AD | Conservation Crisis Board Game Review

We were sent the Conservation Crisis board game for the purpose of review. All thoughts and opinions are our own. This post contains affiliate links.

Jack is obsessed with animals – he loves them all and is always telling me facts about them, whether he’s talking about elephants, dogs or squid. He recently mentioned that he would love to work in animal conservation when he’s older – he’s been reading a few books about it – so when offered the chance to review the Conservation Crisis board game from Tunza Games, I knew he’d be interested. He loves animals and he loves board games so I was sure he’d enjoy playing this!

This is a fun strategy game which combines a traditional board game with real life conservation issues. Players take control of a wildlife reserve in crisis and save an endangered species – you choose the species you want to save at the beginning of the game. You start with a limited budget of $100,000 of funding per round to achieve your goal and you have to choose which projects to build and what staff they must hire to rebuild the reserve to its full potential and keep the wildlife safe plus consider building tourist lodges to being in income, vets to treat disease and rangers to scare off poachers. You need to manage your funds and ensure you still have cash in your Crisis Fund for any of the emergencies that may come up throughout the playing of the game.

There is even a checkpoint where you can either pay a bribe and continue or wait a few turns. That bribe could come back and bite you later in the game so you need to choose wisely!

The board game comes with four endangered species counters, four playing pieces, some black counters for use on the boards, paper money for your funds, event cards, community & staff meeting cards and bribe cards. You must make your way around the board following the arrows and choosing where you want to stop. Orange blocks mean you can purchase, black means you have to pick up a card. Once someone picks up the Crisis Averted card, the game is over – but any outstanding bribes need to be completed and the player with the most wildlife wins.

Jack really enjoyed playing the game – concentrating hard to ensure he kept a good hold on his funds whilst also building up the reserve to its best potential. The game is designed for ages 7+ although Jack did find it a little difficult to grasp at first at the age of 8 so I’d suggest an adult playing with them the first few times to help them get used to the game.

Tunza Games have really impressed with this game. It was inspired by a decade of work and travel in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya and really helps kids to understand conservation issues in real life. It was developed with award winning Congolese gorilla expert John Kahekwa to give it that authentic feel.

We were very impressed with the game and will be playing it lots more in the future. Perhaps the best thing about this game – and what Jack appreciates most – is that from every sale of a Conservation Crisis board game, money is donated between four animal conservation charities. This is wonderful and something I’m sure many adults and kids alike would appreciate!

The game retails at £29.99 and is available on Amazon {affiliate link}.

Would you enjoy this board game? Be sure to check out my giveaway for one!