Microsoft holds an annual student competition called Imagine Cup, with its theme chosen from the UN Millennium Goals. The 2008 theme is the environment, and for the first time there is a special game development, with games created in XNA Game Studio Express. I'll be in Paris next week acting as a judge for the 2008 finals. There are six finalist teams, although I'm not yet sure what their games are about. The top three US finalists appear after the jump.

Ecocism
Ligersoft: The George Washington University
Designed by Ligersoft, a duo of George Washington University roommates, expressly for Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox 360, Ecocism is a thought-provoking one-of-a-kind hybrid of arcade-style shoot-em-up and real-time strategy that takes place in a future dystopia in which resources have been squandered and ravenous energy-guzzling machines run amok rendering the earth’s surface an “uninhabitable wasteland”. Human survivors have been forced to retreat underground to the "Colony"! The game demands that players engage in reasoned strategizing, husbanding their resources and thinking carefully about the future impact of decisions they make now in order to restore the environment and make the earth’s surface habitable again, while keeping their wits about them to fend off onslaughts from enemy combatants.

Clean the World
CTW: California State University, Fullerton
Cleaning supplies become weapons in Clean the World, an eco-conscious game developed by a team of students from California State University, Fullerton. Wielding their virtual cleaning agents, players assume the mantle of a young boy who must rid the world of harmful pollutants in order to spare his father’s life and save the world from impending extinction.

LATROP
The Green Pill: California State University, Fullerton
The brainchild of a quintet of students from California State University, Fullerton, LATROP, standing for Last Attempt to Save Our Planet, is a multi-level game that challenges players to race against the clock to get soda cans in a recycling bin and log a high score. There are some 20 different “mind-bending” levels to navigate and gamers can compete with friends in two-player mode to determine the best recycler.