Holy smokes, a Friday night knock at the door from the UPS man. My kids know that the UPS man brings non essential items to our home (read toys and clothes).

As I’m opening the package I realize that it’s the Xeko game we’d been expecting. My heart was all a flutter when I saw the box was not just recycled but a reused shipping carton. Yup, it’s been cut open, flipped over and given a second life. These guys practice what they preach from the outset.

I have a 9 year old daughter, Jane, and a 6 year old son, Alexander. They kind of inspected the wooden crate like they were expecting a small animal to jump out. Instead what we got was an envelope marked Official Xeko MISSION KIT. This was clearly designed by a 10 year old for maximum impact. A mission? What kids don’t want to go on a mission or be an agent? Even the website (I’m not a fan of kids playing too much on the computer) is totally appropriate and even educational.

Alexander saw that there was an extra pack of cards (booster set I think they call it?) he tore them open and jumped up and down, “Pokemon Cards, Pokemon cards!!!” and then he stopped jumping and sat down to read them, “Whitespotted Wedgefish, Guar, Clubnose Guitarfish.” He paused, “I guess these aren’t Pokemon, they’re just about pretend animals.”

“No honey, those are real animals in Indonesia.” I explained.

“Can we see them at the zoo?” He looked confused.

“No, I think we’d have to be very lucky to see animals like these, they’re endangered.”

“Why are they in danger?” He asked.

“Bah, Hah,” laughed his sister, “They’re endangered not in danger which means there aren’t very many of them left.” And she continued the lecture whilst Alexander ignored her and continued reading the cards. I just sat back and watched the show.

At 6 Alexander clearly isn’t ready for the whole Xeko game but I would recommend that if there’s a younger sibling (like at my house) you buy an extra pack of cards for the little one to rumble around with. He’s digging reading them and likes to have something in his pocket whenever possible. Plus it kept him occupied while I got Jane set up with the game.

Jane and I sat down to play the game. It has a lot of rules which my 9 year old likes. I have to say I was a little confused the first time we played but when we got into the second hour of play (yes Jane enjoyed herself that much) my lovely daughter looked at me and said, “don’t you understand? We’re building an ecosystem.”

I had to pretend like I’d had the bigger picture the whole time (I hadn’t) but once I saw that the game was pretty simple and the scoring fun. We have mammals and fish, invertebrates and even a coffee break. Naturally it all begins with a hotspot. There’s a pretty good tutorial on their website too.

The Xeko game was detailed enough to engage a curious 3rd grader and meaningful enough to make her pause and think. As we progressed a few games in Jane had built strategies about her ecosystems.

For the younger kids (like Jane) you’ll want to open the box with them and have about an hour to devote to learning the game. Once they get the rules memorized it’s simple for them to teach a friend.

We had a lot of fun and Jane skedaddled off to her friend Emily’s house with the Xeko box. Emily’s mother has since called to find out where she can get Xeko because she likes the math and strategy involved in it.

It’s pretty impressive stuff when you can squeeze oodles of math and science into a game and all the kids care about is whooping their Mamma.

From a completely Housewifey point of view, games with wooden boxes appeal to my sense of order. I love that this can get stored without being ruined. And, as a parent the idea of the word hotspot rolling off my children’s tongues makes me puff up with delight.

Great game, great gift.

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