Nature Kin is a collaborative card game that puts you in charge of an open space as you and your friends race to find a home for 28 different native plants, animals, and insects.

I created the game with the help of my two daughters (ages 5 and 8 when we first started developing it), who adore the abundant nature we have in San Diego County: one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots in the country.

We wanted to make a game that was fun and playful and encouraged young people and their families to fall in love with these creatures—large and small. Because if you love something, you’re more inspired to protect it.

As much as we adore the native plants, animals, and insects around here, San Diego’s wild spaces are disappearing faster than most other places as well—which means we have the most threatened or endangered species anywhere in the U.S.

And now we're both spreading our that love for Southern California's ecology, but we're expanding the game to new regions and ecosystems — come along on the journey!