Geogo! Game Review and Giveaway #Ad

H is just getting started on his Duke of Edinburgh’s gold award. One of the things he’s having to get to grips with is map reading.  He’s done some before in scouts, so it’s not completely new, but it did seem just the right time in his life to be practising those skills with the help of a fun board game.  Map reading is a useful life skill after all. This is where game of Geogo! comes into its own.

Geogo! is an educational map reading board game in association with Ordnance Survey aimed at Key Stage 3. H is actually Key Stage 4, but I don’t think that really matters.  The aim of the game is to collect 6 different skill award counters before any other player and then return to one of the two O.S. HQs situated in the corners of the board.

Inside the box you get: one playing board, 4 x counters, 2 x dice, 4 x 10 skill award cards, 2 x double sided O.S. map inserts, 2 x O.S. 50,000 scale map extracts, 2 x 25,000 scale map extracts, 1 x 1:50,000 legend, 1 x 1:25,000 legend, 60 x question cards (with a total of 240 questions), 1 x measuring thread and the game instructions.  The map extracts cover the areas of Liverpool, Hereford, Mumbles and Aviemore.  In fact, we were chuffed to see that one of the maps covers the area where some friends live and we plan to take the game along next time we visit them.

How to Play

You can play with between 2 and 4 players, everyone places their counter on the start square and you roll the dice to determine who goes first.  You’ll need to pick out a map, but the map used may change through the game.

You move clockwise around the board to play.  When you land on a skills square, you will need to answer a question from one of the colour coded question cards. The question cards are divided in to 10 different categories and each card has four questions on.  There is one question for each map, so you get asked a different question depending on which map is in play. If you get the question correct you are awarded with a skill award card and you need to collect 6 of these.  Then you need to hot foot it back to one of the O.S. HQ  squares in order to win.

There’s a twist though because you can lose your skill awards. If you land on a ‘Lose a Skill’ square, you have to lose one skill of your choice (if you have 3 or more at the time).  Alternatively you could lose a skill if another player bumps in to you on the board.  When you land on the ‘Change the Map’ square, you can choose to change the map and this is also an option if you bump in to another player on the board if you don’t want to take any of their skill cards. The O.S. HQ’s are placed at opposite sides of the board and once you have collected all of your skill cards you will need to roll exactly the right number to land on one of the HQs to win.  That can take a little while to achieve. You can continue to collect skill cards along the way as extra ones will protect you against losses.

What we thought

Geogo! is a very good quality board game.  The board, cards, maps and pieces all feel robust.  It’s fun to play and really does build map reading skills.  It’s a way of learning and consolidating those skills without it seeming like hard work.  I think we will be playing this a few times in the run up to H’s bronze expedition in the summer.

Geogo! Geography Board Game is available from Oaka Books.  There’s also an expansion pack available with four extra maps and 240 questions to go with them.  So you can ring the changes.

Oaka Books have a great free guide to helping children learn how to revise.  It’s a skill that they need to learn as they move through the school system.  Oaka Books would love people to  download their free revision tips: https://www.oakabooks.co.uk/free-revision-tips-booklet/

Giveaway

I have a Geogo! game to give away to one lucky reader.  Enter via the Gleam widget below.

Competition Terms and Conditions

1. No bulk, third-party or automated entries allowed.

2. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older and resident in the UK.

3. The winner or winners will be chosen by a random draw using the competition widget.

4. Promoter is responsible for fulfilling the prize and full contact details of the winner will be passed onto the promoter to enable prize fulfillment.  Please be aware that prize fulfillment may take a little longer in these uncertain times.

5. The winner’s name may be published on this site.

6. Competition closes 20th March 2022.
Geogo! Giveaway