July 28th is World Conservation Day. Our ecosystems are delicate and wondrous things that don’t do so well when people get in the way. With our industrial ambitions and big boots, precious parts of our planet are being endangered. But the good news is that we can do a lot of good in protecting and preserving all forms of life on Earth. So, as added motivation to put our planet first, here are 5 games where safeguarding the natural world takes top billing!
Ecosystem Coral Reef
Ecosystem Coral Reef is a fast playing, tableau building, close drafting game for 1-6 players which is striking on the eye. To play, you create a grid of 5 x 4 cards which will produce you the most points. Each underwater species has its own scoring criteria based upon a spatial or frequency requirement. And just like the Great Barrier Reef from which it takes its inspiration, there’s an ecosystem to keep in balance. You’ll gain bonus points if you can harmonise predators, producers, and prey productively.
There’s also a great solo mode where you build and score against the tableau being created by the AI (Mocha). But unlike many 1 player adaptations, you won’t waste thinking time because each card drafted by the AI is placed according to a prescribed pattern. Fast, light, fun, and definitely conservation-oriented!
Cascadia
Habitat creation and wildlife population are major elements of this tile laying area majority, placement optimisation game. In Cascadia, you are trying to create connected areas that suit 5 different species; Elk, Salmon, Fox, Bear, and Hawk. Each animal type has its own preferences in terms of spatial groupings and you get extra points for building out connected territory types.
The rules are simple. Each turn, you pick a paired habitat tile and wildlife token from the pool and add them to your area. The only placement rule is that the new tile needs to touch at least one edge of an existing tile. Your wildlife token can go on any tile in your area displaying that species. Nature tokens can be used to manipulate the drafting options and are collected when you place an animal on its own “keystone” tile. Once everybody has picked, remaining tils are discarded, and a new batch is brought out ready for drafting. When the tiles run out players score for territory corridors (areas) and the 5 wildlife scoring objectives chosen at the start of the game.
Fish n Flip
Mentioned in a recent previous blog, Fish and Flip is a great option for reminding us all about the dangers of polluting our oceans. Providing a Tetris inspired play, the aim of the game is to play action cards that enable you to rescue as many sea animals as possible by the time the deck runs out. As soon as animals are rescued by forming sets, the remaining animals in that column drop down. If another set is then made, they can be removed too! At the end of each turn, a new animal card is drawn and added to each column and if any row ever reaches the boat on the 7th row, the game is lost. Trash cards including those showing discarded plastic are thrown into the mix and block rescue attempts, clogging up the sea and hampering conservation efforts. And just like in life, the rubbish is hard to get rid of!
Endangered When Grand Gamers Guild published Endangered in 2020, the objective was clear. To highlight the devastation our relentless efforts to progress is having on the survival of species across the globe. Playing conservationists tasked with saving animals from extinction, Endangered is a thematic, co-operative worker placement game for 1 – 6 players where repopulation is the goal. But to achieve this you must play smart. Using dice to select your own actions, you will need to work together to halt environmental disasters as well as push back against the bureaucracy that threatens the resolve of the UN to champion species conservation. Guaranteed you’ll come away from the table thinking about ways you can champion our ecosystems and desperate to play again!
Miller Zoo
Canada will always be a special place to me, and Miller Zoo is a co-operative conservation themed family weight game set right in the heart of the land of the best maple syrup and ice hockey!
For 1-6 players, you play the Miller Zoo team making sure your animals stay safe as well as thrive! But we only have limited resources so we must allocate them wisely. As such, this game is all about problem solving. Animals have problems but we have the means to help them. We win the game together if we can house 7 new inhabitants and clear the problems off all the animal cards before the resource deck runs out. With a simple campaign style, legacy element built in, new challenges and a gentle progression carry you through as you come back to this game with your group.
BOSK
This game may not have animals but it is no less about conservation. This game throws the spotlight on trees and quite rightly so, Specifically, it is all about nurturing trees that are growing in a national park. With a big part of it focussing on area control, the game is played over seasons. Spring is all about planting trees of differing values along trails following a grid format on the terrain board. Then in Summer visitors attend to marvel at all the vivid colours. Both score you points in the first scoring phase. Then, as the temperature changes and the nights draw in, Autumn arrives, and the wind picks up, bringing squirrels with it and gusts that blow leaves off your trees onto the board. Finally, as Winter hits, existing area majorities are frozen in place ready for the second and final phase of scoring. A Tree-mendous game with ecology and conservation awareness at its heart.
So there we have some cool conservation themed games to inspire you to protect our environment as you play!
