This game puts the player in charge of all decisions relating to flood policy in the UK. 

Flood policy isn’t just about spending money – its about deciding where and how we build houses, the overall infrastructure of the UK, how we communicate flood warnings to people – amongst other things. This game will give you the opportunity to make decisions relating to all of these issues, which will directly impact upon the UK’s risk of flooding.

At the end of the game, you will have the opportunity to see how well you fared against other people also playing the game.

We've utilised Adobe Flash technology in developing FloodSim, so any PC, MAC or Linux machine with the player installed will be able to run FloodSim - if it doesn't load automatically then go to www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/ and update your Flash player.

Both PlayGen and Norwich Union recognise how important the flooding issue is, and we have developed this game to raise awareness of the issue, and hopefully get people interested in the issue who perhaps would have otherwise not really thought about it.

We also want to encourage people to take action as a result of playing the game – perhaps by writing to their local MP, visiting the Environment Agency website to find out their flood risk, or thinking about the steps they would take if they were about to be flooded.

Current Environment Agency estimates state that around 5 million people, in 2 million properties, live in flood risk areas in England and Wales.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has policy responsibility for flood and coastal erosion risk in England. Defra works closely with the Environment Agency to fund flood management activities in England, and also provides grant aid on a project by project basis to the other flood and coastal defence operating authorities (local authorities and internal drainage boards) to support their investment in capital improvement projects to manage flood and coastal erosion risk.

As at August 2008, the Defra Minister of State, Phil Woolas, is responsible for flood management policy in England. The Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Executive have similar responsibilities to Defra in Wales and Scotland.

Other Government departments with an interest include the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for development planning policy and building regulations.

You can find out your own flood risk by visiting the Environment Agency’s website.

There are many measures that individuals can take to prevent flooding in their own homes and businesses, which can act as an additional barrier to any other flood defences which may be in place. Norwich Union have developed a flood resilient house in Lowestoft, Suffolk, designed to show how useful flood resilient measures can be in limiting the effects of a flood. For more information, please visit www.floodresilienthome.com.