Launching this fall.
Mother Earth is an entertaining new trivia game centered around the health of our environment.
- Coming fall 2023, Mother Earth is a current trivia game full of engaging questions about preserving our precious planet.
- The game’s questions and research are done in cooperation with students from the University of Lapland.
- The game will be made in Tactic’s Pori factory sustainably and plastic-free.
- The gameplay is all about cooperation, just like preserving our planet.
- Playing Mother Earth is good for the environment – knowledge affects actions.
The theme of the game
Do you know what sustainable consumption is, and how to reduce the burden on the Earth? And would you like to learn how to help endangered animals and prevent biodiversity loss? The resources of Mother Earth are abundant but limited. The time has come for us to show gratitude and take good care of our environment.
The aim of this educational trivia game is to increase awareness and to provide practical tips about sustainable choices and living in harmony with nature and the animal kingdom. The game approaches this challenging and complicated topic through positivity by encouraging and inspiring players. This trivia game also helps us understand the factors connected to decision-making concerning environmental issues – the things we as individuals can only have a limited impact on.
The game is recommended for ages 8 and up. It is equally suitable for those environmentally aware and for those only starting to learn more about the topic.
The four question categories are:
- Environmental agreements and laws
- Recycling and sustainable consumption
- Endangered species and biodiversity loss
- Environmental learning and skills
Cooperation with the University of Lapland
Mother Earth trivia game’s questions are created in collaboration with students from the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Education attending a course on gamified and playful learning during spring 2023.
The course emphasizes sustainable education, and its aim is to both introduce the world of game design to the students and to provide them with the tools to build positive views of the future for children and youth. The course focuses on the themes of gamification, playfulness, and the future of Planet Earth.
We at Tactic want to give the students real working life experience and expand their knowledge of traditional board game design and its potential societal influence. We can show them how big of an impact their work can really have. We also genuinely believe that the participation of students, their fresh views, and their creative ideas and backgrounds in pedagogy will result in current and engaging content as well as increased credibility and successful moments of collaboration. In addition, children and youth of comprehensive school age will also participate in the project, and their thoughts on the future will be utilized in the design of the game content.
The course is designed and organized by university lecturers Marjaana Kangas (docent of gamified and playful learning) and Ulla Kemi (lecturer in sustainability and outdoor education).
Game research expert Katriina Heljakka from Tactic will deliver the students a lecture on play and playfulness.
A sustainable choice – made in Finland
The Mother Earth game is made sustainably and plastic-free in the Tactic factory in Pori, Finland.
Tactic’s games are made in Pori following environmentally friendly principles. We are proud of our Nordic quality criteria, our professional competence, and our responsible attitude towards environmental issues.
Thanks to our domestic production, we know our entire chain of production, and we can guarantee the traceability of the raw materials we use. In our production, we frequently use, for example, European recycled cardboard and recyclable plastic. As early as the design stage, we are already putting in the effort to minimize material waste and to minimize the use of unnecessary plastic wrap in, for example, product packaging and card decks. The Mother Earth trivia game is a 100 percent plastic-free product.
All products made in the Finland factory of Tactic Games Oy only use FSC® -certified paper, cardboard, and paperboard. You can find the FSC logo on our products, including board games, puzzles, books, and playing cards. Tactic Games Oy’s FSC license number is C171450.
We are also committed to developing the monitoring and optimization of our carbon footprint.
The Mother Earth trivia game was recognized as a green product at the world’s biggest toy fair, Spielwarenmesse in Germany in February 2023.
Lue lisää vastuullisuudestamme: tactic.net/en/tactic/responsibility/
Gameplay
Mother Earth is not only an educational trivia game, it is all about cooperation – just like saving our precious planet!
As the game starts, Mother Earth gives each player tasks they aim to complete during the game by giving the right answer to multiple choice questions – together, of course. Correct answers propel players closer to their shared goal, while wrong answers make completing the tasks harder than before. Special damage cards make playing the game a more strategic experience.
In Mother Earth, the players win together once they have completed all of their tasks. The players also lose together if they take too much damage or if it becomes impossible for them to complete their tasks.
The game features a beautiful rotating game board and 300 cards featuring imagery related to environmental topics.
Contents:
- Rotating game board
- 300 cards:
- Questions
- Tasks
- Damage
- 24 answer discs
- 1 wooden game pawn
- 2 wooden dice
- Rules
Ages: 8+
Players: 2-6
Estimated duration: 45 minutes
Conclusion
Playing the Mother Earth game is good for the environment. Increasing environmental awareness is a powerful way of changing our attitudes and choices towards more sustainable ways.
The Earth has given us a good life for such a long time, and now it is our turn to show our gratitude and take good care of Mother Earth. So, let’s start solving environmental challenges and walking towards a more sustainable future.
We at Tactic are committed to building a more sustainable future.
Let’s take the first step by playing a round of Mother Earth together!
The game is launching in fall 2023. It will be translated into several different languages, and the game will be sold around the world by Tactic’s retailers.
With many games, it’s easy to encourage even a younger child to use mathematical thinking. Play with building blocks that have different shapes; search for Lego pieces of a certain colour; build tall and short block towers; count your child’s fingers and toes; or move forward according to the number on a die.
If your child is naturally curious, you can gently introduce them to the wonderful world of maths, as it develops their thinking skills and help them understand the world around them.
The things the child has learned before form the basis for learning new things. In order to maintain an interest in mathematics, it is important that the child has a solid foundation and moves forward step by step. Small experiences of success encourage them to learn more!
At first, a child learns to connect a certain amount of things to a certain word, like “one”, “two”, “three”, etc. Once they use those words to count, they are soon able to connect the amount to the right number, too.
- Games, where the players move forward according to the pips on a die, support these skills.
- Try counting the number of steps in a staircase, the number of cars in car park or the petals on a flower.
It’s also easy to do a little bit of addition or subtraction during play.
- I have 1 Lego piece, and I get 2 more, so I have 3 Lego pieces. Or, I have 3 peas, I eat 1 of them, so I have 2 peas.
In addition to numbers and amounts, mathematical thinking also means comparing, organising and recognising shapes as well as the concepts of location.
- In everyday situations, you can compare amounts. “Which bowl has more strawberries? Do they now have the same number of strawberries?”
- Tidying up your child’s room in the evening can turn into a game when you combine with a little bit of organising. “Let’s first collect all the soft things, and let’s put all the red things over here.”
- A child’s vocabulary and thinking develop when the grown-ups use the correct terms. Instead of saying “Could you bring me that block over there?”, you could say, “Could you pass me the round block that’s behind the box?”
In childhood, you build the foundation for mathematical thinking, which promotes a positive attitude to mathematics even when the child grows older.
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For more than 30 years, Alias has been part of family life from the parents’ first date to having their own children playing. Nothing brings generations together quite like Alias.
Finland is best known for its legendary mobile phone brand Nokia, whose slogan was Connecting people. The same can be said about another Finnish legend, Alias. Alias is the original word explanation game designed and manufactured by Tactic Games in Pori, Finland. Alias plays a vital part in keeping families together, not just in Finland, but all around the world.
The generation game
Alias is a game that travels from generation to generation. It’s hard to imagine a game that promotes family values better than Alias. Adults play it with their friends as well as with their children, children and teenagers play it together, grandparents play it with their grandchildren – it’s truly for everyone.
When young adults start dating, Alias acts like a relationship barometer; you know that you have found a true connection when your partner guesses the right answers from the tiniest hints. The more a couple spends time together, the better they become at Alias, with inside clues that win the game. Also, if a couple reacts badly to losing Alias, there may be hard times ahead.
When the couple settles down and has children, board games become a great way to fuel children’s natural curiosity and expand their vocabulary. When children grow, they progress from concrete things to abstract concepts. Again Alias is there to boost both language and cognitive skills, not to forget the important social skills.
Beating the pandemic
Even before the pandemic hit, board games were experiencing a renaissance. During lockdowns, they became a lifeline that kept both children and adults together and engaged. Being deprived for so long of socializing, communicating and playing together has brought a deeper understanding of how important games like Alias are for our resilience.
The seemingly trivial word explanation game holds important values for us all: coming together for social interaction, understanding others and being understood, and uniting as a team. All this is wrapped up in a fun and highly engaging package, served as a board game for everyone to enjoy.
Now that life is normalizing again, it is time to encouraging children and adults to socialize more. The best way to do this is to organize a joyful board game night.
Cut the screen time
Children and especially teens spend way too much time glued to their screens. Hours and hours spent on mobiles and consoles not only leads to physical problems, but also deprives children from social contacts.
Board games and Alias in particular is a great way to get children active and interacting with the real world. Siblings who continuously argue with one another can suddenly find a common ground as a winning Alias team. You could think of Alias as the super nanny for the family.
Alias gives a boost to growing cognitive and social skills while also increasing self-expression and understanding. It feeds children’s imagination and engages them to vocalize their thoughts. A game night is also a safe place to talk about negative or scary things in life.
Meet the Alias family
The Alias game concept is so ingeniously simple that anybody can play it. Therefore you need several variations of the game. There are specific gameboards for young children who can’t read yet. There are also family and UK versions and of course the Original Alias.
As there is an Alias for every player, one copy may not be enough – you need several to cater for different situations. But don’t worry, every Alias bought is a good investment for happy times spent together with friends and family.
Reading together introduces the child to the world of letters. In order to learn to write, a child must already have good hand-eye coordination, the ability to concentrate, and sufficient skills at handling a pen.
The skills that precede writing can be practiced through play in the following ways:
Rolling small balls out of play dough develops and grows the strength and accuracy of your fingers.
Making puzzles improves concentration, observational skills and dexterity.
Colouring in pictures, following lines and shapes, and cutting with scissors allows a child to develop accuracy, observational skills and concentration.
When a child has developed these basic skills and shows an interest in letters and learning to write, you can support them through play.
Practice the shape of different letters by drawing letters with your finger or a stick on a plate that has salt or sand on it. You can suggest letters to your child by saying them out loud. Then you can think of words that start with that letter. This helps the child learns the shape as well as the sound of the letter.
It is also fun to form letter shapes with your own body, while lying on the floor or standing up.
In a good pen grip, the pen should be between three fingers, and the wrist should be relaxed. Your child will also gradually learn this.
It is common that early on a child writes letters backwards and that some letters are still missing. This usually corrects itself as the child’s skills grow.
As the child learns to write words, ask them to help by writing the shopping list, for example!
Writing and reading skills develop simultaneously and support each other.
Photos: bigstockphoto.com
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How and why is it worthwhile to grow your child's emotional skills?
A child experiences many kinds of feelings during the day but they don’t yet have the words to talk about them. That’s why feelings are seen and heard. It’s good to teach your child that feelings are allowed, that they are a part of life and that they can show, but that it is also good to control them.
Let’s name our feelings
A child learns words that describe feelings in everyday interactions. Even if your child is very young, you can put their feelings into words by saying “Are you excited?”, or, “I think you feel happy after meeting Grandad.” The child notices that a grown-up understands their internal feelings, which in turns helps them to feel calm. The child learns to describe their own emotional state.
Practice describing your feelings with the help of books and games. Recognise feelings from expressions, perform different feelings yourselves, and discuss the reasons and consequences of different feelings.
Guide your child to recognise feelings
Discuss the feelings a character in a book might have: “How did this character feel? Why does he have that kind of an expression?”
Guide the child to see which signs refer to a certain feeling, for example the expression and position of a character in a book.
Gradually, the child learns to recognise and name their own feelings and to understand that other children have feelings, too.
Photos: FamVeld / Shutterstock.com
Children learn by copying
Tell your child about your own moods. Explain, why you are annoyed by something, or why something made you happy today.
You should also think about what kind of an example you set your child – how do you express feelings in your family?
Talk it out after different situations
When the child does something that makes another person feel bad, tell the child how the other person feels.
Ask how the child would feel if someone did the same to them. By putting themselves in another person’s position, the child learns empathy.
Recognising and controlling one’s feelings helps the child get along with other children. It’s easier to make friends, and working in a group becomes smoother.
Let's learn Feelings puzzle
This 56-piece puzzle offers a grown-up and child an opportunity to examine different feelings together. Little by little, a child can learn to understand their own feelings and to put them into words.
- The high quality 56-piece puzzle is full of wonderful details to explore.
- Comes with a list of questions that can be used to talk about feelings.
- Helps children to understand where different feelings might come from.
Videos
Read out more about the Let’s Learn range here.
I’m always having more fun with Alias
Alias board game has millions of loyal fans around the world. We talked to one of them to find out how Alias keeps people entertained year after year.
Manna Fransas is in her thirties and lives in Helsinki, Finland. Coincidentally, she is about the same age as Alias, published in 1981. Manna works at an ad agency as a copywriter and her hobbies include basketball. Manna’s immediate family consists of her two children, her partner and his daughter.
Manna recalls that she was still in primary school when she first played Alias with friends from her neighborhood. From day one Manna was drawn to Alias because it was fun, inventive and fast paced. Even though Manna plays plenty of other board games too, Alias has always been her number one choice. Words like energetic, daring, social, happy and humorous describe Alias pretty well – and admittedly her own bubbly personality as well.
Get the party started
When Manna leaves for a cottage weekend or skiing with friends, Alias is always packed along. Just before the Covid pandemic hit, Manna celebrated her 30th birthday with a big group of friends in Barcelona. With her, she had the Late Night Alias – a perfect adult party highlight.
Alias fandom has also spread to Manna’s offspring, and she has played plenty of board games with her children. Now her children can also play Alias together. Manna sees that Alias has many educational benefits: children’s vocabulary extends through play and they also learn necessary social skills, like losing. Manna still prefers to play Alias with her own friends – they offer a much needed challenge to the veteran player.
Manna has bought her fair share of Alias games during the years; the most popular ones are on their second sets already. In addition to the Original Alias, Manna’s game cupboard holds Junior Alias, Disney’s first Alias, You Are… Alias, Party Alias, Late Night Alias, Rähinä Alias (a Finnish exclusive) and Snack Alias Lights, Camera, Action. She has an ideal Alias version for every occasion.
Mastering her game
Even though playing Alias is all about having fun, the will to win is genuine. Manna claims jokingly that she has never lost a single Alias game, but she admits that playing a lot helps. Especially with the Original Alias, the words are so familiar, that she always knows the quickest ways to explain them. That’s why Manna keeps buying new Alias versions, so she’ll have fresh words to explain.
All of Manna’s closest friends are pretty competitive, too. During Alias, emotions tend to heat up and sometimes an odd quarrel stirs up. Luckily, so far no friendships have been broken off because of Alias, and the winners are always happily rewarded with something like a bottle of bubbly.
There are also funny inside stories when friends play a lot together. For example one of Manna’s friend didn’t know the word mosaic, but instead explained the word mosque. This funny mistake still makes her friends laugh. So playing Alias can expand your vocabulary even as a grownup.
How to win Alias
In addition to verbal talent, Manna thinks that Alias also requires strategic skills. It is not the same how you explain the words, and whether you explain long words or praises in two parts or together. Here are Manna’s hot tips for winning Alias:
- Explain it simply, use as many opposites as you can: Not hot, but cold. Not long, but short. Also use plenty of synonyms.
- Explain compound words in two parts: “Milkman delivers bottles in the morning and is not a woman”.
- If you don’t know the word, don’t even try to explain it. Take a minus point and move on rather than get stuck on a difficult word.
- Know your team members, so you can benefit from common praises and history. Manna’s favorite Alias team member is her little brother.
Finnish entertainment package
As an adult, the Finnish roots of Alias have become more important to Manna. She thinks it’s great that Alias represents Finnish talent and knowhow. Manna also has a big pile of other Tactic’s games, which are all made in their own factory in Finland.
If Manna could design her own version of Alias, she would add a novel surprise element to the game. In the D.I.Y. Alias, you can already come up with your own words, but an unexpected surprise, like a team change in the middle of the game, would add suspense for even the most experienced player. But would a sure win still be guaranteed?
Manna has a firm opinion on why everyone should play Alias. It’s fun yet educating. It builds team spirit and cooperation skills. It’s easy to learn and anyone can play it. You can never get bored, because every player and play session is different. A perfect entertainment package, indeed.
Explore the selection and find your favourite Alias!
Photo: FamVeld / Shutterstock
Thinking skills - a curious child learns by trying and investigating
A child is naturally curious. Little chats and moments of wonder are interesting to both the child and parent. You can guide a child’s thinking, but you should also leave room for their own creativity – even when it comes to thinking.
How can you support your child’s developing thinking skills?
Let your child play, experiment, try again, and see the relationship between actions and reactions. While building a tower of blocks, a child tries to place the block one way. If the block falls, they try again in a different way.
Allow your child time to think and try again. Don’t solve the problem for them.
A child is eager to ask questions. Don’t always offer an answer but rather encourage them to think about the answer themselves. “What do you think it could be?” “Where do you think we could find more information about this?”
While you play, you can think together about what happens if you act in a certain way. What happens, if you do something else?
Encourage your child to find different solutions. You can also “think aloud” to give your child an idea of your own thought process.
Critical thinking is one of the most important tools in the future. It is needed to solve problems as well as to understand the relationships between different things. Critical thinking is enforced by a stimulus-rich environment and a positive atmosphere. When a child is encouraged to wonder and investigate, you also increase their motivation to learn new things.
Photo: alenka2194 / BigStock.
Think and wonder about different phenomena together. “Where do puddles disappear to in the sunshine?”
“Why does oil float on top of water, when you pour a little bit of oil in a glass of water? And what happens, when you add a drop of washing-up liquid?” Come up with your own little experiments.
Talk about stories. Read the beginning of a story and think about what happens after, and why. What else could have happened?
In the modern world, there is no shortage of stimuli, but it’s important to also allow some space for boredom. That leaves time for one’s own thoughts.
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How to foster your child's interest in learning to read - 5 tips for parents
When a child becomes interested in letters and wants to learn more, this excitement can be fed through play, following the child’s motivation and interests. A child can only learn to read if they are motivated to do it.
You should not start practicing too early. If reading feels too difficult, it can dampen the child’s motivation.
When you read to your child, their listening skills improve and their vocabulary grows. And don’t stop reading to your child even after they learn to read. Instead, take turns reading to each other.
It’s more important for a child to learn the sounds that match the letters, not the names of the letters. Look around the child’s room or study a fun picture, and search for things that start or end with a certain sound. Swap the initial sounds of words and try to think of words that rhyme, such as “game, same.”
A child first learns to recognise simple words based on how they look, but they might not yet understand what they are reading. Talk about what different words mean.
You can only develop good reading skills by reading. Offer your child different kinds of texts, according to their own interests: Comic books, rhyming stories, fairy tales, poems, children’s magazines, etc.
Word games are a fun way to learn the letters and grow your vocabulary.
Let´s Learn Letters and Words
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Playing games is a fun hobby, but it is also a hugely versatile way to learn different things.
There are so many different kinds of board games that everyone can find one they like. And we can all learn something from them – no matter our age!
Board games offer children a safe environment in which to gain necessary everyday skills like social skills or playing as a team. The very youngest children can play to learn, for example, colours, combining, and awareness. Slightly older children can learn fine motor skills, counting the numbers on the die, and words. Preschoolers shine in tasks that take some deduction and can even beat their parents. Playing also teaches children to be patient while waiting for their turn, to win and to lose. Even disappointment is easier to handle when you can practice it first. Whatever the skill, playing board games allows the players to always try again and get a little bit better each time.
When you move up to another age group, skills become more important than luck. Then the game becomes a way to challenge yourself, to compete against others, and to develop different abilities. Board games are an excellent way to support learning in the home, at clubs and the classroom, and many teachers use board games as a part of their teaching.
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Sometimes the best way to learn new things is to play!
Children of the World
Children of the World is a big and colourful window into the wide world and its cultures. Learn about the things that connect all the children of the world and the things that make us all so unique!
Games can also have a rehabilitating effect.
Many occupational therapists and speech therapists use games in their work. They are a great tool for exercising the brain. We received an encouraging message from Marika, and an expert opinion of the meaning of games in the work of an occupational therapist:
"You are probably aware of the rehabilitating effects of your games. Board games create a great balance for the modern world of gaming, and they should be put on a pedestal for the properties that improve interaction, develop thinking, awareness, logical thinking and linguistic development! Many of your games are very educational and encourage develoment!"
Games are also popular in care homes.
Board games activate the brain in many ways and help maintain deductive skills, memory and fine motor skills. They also have a hugely socialicing effect.
Games teach us how to play.
They teach us to think about our next move, to read our opponents and the game situation, and to think of various strategic solutions to reach the desired goal. When the game is played again and again, the repetition allows us to try different strategies, take risks and find out, which solutions were the best. You might not realise it straightaway, but reading the rules is also a skill which requires understanding what you read and the patience to test it in practice. Counting scores is a great way to develop mathematical thinking.
Playing board games, you can learn a great deal about yourself and your strengths.
"I'm good at reading the rules and often beat the others in games that require visual awareness."
"I can count the cards and use it to calculate my chances of winning."
"I'm always lucky, because I just trust my instincts."
Around us, society is becoming more and more “gamified”, and the elements we know from games are becoming more and more common in our everyday life.
As the world becomes incresingly digital, board games create a balance for screen time and bring people together. So, games teach us how important it is to come together around the same table, to spend time offline, to feel like you belong, and to feel a shared joy and the myriad of other feelings that games can create.
Board games can teach all a variety of new skills. And having fun while you do it is not too bad either!
You can find all Let’s Learn products here.
Joy comes from discovery and working together!
Tactic offers children fun learning experiences through the new “Let’s Learn” range of learning games. The games and activities have been developed together with Finnish teachers, and they are manufactured from recycled cardboard in our own factory in Finland. The products are safe, durable, ecological and ethical. Children have an important role in our product development. “We offer children activities that match their age and development level. Our games offer children positive emotional experiences and joy, which encourage them to keep learning. Childhood forms the basis for life-long learning and a child’s idea of themselves as a learner,” says the new Let’s Learn product manager Lotta Jansén. Lotta has extensive experience from creating new learning products, in product development as well as a teacher.
Picking the right game for your child’s age and level is easy! The age marking on the cover makes it easy to find a present for a grandchild, for example. The QR code on the back cover of the game box accesses a game tutorial, and the videos can also be found on Tactic Games’ YouTube-channel.
The first games in the range have been received with great excitement across Europe. The Children of the World board game has already been awarded the first prize in the Polish Toy of the World competition, in the learning games and toys category. This is what people have to say about the game: “Even though all the people in the world are different, they are all equal. […] This game is the perfect introduction to curiousity and how to respect other cultures.”
Here are some comments our games have received:
- Let’s Learn COLOURS & SHAPES, age 3+ “The colours and shapes are really clear.“
- Let’s Learn NUMBERS, age 4+ “Different levels. The kids really loved the game!“
- Let’s Learn LETTERS AND WORDS, age 4+ “It’s good that the game moves from easy to hard. The colours are bright!“
- Let’s Learn NATURE, age 4+ “The pictures on the back of the game boards are great.“
- My First Trivia Game, age 4+ “Fun questions!“
- Children of the World, age 5-10 “Our children want to play this again and again!“
