If you’re eyes are getting tired of staring at a screen, print and cut out a set of the University of Manchester’s Energy Cards (pdf), similar to the commercial Top Trumps series. Packs of Top Trumps usually come in themes – e.g. dinosaurs, cars, Dr Who characters – each card being an example of that theme, with a set of values ascribed to it. Players then compare card values, with the highest ones winning the opponents’ cards. A dinosaur set, for example, might include cards for Diplodocus and a T-Rex; the former would win on length, but the latter is the scariest. Energy Cards uses the Dalton Nuclear Institute’s energy database as the basis of its cards. Molten salt storage, for example, scores high on carbon saved, but low on cost efficiency, whereas coal is the opposite. Although simplistic in places, and dependent on the Dalton Institute’s take on the data, it’s worth remembering this is a social game; playing can be the basis of discussion.