“Based on the Legend of Xeko and conservation hotspots, Xeko ignites imaginations and sends the next generation of heroes on an adventure to save the world.” That next generation of heroes is your child’s generation, and Xeko has created a way to get every child excited about saving the world. The winning combination? A trading card game and animals.

Because my oldest two are girls we haven’t seen much in the way of trading cards, but once we opened our first Xeko game, Mission: Madagascar, they were hooked! This game, along with Mission: Costa Rica and Mission: Indonesia, was inspired by the work of Conservation International, an organization whose mission is “to preserve the diversity of life on Earth and demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.” So instead of defending whatever it is you defend in Pokemon my girls were defending habitats and the animals who live there. We had to carefully read the directions to make sure we understood the ins and outs of play and then the battle was on!

Each species card details that plant’s or animal’s real-world conservation status, and some cards, just like some species, are hard to come by. I probably had as much fun reading the cards as my girls had playing them! Plus the game utilized mat and science skills and even taught a bit of strategy, all great for growing minds. The alternative (i.e. Pokemon) might use math skills but will your child learn about biodiversity hotspots, the world’s most species-rich locations? Just FYI, these hotspots (currently 34) contain 75% of the planet’s most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians while covering just 2.3% of the Earth’s surface. An estimated 50% of all vascular plants and 42% of land vertebrates exist only in these hotspots. Sounds like something we should all be protecting, doesn’t it?

If you’re like me and cringe at the thought of adding one more game to the current tower of unplayed games in your closet, cringe no more. Any of Xeko’s Mission games will be played over and over again, especially as new cards are collected and added to the game. Turn your child into a Xeko agent so she can save the world; heaven knows the environment could use more heroes! –Emily

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Daily Dish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.