When I saw this game on the clearance shelf in our local pharmacy I snatched it up. Regular price of $14.99, marked down to $3.99 - what a steal! And because it had animals on it even better for my oldest son. I didn't even bother to examine the box in the store or read the description. Just looking at it and seeing it was for ages 4 and meant for 2-4 players was good enough for me.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when I took it home to them and discovered how environmentally friendly this game was! There is NO extra packaging with this game. None! It's not wrapped in shrink wrap to protect the box. No plastic baggies sealing all the parts. No extra carboard to hold things in place inside the box. There were 2 small stickers sealing the box closed on 2 sides. When you open it up you're amazed to discover the bottom of the box is the playing board! The instructions are printed on the paper bag which holds the wooden playing pieces. It's brilliant! All the wood and paper comes from responsible sources plus the whole thing is recyclable if it were ever to get badly damaged or something tragic. And the bottom of the box tells you a story about a WWF species. This game features the Rhinoceros. Did you know a rhino's horn grows continuosly throughout it's life? Or that adult rhinos can run at speeds of up to 40mph?

The game's premise is basically that of Parcheesi. The object of the game is to be the first player to place all 4 of their pieces into the watering hole. My boys had no problem figuring out how to play this game. I liked that fact that there's no reading involved beyond the initial rules because my 7 year old still struggles with reading. As per usual though with my kids they made up there own way to play with each of them taking 2 sets of animals. Hey whatever made them happy is fine with me!