Wild Animals of Xeko Mission: Madagascar Set to Invade The Q
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All Kids in Attendance to Receive Booster Card Set of New Collectible Trading Card Adventure
Wild Animals of Xeko Mission: Madagascar Set to Invade The Q on Kids Day at Cavs vs. Lakers Game This Sunday
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Cleveland — March 16, 2006 — Move over Pokeman and Yu-gi-oh…. There’s a new adventure that is going to “take over the island” in collectible trading card popularity, X?ko Mission: Madagascar (pronounced ‘Zeeko’). The 2-player game will be introduced at the 1:00 p.m. Cavaliers vs. Lakers game on Sunday, March 19th at Quicken Loans Arena, when youngsters in attendance can receive a free Booster Pack containing an assortment of cards chosen from the 116-card collection.
It’s all part of the Cavaliers’ Kids Day festivities. “Cavs fans will be the first kids in the world to get their hands on X?ko, and that’s a pretty cool treat to offer on Kids Day,” said Cavaliers Vice President of Marketing Tracy Marek. Special X?ko stations will be set up throughout the Quicken Loans Arena concourse where kids 13 and under can receive a free X?ko Booster Pack of cards and learn how to play the game. Ten lucky kids will also win 50-card X?ko Starter Sets during a drawing to be held just prior to halftime.
As they enter the mysterious world of X?ko, kids ages 8 and up begin exploring the African island of Madagascar, where wild and crazy creatures seem to hang from every branch. Tiny pygmy-leaf chameleons, critically-endangered lemurs, tomato frogs that ooze poison, and adult comet moths that lack mouths are among the more peculiar characters in the game. After competing to gain special powers and waging turf wars, the player with the most “eco points” wins the game. Each card collection in the game will be set in one of earth’s 34 “hotspots,” beginning with the fantastical and threatened habitat of Madagascar.
Game inventor Amy Tucker created X?ko to both entertain and enlighten kids with an adventure that challenges their minds and stimulates their inherent curiosity about the natural world. “This is a game that delights kids and sparks their imaginations while introducing them to the wonders of our interconnected world,” said Tucker.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was closely involved in the development of the game, which seeks to inspire kids’ interest in math, science and nature by combining two things they love: trading card games and animals.
Kids create a custom library— or in this case, “X?ko-system”— and use the cards to match wits against opponents. Instead of monsters and fantasy, X?ko takes its cues from nature and science, casting actual animal species as the heroes and basing game play on the ecosystem relationships. As with any good game, an element of chance keeps players on their toes and game play mentally challenging. Designed with fun in mind, the number and types of cards available will map to real-world species’ populations and bioregion attributes. Eye-popping artwork makes the cards especially fun to play with and collect. For more information, visit www.xekogame.com.
At Cavaliers Kids Day Sunday, all youngsters in attendance will also receive a free Read to Achieve poster. From noon to 1:00 p.m., a special Read to Achieve reading "timeout" will take place on the main concourse at The Q with a special guest joining children to read a Dr. Seuss favorite. Kids are also invited to shoot free throws on The Q's court after the game courtesy of KeyBank.
