Planet Protector

Planet Protectors turns recycling into strategy. Most recycling education tells kids what to do, but rarely shows why it matters in a system. Through play, players sort items into shared bins, upgrade their planet’s recycling infrastructure, and manage harmful materials before the Eco meter tips past recovery. Competition creates tension, but the outcome is collective. If the environment collapses, everyone loses.

A cooperative competitive board game that teaches recycling through systems thinking

2025.

DATE

Board Game Design.

CATEGORY

Rhino, 3D printing, Adobe Creative Suite.

TOOL

1 month.

DURATION

Only 21% of U.S. residential recyclables are actually captured;

76% of losses happen at home.

(This is a behavior problem, not just infastructure)

For 2~4 Players / AGES 8+

Board Game for a Cleaner Future

The planet is divided into four sectors, each led by a Planet Protector. Manage your sector’s resources and waste to raise your environmental score while working together to keep the planet stable. If any sector collapses, everyone loses. Can you protect your sector and save Earth?

Let’s Play

Goal: score high while keeping the Eco-meter safe. If it collapses, everyone loses.

One turn

  1. Roll and move.

  2. Draw from the deck that matches your space.

  3. Choose a bin: Compost, Recycle, Hazardous, or Landfill.

  4. Resolve: take tokens and move the Eco-meter up or down.

  5. Optional: play a held Chance card if it applies.

Start space

Pass or land on START → Clear up to two harmful Product cards from your District Tray; send them to the Sorting Center and remove the same number of harmful tokens.

Endings

  • Collapse → the Eco-meter hits danger and everyone loses.

  • Safe finish → reach the end with the meter safe; highest environmental score wins.

  • Elimination → your district tray fills with harmful tokens → you’re out

Read the full rulebook

ITEM CARDS

Correlates with the bin that it belongs to from the Sorting Center: Hazardous, Compost, Recycling, and Landfill.

Reason for the token value relative to other item cards.

GREEN beneficial

RED are harmful

Take the corresponding number of token and place them in your district tray, while also reflecting them on the Eco-meter.

For Example, since there are 3 Red tokens at the top right, you bring 3 Red tokens to your district tray and also reflect them on the Eco-meter. This action results in a total of 6 Red tokens.

Process

Complete set of item and action cards used in the game