It’s Earth Day. Let the Climate Games Begin.

Mr. Reiss feels strongly that the game should be in every high school in New York State. He made Energetic the centerpiece of a climate educational program in an appropriations proposal he and colleagues at Hunter College sent to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s office. The game is priced at $89 and currently costs $110 to make, but it could be mass-produced for $40, Mr. Reiss said.

“It’s essentially a way to test out your assumptions,” said Matthew Sarker, who teaches Advanced Placement physics and an elective on climate change at Bronx Science. “If you don’t want to use nuclear energy at all, you don’t have to, but the challenge becomes a little harder. If you don’t research any hydrogen storage, you become more reliant on hydropower, which is geographically specific. If you want to use a lot of wind power, you ought to appreciate the scale needed.”

After Mr. Sarker’s students play the game, he gives them a writing assignment with the following prompt: “Suppose your goal was to provide all of New York State’s electricity needs with 100 percent carbon-free energy. What is most needed to reach that goal? Explain why.”

Mr. Reiss has observed that Energetic gives young people the confidence to talk about energy issues with their families. “That could make a huge difference in something like permitting or the way people vote,” he said.

“It’s a big project to transition from fossil fuels,” he said. “It is going to take all of us.”