Mission Earth board game review

 Firstly, apologies for the dog's bum in the top photo - that's Vicky trying to get in on the blogging scene ! Now, on to the review ! With Christmas on the way, we've suddenly received an influx of new toys and games to review here at The Madhouse. Gibsons sent us their environmentally-themed board game Mission Earth to try out, which I instantly liked the look of because as well as being fun to play, it passes on a fabulous ecological message to kids.

As the game is aimed at players aged 7+, I decided to have a look when the girls weren't around, so that I could figure out the rules before they were excitedly and impatiently waiting to play ! I'm glad I did ! It contains an awful lot of different bits and pieces that you need to get to grips with : a games board, a wooden die, three different categories of cards (212 cards in total, comprising Action cards, Team Action cards, Question cards, Chance cards, character cards ... ummm I think that's it !), 8 Earth Hero playing pieces, 75 Carbon Footprint tokens, a Mission Statement and a big card with all the rules on.

I was initially really impressed with the packaging - it is made up of the game board which twists and folds up to create a box that holds all the other bits inside. Zero waste and no excess packaging so it's really inkeeping with the green theme.

However, even as an adult opening it carefuuly, I managed to rip the part of the box (and therefore the playing board) that unfolds. I'm glad it was me or I'd have told off the girls for being too rough when they opened it !

The box does say : "All the components in this game have been made from recycled board ; however please take care to prolong the life of your game, by only attempting to fold and unfold the board as intended and by storing the game in the slip box". Ah yes, you might like to notice the piece of sellotape holding the inner box inside the slip box too because I didn't and ripped a bit off the back of the board game too (which you can see if you look really closely at the top picture again). Oops, not off to a good start so far !

I had a good look through all the different cards which call for different actions (such as find something made of wool, find something you've owned for more than 5 years, change shoes with the player next to you !) or ask you to answer questions. I love the fact that they have provided a choice of easy and hard questions on each card, to cater for different aged players' capabilities. I also like the fact that some cards are team cards, giving all players the chance to join in and lose carbon footprint tokens.

The aim of the game is to move around the board, learning about the environment and getting rid of all your carbon footprint tokens so that you are allowed to re-enter the earth's atmosphere. Kids will love the mission statement that points out that adults have messed up the world and the kids, who have been to the future and seen what could happen, have come back to sort everything out.

It's slightly complicated – a bit like a cross between Monopoly and Trivial Pursuit, aimed at kids – so make sure you come to this on a peaceful afternoon when you won't need to multitask looking after younger siblings or checking on something cooking in the oven ! The large number of questions and actions will mean that you can play over and over again without it getting repetitive.

It's a nice, educational game for slightly older players and the perfect way of getting them to think about the world they live in and simple steps that they can take to help make the world a better place. Just be careful you don't rip the box when you open it !

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £17.99

for more information : http://www.gibsonsgames.co.uk/news_item.php?id=105

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