Biotopia is a serious game designed to convey the core concepts of food4future in a playful way. The game was developed as part of a semester-long project by students in the International Media Informatics program at HTW Berlin during the summer semester of 2025.

Players are immediately confronted with the extreme scenarios "No Land" and "No Trade" discussed in f4f [more on this]: A city that can no longer produce enough food through conventional agriculture and cannot import enough through trade. However, the city’s residents are hungry and must be provided with food. This can only be achieved with the help of the organisms and cultivation systems from food4future. Food can be produced by cultivating and processing crickets, jellyfish, algae, and salt-tolerant plants. Players must make clever use of the space available to them and set up various cultivation systems within the urban environment. Through play, they learn about the characteristics of these cultivation systems, the organisms involved, and the products derived from them. The city is also continuing to grow, and with it the number of residents, which means the challenge is becoming greater over time.

Biotopia contributes to science communication by specifically targeting a younger audience and using game-based learning to raise awareness of the challenges of future food systems. At the same time, it explains concrete problems in an accessible way and highlights potential solutions. The project’s results have already been presented at the Showtime event for the International Media Informatics program and at the SaarowTherme summer festival. In the future, the app will also be available at other public events.