Ecology Card game review

 Ecology is a 4 player card game.  I was able to play the game a few times recently, and I found it to be very entertaining and fun.  Especially if you like animals and ecosystems or how nature interacts with itself.  Some good things about the game are that it is enjoyably competitive, while at the same time educational about ecosystems and ecologies.  The game even goes as far as to detail the interactions that specific popular animals have with each other such as salmon and polar bears.  The purpose of the game is to create and maintain your own ecologies for points.  That being said the competitive aspect arises when other players are able to destroy key aspects of your created ecology.  Therefore, you have to try and factor in sabotage as you attempt to garner points in stable ecological interactions.  

As far as playing this game with dyslexia and fine motor skills, it is very possible to overcome dyslexia so long as you have a good memory for pictures and can connect actions to the pictures.  I have this capability.  If you do not, then this game is probably not something that you could play on your own.  As for fine motor skills, you may end up needing some assistance in handling the cards as they are as flimsy and difficult to handle as regular playing cards.  

Overall, I do not recommend playing this game if you are not comfortable with extreme competitive playstyles.  However, you do not have to play in a cutthroat style if you don't want to.  The game ends when either nobody plays any cards at all, or when someone reaches 12 total points.  The biggest downside of this game would be that the point system is very wonky.  Rather than having the points as 1,2,3,4 in ascending order, various cards are given the point value of 0.25,0.5,0.75, etc.  I would recommend that the game is played with a calculator or with close monitoring of points in play per player regardless of whether or not you are keen with numbers. 

I was able to purchase this game on ETSY for $25 while it was on sale.  The game is also available on amazon in addition to its various expansions.  I would highly recommend this game for people who want to casually learn more about ecologies and for people who like competitive card games.  I really had fun playing this game, and I am glad that I was able to get it as a gift for my father.  Remember, keep having fun, and keep reaching anyway until next time.