Cranky Uncle - Apps on Google Play

Beat climate deniers at their own game.

At version 3.8, our critical thinking skills-building game #CrankyUncle now includes Romanian!

We've come a long way since 2022, the first year the game became multi-lingual-- with many complications entailed!

Many languages to go. Our hearty --Thank You-- goes to current and future volunteer translators!

(The same cognitive strengths against #ClimateBunk built by Cranky Uncle work on other faults of the wetware between our ears, such as #VaccinationReluctance.)

https://skepticalscience.com/cranky-uncle-game-multilingual.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-term=sks

The Cranky Uncle game can now be played in 16 languages!

As of March 7, 2025, the Cranky Uncle game is available in English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Swedish, Turkish, Albanian, Macedonian, Finnish, Romanian, Catalan, Croatian and Indonesian. It can be played on iOS or Android devices as well as in the browser. More languages are already in the queue and this blog post will be updated whenever a new language gets launched. In addition, there may be language specific announcements linked via the flag-icons at the top. These will be created by the translator teams and will most likely go into more language specific details or explain some particularly tricky or interesting translation challenges.

Skeptical Science

We're doing it again: blowing our own horn for 'Story of the Week' in our latest roundup of 34 items of climate coverage in media beyond the rarefied air of academia.

Our #FLICC quiz (with #CrankyUncle!) has tickled the fancy of quite a few people-- because what looks simple turns out surprisingly difficult?

What's FLICC? Learn all about it and much more at our latest edition of the Skeptical Science Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup, #21 for 2024.

https://skepticalscience.com/2024-SkS-Weekly-News-Roundup_21.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-term=sks

2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #21

A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 19, 2024 thru Sat, May 25, 2024. Story of the week This week's typiclal compendium of stories we'd rather were plot devices in science ficition novels but instead are captured from our own small planet present a daunting prospect. We're in a world of trouble, documented day-by-day. Is there a unifying theme to our troubles, and if so what's our answer?

Skeptical Science

Given our involvement it's not exactly "fair and balanced" but our Story of the Week for our weekly #ClimateNews roundup is about how #UNICEF adopted and adapted the science and technology of our critical-thinking skills teaching game #CrankyUncle and is now using our work to save lives by overcoming #VaccinationHesitancy

Also in this edition are 33 other articles made easily findable thanks our eagle-eyed editorial crew of volunteers. One-stop shopping!

https://skepticalscience.com/2024-SkS-Weekly-News-Roundup_09.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-term=sks

2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #09

A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, Feb 25, 2024 thru Sat, March 2, 2024. Story of the week This week's big news is close to home for Skeptical Science and comes via UNICEF: Seriously Cranky: the uncle we all have helps build the skills we all need to resist misinformation (pdf). It's a story spanning an arc of progress beginning with fundamental research by Skeptical Science founder John Cook and ending with operational application of findings from that investigation-- now in multiple arenas including and beyond Skeptical Science's core mission of promoting accurate understanding of the science of climate change.

Skeptical Science

We're tickled pink and admittedly a bit proud that our #CrankyUncle app originally created to help people think better about #ClimateChange and dismiss #ClimateMyths has been adopted and adapted by #UNICEF to combat #VaccineHesitancy !

For small organizations such as ours this is an inspirational object lesson. Little pebbles can make astonishingly big ripples even in a globe-sized pond.

UNICEF tells the story of the new version. The original is at crankyuncle.com.

https://www.unicef.org/documents/seriously-cranky-uncle-we-all-have-helps-build-skills-we-all-need-resist-misinformation

Seriously Cranky: the uncle we all have helps build the skills we all need to resist misinformation

In designing and delivering programs to improve individual and societal wellbeing, we must increasingly contend with how disinformation erodes public trust and can lead to unhealthy behaviors. On both online and offline platforms, there is more information — including more low-quality information — circulating than ever before. It is also spreading and changing faster than ever before. Evidence shows that the misinformation and disinformation that individuals experience on a daily basis affects individuals' vaccine acceptance and confidence. The Cranky Uncle Vaccine game leverages active inoculation, gamification, and humor to build the skills needed to resist misinformation.

Thanks to the Institute of Communication Studies in Skopje our Teacher's Guide to #CrankyUncle is now available in Albanian and Macedonian!

Cranky Uncle is a (free!) multi-platform app training users on critical thinking skills and bunk detection, in connection with climate change. The logic of critique applies to any issue confused by interlopers promoting misinformation.

Cranky Uncle has found a lot of uptake in schools--- we're delighted to help educators!

https://skepticalscience.com/teachers-guide-to-cranky-uncle-download-and-translations.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-campaign=sks

The Teachers' Guide to Cranky Uncle: Downloads and Translations

Update February 9, 2024: The Teacher's Guide to Cranky Uncle is now also available in Albanian and Macedonian, thanks to the efforts of the Institute of Communication studies in Skopje!

Skeptical Science

Our multi-platform game Cranky Uncle-- created by our founder John Cook-- helps players to spot the techniques of science denial. The original version deals with climate change denial. A later adaptation focuses on vaccine hesitancy. Both are fun and effective... and free!

Melanie Trecek-King-- of the excellent "Thinking is Power" website-- discusses the "Classic" and "Vaccine" versions with John, exploring the techniques and tricks used in science denial.

#CrankyUncle
https://skepticalscience.com/conversation-about-the-cranky-uncle-game.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-term=sks

Cranky Uncle with Dr. John Cook

Cranky Uncle teaches players to spot the techniques of science denial. The original version of the game deals with climate change denial, and a newer version focuses on vaccine hesitancy. Both are fun and effective... and free!

Skeptical Science

We're happy to say that our #CrankyUncle game teaching how to identify climate misinformation (and bunk in general) is shortlisted for the 2023 Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (#CMCC) Rebecca Ballestra Climate Change Communication award.

Our submission is in company with 25 others, from a pool of 384. All deserve accolades for meeting the basic and most important imperative: "show up." Learn about them via the link!

#ClimateChangeCommunication
https://www.cmccaward.eu/cmccaward-2023/selected-projects/

Selected projects - cmccaward

cmccaward

Our Cranky Uncle game builds resilience against misinformation and strengthens players’ critical thinking. It achieves this through inoculation—explaining the rhetorical techniques used to mislead, building resilience.

Cranky Uncle is gaining wide acceptance in classrooms so we supply a teacher's guide, now newly available in Portuguese and Spanish, joining German, Dutch & English.

Thanks to generous benefactors, Cranky Uncle is free for all to play!

#CrankyUncle
https://skepticalscience.com/teachers-guide-to-cranky-uncle-download-and-translations.html?utm-source=mastodon&utm-campaign=socialnetworks&utm-term=sks

The Teachers' Guide to Cranky Uncle: Downloads and Translations

Published in January 2021, The Teachers' Guide to Cranky Uncle offers background information and classroom activity ideas for educators interested in using the Cranky Uncle game to teach critical thinking in their classes.

Skeptical Science

We're delighted to report that Cranky Uncle -- our enjoyable and amusing game centered on climate change while teaching critical thinking skills -- is the recipient of this year's Publication Award by The Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue.

A production of Skeptical Science-- with science, imagination, graphical humor conceived and applied by our founder John Cook.

#ClimateMythDebunking
#CrankyUncle

More on the award:
https://www.lib.purdue.edu/IILP/Best-Publication-Award

Cranky Uncle:
https://crankyuncle.com/?SkS_Mastodon

Research Awards | Purdue Libraries