MineSet game

The board of the MineSet game represents an undefined region in the center of the Congo basin. It is made of hexagonal scales, each representing an area of 500 square kilometers.

The players represent four logging companies and two mining companies, which interact in this landscape. They both can build roads and place trucks. The number of roads defines the access to the urban center and therefore the market. Additionally, the mining companies can build mining pits. The logging companies get to choose between Conventional logging or reduced impact logging. Placing roads, trucks and mining pits reduces the forest cover.

Along with the roads built, the population grows. The population consists of 3 types of inhabitants: indigenous (pygmies), local Bantou farmers and Bantou migrants.

In addition, some of the cells have critical wildlife habitats (CWH). CWH can be in 3 states (intact, threatened or destroyed) depending on the state of the forest of the cells where they are located.

The complex system game is based on the real situation in the Congo basin. The MineSet game was designed to explore the impacts of logging and mining on the landscape in the Congo Basin. Building on the results from the CoForTips project, we're trying to understand the drivers of this socio-ecological systems.