Sustainability issues are often seen by students as impenetrably complex systems. Through the use of a specific game-based intervention, issues of social and environmental sustainability are explored in a manner that builds both student engagement and understanding. Experience suggests that with a minimal framework in which to operate, students are able to simulate the conditions around subsistence fishing communities, central government policy and control, and individual agency in the balance of human needs and wider environmental concerns. Through this work, they are able to access complex issues that underscore how difficult it is to meet the needs of all stakeholders. This game-based intervention is also highly interdisciplinary and has been used to enable non-sustainability students to engage meaningfully with critical concepts regardless of their level of background familiarity or technical expertise.