From play to practice and policy: how a game is helping people rethink trees in cities

Posted on Friday 1 August 2025

People have always had a connection to trees.

Reflect on the tree you climbed as a child, the one that held your favourite swing, or the tall oak that shades a cherished bench in the park. Trees are not just part of the landscape but are woven into memories. They offer cool refuge on hot days, places to gather, reflect, and dream. Across cultures and generations, trees have been silent companions in our lives.

But what does the future hold for the trees in our towns and cities?

In the UK, where urbanization is rising and green space is shrinking, a unique game called Urban Labor-a-tree is imagining a new kind of treescape, one that includes everyone, from city planners to school kids, birds to board game enthusiasts.

What are the benefits of planting trees in urban areas

Urban areas need to expand their tree cover to distribute benefits equitably and to meet tree-planting targets. In our recent research from the Branching Out project, stakeholders struggled to determine the practical actions to take in achieving their ideal future treescapes.

The Branching Out project, part of the Future Treescapes program, brought together diverse voices from the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to gain a deeper understanding of how trees shape our cities and how we can create healthier urban treescapes for the future.

“We saw how much people value trees—sometimes without realizing it until invited to share stories about their interactions with them,” says Joanne Morris, a lead researcher on the Urban Labor-a-tree game project.

Through storytelling, workshops, and community engagement, participants shared memories and imagined greener futures. But translating those dreams into action proved more challenging. “What if people could ‘grow’ a treescape in just a few hours and get their hands on the planning, face the challenges, and explore the trade-offs of urban tree care?” asks Joanne.

That’s where the game came in.

Turning research into play

Having brushed with serious gaming in a previous project, Joanne partnered with applied game designer Prasad Sandbhor to translate Branching Out research into the Urban Labor-a-tree board game. Inspired by Prasad’s recent board game, Birds in the City, which explores the small actions individuals can take to create a welcoming habitat for birds, the team developed a game where players could explore the process of planting, growing, caring for a diverse urban forest and experiment with building a sustainable, inclusive urban treescape.

With support from the YESI Discipline Hopping Fellowship at the University of York, they began creating Urban Labor-a-tree. “We designed a prototype where players experience planting and managing trees in an urban environment across different seasons and over time,” says Joanne. “They face decisions such as where to plant new trees, keep them alive and protect those that are already there.” 

From post-it notes to playable art

Bringing the game to life visually was the work of Carolyn Bowe, an SEI postdoctoral visual artist, who helped translate Post-it notes and abstract ideas into a cohesive visual structure and identity for tangible gameplay, giving players a physical object to plant, grow, and potentially cut down. 

At the heart of the game is a powerful learning message: the idea of the right tree, in the right place. “With a whole city to play with, you don’t have to meet everybody’s expectations of trees in one spot,” explains Joanne. “The game shows that strategic planting across different areas can create a better, more resilient treescape overall.” Instead of using traditional currency, the game introduces other vital resources such as time, community involvement, and collective effort. “We wanted to move away from money and instead focus on the real costs and values like people’s agendas, time, and cooperation,” says Joanne.

Trees planted in Year 0 grow across gaming rounds, becoming medium or large by Year 5, giving players a sense of time and impact. Playtests revealed that even with simplified rules, players brought their questions and knowledge to the game, often weaving in personal stories and local concerns. Players work together to achieve shared and individual goals, highlighting the importance of collaboration in real-life urban forestry efforts.

From game boards to real-world conversations

Since its creation, Urban Labor-a-tree has travelled across festivals and conferences, starting conversations and dialogues. Several people attending the diverse events requested copies of the game to take back to their classrooms, community centres, or use in planning sessions in both public and private spaces. Others agreed it would be a good tool for relevant city councils to use with communities to consult on local treescape planning.

Now, the team is looking ahead. Who might use the game? What are they taking away from it? Can the game be adapted for schools with lesson plans? Could it be printed at home? How can it support local councils in consulting communities?

“These are the questions we are exploring next,” says Joanne. “We are excited to run more game sessions in the coming months to explore these questions.”

This project is funded by the University of York via the York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI) as part of the Environmental Sustainability at York (ESAY) initiative.