Ecotox

A professionally produced game put out by Voarisoa Observatoire Environnemental, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and other environmental and government agencies. It is apparently intended to educate players on environmental issues and the regime of international law governing waste and toxic chemicals. Each player starts with a pawn and eight chits. Play is standard roll and move. Players move along a Candyland-like track via roll of a die. In addition to moving, when a player rolls an odd number, that player picks up a red card, and when a player rolls an even number, that player picks up a green card. Red cards are negative (such as environmental poisoning or violation of the law) and require you to lose chits or move backwards. Green cards are positive (such as donating money or following regulations) and allow you to take chits or move forwards. The winner is the player who makes it to the final space -- so long as that player has not lost all chits. This is a straightforward luck-of-the-die game, but is notable for its educational bent and its unusual artwork. The cover, for example, displays a man with a gas mask sucking a lollipop, as well as a baby drinking petroleum. It is also likely the only game which includes, as part of its rule sheet, the "Ten Gold Rules for the Storage of Dangerous Chemicals."