Discover the game

The STOP DISASTERS game helps adults and children understand how disaster risk is shaped by human choices. 

Through play, users explore how decisions about where people live, how buildings are constructed, how ecosystems are protected, and how communities prepare influence what happens when a hazard strikes. Players see first-hand how early warning systems, evacuation planning, education, and risk-informed land use can significantly reduce losses. 

STOP DISASTERS is suitable for learners aged 9–17, as well as for academic, professional, and informal learning environments. It can be used in classrooms, trainings, workshops, and community settings to make disaster risk reduction practical, engaging, and accessible. 

New to Stop Disasters game? 

Before you start playing, take a moment to explore the full “How to play” guide.

It walks you step by step through your mission, explains how risk levels work, how the advisor supports your decisions, and how your choices affect the community when the disaster strikes.

The guide also helps you understand the logic behind building, mitigating, and planning across different scenarios, so you can get the most out of the game and focus on what really matters: reducing risk before disaster happens.

STOP DISASTERS is more than a game — it is a strategic learning experience with real-world relevance. 

Players are challenged to make decisions under pressure, balancing limited resources while protecting people, infrastructure, and essential services. The game encourages critical thinking, systems thinking, and an understanding of the trade-offs involved in disaster risk management. 

A 2014 study with elementary school students showed that nearly all participants understood what a risk map is after playing the game, and most expressed a desire to replay in order to improve their results. 

What players gain is not only skills, but a shift in how they think about disasters. 

Earthquakes, floods, wildfires, and cyclones are natural hazards. 
Disasters occur when people, infrastructure, and systems are exposed and vulnerable. 

STOP DISASTERS helps break the cycle of disaster → response → recovery → repeat by shifting the focus to risk reduction before disaster strikes. Players learn that careful planning, coordinated action, and long-term investment can reduce vulnerability and limit the need for costly emergency response. 

This reinforces a key principle of disaster risk reduction: 
there is no such thing as a “natural disaster.” 

Understanding this shift is essential — but learning how to apply it requires more than theory alone. 

Understanding disaster risk is not only about knowing facts — it is about making decisions under uncertainty, balancing competing priorities, and seeing how choices made today shape outcomes tomorrow. An online game allows people to experiment safely with these challenges, testing decisions and seeing consequences without real-world harm. 

By simulating real-world constraints such as limited time, limited budgets, and competing priorities, STOP DISASTERS helps learners understand how disaster risk reduction works in practice — not just in principle. 

At UNDRR, we envision a world where disasters no longer threaten the well-being of people and the future of the planet. Strengthening risk awareness and preparedness at all levels — from classrooms and communities to institutions and governments — is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and building long term resilience. 

The game was originally developed as part of the 2006–2007 World Disaster Reduction Campaign, “Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School,” and continues to support education and capacity-building efforts worldwide. 

If you would like to be part of this effort, there are several ways to engage.