August 2012 Notable Toys — Eco-Friendly

Polar Eclipse is an educational board game created to raise awareness about climate change and lifestyle choices. Published in 2011 by turn 4 turn llc. based in Park City, Utah, the game is created for global citizens 8 years and older. Designed, tested and re-tested with students who attend a Utah K-8 charter school, the game offers players the opportunity to add their ideas to the discussion and move toward their survival by doing so. The game board is a warm to cool, and past to future grid; a game about time and temperature. The object of the game is, as one of five species, to make it into the future and get cooler, to survive. If you hit 100 your species becomes extinct and you are out of the game. The motivation to create this game comes from the inventors background as an elementary teacher and the concern for the natural world. By playing the game, it is hoped that the mix of experience that sparks awareness, concern and stewardship to protect the natural world will expand. Knowledge is power. The game includes a die to set your place in time, 184 event cards to experience cause and effect, 64 arctic cards to offer open-ended and multiple choice questions, five players/species, the game board and a rules and reference booklet. Playing time ranges from twenty to forty-five minutes depending on the set of cards you play and number of players. Eight blank event cards are included to create your own events to add to the game. A secondary activity is to sort the event cards into sets of eight cards, by a symbol on the card, and assemble puzzles that make up the photographs on the cover and sides of the game box.
Awards: 2012 Dr. Toy Best Green Toys