They war-gamed dimming the Sun. It went even worse than you think.

Then, during the last day, players were trying to find a way to respond to reports that a major plume of aerosols had been detected. In the game, this had been caused by a joint US-Saudi test of Stardust’s technology, though not everyone knew this. Finally, scientific advice was at a premium. Countries needed to know how to establish a monitoring network of satellites and other observational tools in order to prevent tests like this from happening in secret. A player representing an NGO called the Climate Futures Cooperative approached Golja, offering her money to fund such a scheme.

“Great. Fabulous. Why wouldn’t I do that?” she recalls thinking.

But it soon came out that the Climate Futures Cooperative was actually backed by the fossil fuel industry. The organizers had recognized that fossil fuel companies and major producing countries like the US and Saudi Arabia would have a clear interest in removing barriers from the development of a technology that could combat climate change without having to immediately stop burning coal, oil, and gas. The shadowy NGO spent the game subtly wrecking the vibe and carping about process—though mostly they just sat back and let it burn. Some players—Russia, the US, SpaceX and Stardust—figured out the CFC was not what it seemed, says Young. “But they blockessed it was to their benefit and didn’t draw attention to it.” Then the CFC chose its moment to offer money to Golja, only to crater her credibility, isolating and fragmenting the voice of science in the room.

“It was a whole mess,” says Golja.

That final lesson in fossil fuel realpolitik was about all Golja could endure. By the end of the last day, she was in tears.

At no point did the countries in the game agree to a deal, despite multiple proposals being put forward. European countries and Canada tried to build support for safeguards and open scientific research, but the talks constantly got bogged down by delay tactics and veered into tense showdowns over duelling strategic interests. In their final report, the researchers running the simulation—whose work was sponsored by the UK government-funded Advanced Research and Invention Agency—concluded that “strategic competition and state sovereignty drove the simulations, not climate concerns.”