10 Putnam St, Ste 2
Boston, MA 02128
https://www.adventerragames.com/
The complete line of environmentally aware games:
Recycle Rally – basic game, ages 7+, 3-5 players, 30-60 minutes; advanced game, ages 10+
Teaches children how to properly separate waste and to be aware of the importance of recycling
PowerHaus – ages 7+, 3-5 players, 40-60 minutes;
Teaches how to reduce energy waste at home and everywhere.
Global Warning – ages 10+, 4-7 players, 45-90 minutes;
This is the most complex game of the line. Players challenge each other to solve various environmental problems facing our life on earth at the expense of an increase in the earth’s temperature. Teamwork is required to “win” the game.
All games are $24.95, which is a bargain, considering the subject matter of each one and the importance of informing children of the necessity of awareness to the earth — and our place on it.
The Water Game – raising water conservation awarenesss
3-4 players · 10 years old and up · 20-40 mins playing time
Assessed by Joseph Grayhaim
Adventerra Games is a company dedicated to creating board games that illuminate the importance of caring for our Earth in a variety of ways. This game features Water Conservation awareness as its focus. As clean, safe water becomes less abundant, such awareness is as welcome as clean air has been for 40 years.
The board for Water Game is colorful and bright. It depicts a river flowing from the background to the foreground. The description from the Rule Book “Players swim down the river, picking green and red cards that gain or lose water. The winning player arrives at the river mouth with the most water, but nobody wins if one or more of the players arrives with less than 10 gallons of water.”! This concept of team playing and what “winning” really means is very novel to me and illustrates what true water conservation requires. There is a Community Cistern section on the board that is filled by all players and that can be used by players in trouble with too much water loss.
Players roll a die and move their playing tokens along the river according to the number rolled. The green and red cards that a player can land on allow movement forward or backward, corresponding to water loss or water saving. A player may draw a card with a question mark on it. S/he then takes a card from the Question deck and asks the player to the right to it aloud to him/her. The answerer has 10 seconds to answer the question and then follow the instructions on the red or green card, depending on a correct or incorrect answer. A question from the game: “What elements beneficial to the human body are found in water? A. Minerals salts; B. Sugar; C. Calories” – the correct answer is A. Mineral Salts and the card then lists what they are specifically and what their health value is.
The end of the game is when all players have reached the river’s mouth. The first player to do so wins a bonus of 25 gallons; second place wins a bonus of 10 gallons. Remember, the catch is that if any player arrives at the mouth with less than 10 gallons, everyone loses!
The Water Game is an excellent way to bring water conservation to the awareness of everyone. Once a child or adult becomes reminded of the importance of saving water in meaningful (and often painless) ways it is hard to ignore – to the benefit of all of us – just like the end of the game! J.G.