With the imminent release of the updated Jumanji film, it seems like a good time to see the links between the film and Conservation Crisis.
1) Two games about wildlife: Jumanji is all about wildlife in the jungle, including lions, wildlife stampedes and flocks of bats chasing players of the game down the street and through the jungle. Conservation Crisis is also about wildlife - although focuses more on protecting wildlife in a reserve rather than being overcome by a stampede!
2) Immersive gaming experience (this is perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek!): Jumanji takes the notion of an immersive gaming experience to the extreme, with players actually being sucked into the game and the events that take place in the game after the roll of a dice taking place in real life. Although Conservation Crisis does not go to such extremes, it is designed to be as immersive as possible, with each card telling the story of real-life conservation challenges that players must overcome within the game, seeking to bring to life the experience of conservationists around the world working on the frontline to protect wildlife.
3) Crisis begins when the game begins and is averted when the game ends: In Jumanji, as soon as someone starts the game all sorts of crazy things start happening and their lives are plunged into crisis as they try to avoid stampedes of wildlife and various animal and human thieves seeking to run-off with the board game. Only by completing the game can the events within Jumanji be overcome and the world return to normal. Conservation Crisis is less extreme, but does challenge players to take control of a wildlife reserve in crisis, with a species on the brink of extinction. Only by playing the game to re-build their reserve can players rescue their wildlife population and ensure the survival of their species until the ‘Crisis Averted’ card comes up and the game ends, with the winner then being the player with the most wildlife.
4) A board game made into a computer game: In the original Jumanji picture book and the 1995 film, which the late Robin Williams stared in, Jumanji is a board game where players roll dice to move around the board. However, in the latest film, designed for the modern age, Jumanji is a video game. Conservation Crisis started out as a board game, which we developed and playtested for 2 years to make sure it is fun to play and there is no simple winning strategy (think of how easy it is to win Monopoly if you buy Mayfair and Park Lane) to ensure all players have a chance to win. We’ve now converted the board game into an app to enable more people to be able to play the game more easily.
So, two games that share some similarities, although you can be rest assured that when you play Conservation Crisis you will not be sucked into another world or have wildlife suddenly appearing out of the game and chasing you down the street!