Tarnation is an embeddable flash-based game that features Stephen Tarper and Michael Oil Rignatieff popping up from behind tar-filled barrels and pipes in the midst of the toxic Alberta Tar Sands. Push them outta there using your high-pressure tar blasting skills. After clearing them out, send Harper, Iggy, and the other major party leaders your personal opinion on Canada's economic direction.

By combining gaming and mail campaigning, Tarnation engages people and encourages the expression of opinion on the environmentally pressing issue of the Canadian government's support of tar sands development.

Contributors

A labour of love, this game was born from the dedicated efforts of four creative professionals with the support of The Polaris Institute:

• Ed Newell

  —Programming and Project Lead

  By day Ed works in a biochemical plant that produces low-carbon fuel, but by night he makes forays into web design and game programming. He prefers to work on projects that challenge and engage the user and which juxtapose political figures, brands, and lifestyles with their wider consequences.
  edward dot newell at gmail dot com

• Nick Leonard

  —Drawings and Character Design

  Nick is a Visual artist and video game enthusiast born in Ottawa, currently residing in Victoria, BC. Nick sees the world of video games as the next frontier for the arts, and aspires to develop the medium in a new direction.
  heynicky at gmail dot com

• Everett Newell

  —Character Rigging and Animation

  A digital animator at Nelvana, Everett seeks to use 2d and 3d animation to tell stories that open people's minds. He believes that through storytelling the viewer gains access to perspectives, consequences, and places that would otherwise be out of sight.
  ev_newell at yahoo dot com

• Mike Keogh

  —Music and Sound FX

  If Mike Keogh isn't playing piano, he's got a game controller in his hands. He loves producing music and sound design for all sorts media projects, but just can't get enough of that special place where gameplay, music, voice and sound effects come together to make interactive soundscapes.
  mikeok at gmail dot com