BioBlitz!

A card game about biodiversity, science, and art made with love.

Background

Ramping up to Christmas 2020, I wanted to make my nephews a special Christmas gift. Something that had that magic touch of “artist Aunt Sarah” and could last a bit longer in entertainment value than the usual toy, especially in light of their parents’ hectic schedules during the pandemic. I remembered my own childhood and how I would spend hours crouched in front of a spread of animal fact sheets (from who knows where, in our hodgepodge garage-sale-finds basement) and just being utterly fascinated with the worlds in front of me. Much to my delight, my own nephews, like so many children, also loved learning about animals and so I wanted to bring together our shared love for the natural world in a fun and hopefully even educational way.

And so, over the course of the next few weeks, I created BioBlitz! — a card game inspired by the real-life bioblitzes that take place all over the world in which folks of all ages and backgrounds embark to survey as many species as possible over a the course of a set time period. I got a lot of interest in the game from folks who were hoping to bring some of that animal magic to their own homes, either for kids or their own adult selves. I am now exploring selling copies of the game with all profits donated to a reputable environmental organization. I hope to help build a brighter future for the animals we love to learn about so that my nephews may one day actually be able to witness them in person.

Animal cards include names on the front and facts on the back. The goal of the game is to correctly match as many Animal cards with Discovery cards as they can. Much like with real science, there is no “answer key” in BioBlitz! Players are encouraged to engage in healthy, spirited, reason-driven debate when there are any disagreements. Real science at work!

Discovery cards have prompts that players must match Animal cards to. They can use information on the back of the cards, prior knowledge, or even do some on-the-fly research to see if the match makes sense.

For an added fun twist, players can also choose to play in Reverse Mode in which Discovery cards are laid out first and matched with drawn Animal cards. To see the full instruction pamphlet, click here.

If you’re interested in purchasing a BioBlitz! deck, please fill out this form here. Please email me for any questions about the game.

If you are an educator or parent with children who is interested but currently financially unable to purchase a deck, please email me as well! I’m sure we can work something out 🙃