (humans) and predators that want to hunt or capture her kids; otherwise, foxes will become extinct.

The narrative is set decades in the future, in a world ravaged by climate change. Deforestation is rampant, factories have polluted the air, and extreme weather causes disasters.

Everything falls apart when a wildfire forces the fox out of her natural habitat and into new territories: The River, The Forest and The Wasteland. 

Herobeat Studios is an independent games developer based in Barcelona. It was founded by Pablo Hernandez Delagado and Javier Ramello Marchioni, and Endling is their first release.

The firm says they view video games “as a medium for fostering empathy, sparking critical thinking, and promoting social change.” 

Marchioni told Lenovo Legion Gaming Community that “Endling stems from personal concerns about the state of the world today,” such as “global warming, the destruction of entire ecosystems, irresponsible waste management.”

It’s clear that the environment is significant to the plot, so I wanted to see how well Endling informs about the climate crisis. 

At first I noticed how simple and intuitive the controls are. The tutorial covers how to move, interact, pick up items, and more. They don’t require a high skill level or an extensive gaming background; instead, they are accessible and easy for beginners to use – which is great.

Complete the tutorial and the game places you in the first area: the river. A snowy location with a small cave – one of three dens where the fox family can sleep for the night. 

A tense simulation with short day-and-night cycle

Herobeat Studios created a tense simulation of an endangered species with a short day-and-night cycle. Each day, the mother fox must leave her den, explore her surroundings and scavenge for food by following a lime-green scent to ensure her cubs eat.

But the problem is that food is scarce and time is short, as it becomes dangerous when the sun sets, so it is important to return to the den quickly. 

The daily cycle is fast-paced and intentionally designed to create stress so you can understand her conditions. She puts her kin first before herself, before anything, connecting players to the very human themes of family and sacrifice - despite the main character being a fox, of course. 

Regardless, the daily loop of exploration and rest is enjoyable, maybe a little repetitive at first, but as the game progresses and the further you explore, it becomes familiar and fun.

Just stay away from the scavengers who want to hurt you; they might block your way back to the den. I had to learn that lesson many times. Though not all humans are cruel in Endling, some are kind and will feed and pet you.

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Endling has great attention to detail. There is plenty to discover and look at, beyond survival. The grass, stars, trees, water - all of it is intricate with an endearing cartoon-esque art style, and the rabbits, mice, pigeons and humans who roam around bring it to life

There is no dialogue in the game, only murmurs from humans, barks from the mother and cute squeaks from the cubs. Nor is there music with lyrics, but both are effective.

For example, a high-tempo chase-sequence song plays once you are spotted by a scavenger, heightening the sense of urgency and anxiety as you run away.

Contrasted by a more touching but mellow song with a woman vocalising to a beautiful melody over a guitar, which you find halfway through the story. It represents the hopeful but sombre tone of the game.

The mother fox and her family’s story is nothing short of emotional, without giving too much away, and I understand that Herobeat have done this to create empathy for our wildlife displaced by climate change and human activity.

But it may also make players think deeply about how this post-apocalyptic world came to be, serving as a forewarning of a potential (but not definite) future. 

Endling: Extinction is Forever tackles the climate crisis and nature preservation through a poignant narrative arc. It is short, can be completed in four to six hours, and has multiple endings. 

What’s unique to video games is the ability to control the main character and progress the story.

As you take on the role of the mother fox, you slowly become attached to or emotionally invested in her, living in a distant world through her eyes. So it helps you connect more strongly with its themes.

And maybe that shift, from your own perspective to hers, is just what makes this piece of climate-conscious storytelling so compelling

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