Xeko

Xeko
Designer(s) Amy Tucker
Tyler Bielman
Publisher(s) Matter Group
Players 2
Age range 8 +
Setup time 1–5 minutes
Playing time 15 minutes
Random chance Some
Skill(s) required Strategy
Counting

Xeko is a collectible card game revolving around endangered species. It was launched on Earthday 2006. It won the Creative Child Magazine 2006 Toy of the Year Award[1] and The National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval[2] in its first year. Four "Mission" sets have been released. Mission: Costa Rica and Mission: Madagascar, based on biodiversity hotspots were released first. Mission: Indonesia, was released in 2007, with the latest release, Mission: China, was released July 19, 2008.[3] Thirty-four missions in total are planned over the coming years.

Xeko was invented by Amy Tucker and designed by Tyler Bielman, a Seattle-based game designer. "Xeko is dedicated to a bright green future and preserving some of our planet's greatest riches".[4]

In addition to attempting to raise awareness using the game itself, Matter Group (the company that produces Xeko) has the following programs and processes in place:

As of September 2010 the official Xeko website was temporarily closed and no reopening date has been posted. Reports have surfaced that Matter Group has gone out of business and no future card sets will be released or printed. Today, the Xeko game will go digital if the creator Amy Tucker would raise $250,000 from Kickstarter. Now the goal has been reached and the card game will go digital in Oomba.

Artwork

As with many trading card games, the card art is drawn by a variety of different artists with different styles. The card artists include Michel Gagné, Travis Kotzebue, BJ Nartker, and others.[5] Six limited print sketch cards are also available and can only be obtained in Starter Decks.

Card types

The following four types of cards are featured in the game:

Each card is also assigned a rarity rating of one to four, one being the most common and four being the rarest. In the Xeko nomenclature, these are Common, Rare, Endangered, and Vanishing. The rarity of a card can be checked at a glance by counting the dots the bottom right-hand corner.

Next to the rarity rating is a two-letter abbreviation that designates the edition in which the card was released, as follows:

MM = Madagascar; CR = Costa Rica; IN = Indonesia; CH = China;

Animals and Plants of Mission: Madagascar

Animals and Plants of Mission: Costa Rica

Animals and Plants of Mission: Indonesia

Animals and Plants of Mission: China

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://xekogame.com/press/Xeko_CCM_award_073106.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.tnpc.com/search/tnpcarticle2.asp?rec=5140
  3. ↑ http://emediawire.com/releases/2008/4/prweb867884.htm
  4. ↑ http://xeko.com/greenworks/
  5. ↑ http://www.xekoshop.com/page.html?chapter=0&id=9
  6. ↑ http://www.xekoshop.com/ploughshare-tortoise-p-228.html