Hello! Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to play this game and write this comment.
I hear your point that the game is near impossible to win, and that is exactly my intention in creating it. I wanted to parallel real-life environmental decision making, and reflect how difficult and frustrating this decision-making can be. I guess this makes it unlike a “traditional” game where the sole purpose is to reach the “good” ending, but rather where the purpose comes more in the process. I agree that I could have made this clearer, but did not want to provide a “spoiler” of sorts - do you think you would have played the game differently if this was made clear in the game description?
Additionally, the semi-randomisation and luck in the outcomes was meant to show that there isn’t an obvious or consistent solution or path to victory when it comes to implementing renewable energy developments. Luck and unpredictability reflects our shortcomings in accounting for all factors in real-life scenarios - we can calculate every cost and predict every response but it can only be so accurate.
Also regarding the solar panels: there is actually a 50% chance that you get a scenario that is not about pollutive materials, and hence you would not have to spend the extra money on alternative materials! It is hence possible to win with a solar plant, though as explained about, it does depend on luck.
I am grateful for the time and effort you spent on this, and would be happy to chat about this more if you’re interested (my contact details are in the description if you want to take this off the comment board)! Thank you again!