Cercla: The Game is a video game in the adventure genre and published by Paladin Associates, Inc. originally released in 1993. It is currently playable on DOS.
Cercla: The Game places the player in charge of responding to hazardous-waste contamination under the provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Presented as an educational strategy title for DOS computers, the game combines site investigation, legal administration, budgeting, and environmental cleanup. Each scenario begins with a reported spill, abandoned industrial property, or polluted waste site. The player must determine the nature and extent of the danger, protect nearby residents, identify responsible parties, and select an appropriate course of action before contamination spreads.
Play proceeds through a series of command screens and map displays. Reports from inspectors, laboratories, local officials, and affected communities provide information about groundwater, soil, air quality, and hazardous materials. Some evidence is incomplete or expensive to obtain, requiring careful decisions about which tests to authorize. The player can order emergency containment, arrange public warnings, restrict access, begin removal operations, or pursue longer-term remedial work. Legal and financial records are equally important, as costs may be assigned to companies, property owners, government agencies, or public funds. A successful response balances speed, safety, available resources, and the need to build a defensible case.
The principal play area is a simple overhead representation of the contaminated site and its surroundings. Industrial buildings, storage areas, drainage channels, wells, roads, homes, and municipal facilities are marked with brightly colored symbols. Selecting a location opens text panels describing current conditions and available actions. Additional screens present timelines, expense ledgers, investigation results, and lists of potentially responsible parties. The interface is deliberately functional, relying on menus, highlighted commands, and keyboard selection rather than arcade-style controls. Scenarios develop through successive turns, with new test results, weather conditions, complaints, and political pressures altering the situation.
Visually, the game uses the restrained graphics associated with contemporary educational software. CGA, EGA, and VGA display modes provide colored maps, block-drawn structures, warning symbols, and compact illustrations of drums, tanks, trucks, and treatment equipment. Most of the screen is devoted to readable text and tables, while occasional diagrams explain the movement of pollutants or the operation of a cleanup method. Sound is limited to short PC-speaker effects for menu selections, warnings, and completed actions. There is no continuous musical score, leaving the emphasis on reports, decisions, and the changing status of each site.
The player experience is methodical and investigative rather than fast-paced. Early mistakes can increase cleanup costs, expose residents to unnecessary danger, or allow pollutants to reach additional areas. Rushing to remove visible waste may prove less effective than first tracing underground movement and documenting liability. Conversely, excessive study can permit an emergency to worsen. Multiple scenarios, varying site conditions, and different cleanup priorities encourage repeated play, while the terminology and procedures introduce the basic responsibilities involved in hazardous-site management.
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