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CO₂ box art
2012 Ranked #1,397

CO₂

Saving the planet is a shared requirement, not a shared victory. Build the clean-energy company that profits, learns, and leads without letting emissions end the game.

Strategy Games Environmental Industry / Manufacturing Semi-Cooperative Game Worker Placement

Players

1-5

Play time

120 min

Age

12+

Complexity

3.87/5

Rating

7.08

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.5/5

High replayability

Interaction 4.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.3/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.7/5

Deep strategy

Player control 4.4/5

More strategic control

Setup time About 20 min
Teach time About 40 min
Table footprint Large
Recommended edition CO₂ – Stronghold Games English first edition (2012)
See all 23 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Compete as clean-energy companies while collectively preventing runaway pollution through projects, power plants, carbon permits, expertise, and summits.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

CO₂ is a heavy economic strategy game in which energy companies compete for reputation while sharing responsibility for a global environmental crisis. Every region needs additional power, and unmet demand produces fossil-fuel plants that push the pollution track toward a loss for everyone. Players propose clean-energy projects, install infrastructure, and construct solar, wind, recycling, fusion, and other green plants. Those steps require money, technology resources, and expertise, while scientists sent to energy summits improve knowledge shared across companies. Carbon Emission Permits enter a fluctuating market: regions spend them on infrastructure and fossil generation, companies trade them for profit, and control of the supply can shape both timing and price. Public UN goals and private company goals reward specialization, but no player can ignore the shared emissions threshold. Turn order, regional control, open drafting, worker placement, and opportunistic cooperation create constant interaction. The best company wants to build the most respected clean-energy portfolio without allowing short-term profit or a rival’s inaction to make the planet uninhabitable first.

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Videos (1)

How to play

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Photos (4)

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
CO₂ – Stronghold Games English first edition (2012) 2012 English Stronghold Games / US

Game and edition data

All specifications (23)

Play and group

Players
1–5
Play time
120 min
Age
12+
Complexity
3.9/5
App
None app Source
Player elimination
No Source

Practicalities

Setup time
About 20 min Source
Teach time
About 40 min Source
Teardown time
About 15 min Source
Table footprint
Large Source

Campaign and continuity

Resettable
Fully Resettable Source
Save system
Pause by recording regions, emissions, permits and market price, company resources, projects, plants, scientists, goals, expertise, decade, and turn. Source
Consumable components
No consumable components. Source

Edition and product

Optional extras
Competitive incentives sit inside a shared loss condition: unchecked global pollution can defeat every company. Includes a solo mode. Source
Recommended edition
CO₂ – Stronghold Games English first edition (2012) Source
Language
English
Region
US
Availability
Observed
Current edition
No Source
Box weight
2300 g Source
Box dimensions
31.1 × 31.1 × 7.6 cm Source
Consumable components
None. Source
Compatibility
Stronghold Games English First Edition, Product Sg 8007. Co₂: Second Chance Is A Separate Reimplementation With Revised Components And Rules. Source
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Vital Lacerda

Artists

2
Paula Simonetti Giacomo Tappainer

Publishers

1
Giochix.it

Linked items

No published linked games yet.