A Nudge in the Right Direction: New Eco-Friendly Strategy Game

We hear from the team behind Nudge Games, on how their new board game is putting sustainability at the heart of pub pastimes.

From crisps, chips and vodka to game counters – potatoes really are the most diverse vegetable

Frustrated with searching for a challenging game that didn’t require hours of time commitment, designer Dan Bramham decided to come up with his own. The result is ‘Nudge’, an incredibly simple yet fiendishly addictive abstract strategy game, created out of fully recyclable materials to guarantee as little environmental impact as possible.

Where most games rely on plastic counters, Nudge’s game discs are made from a starch-based bio-plastic. If left exposed to the elements, Mother Nature will welcome the potato-based counters back into her arms within 3 to 6 months. Rather than a fully printed gameboard, Dan and the team at Greenwich Design who produced the game created a fully recycled debossed greyboard and the outer packaging is made from FSC certified fluted kraft board. They chose a single-colour print intentionally, to minimise production and help reduce environmental waste. Even the mailing bags are bio-plastic and the box has been designed to ship as a large letter to save on postage. One percent of all game sales will be donated to The Woodland Trust – after all Nudge wouldn’t be possible without trees.

The outer packaging is made from FSC certified fluted kraft board

“Too much plastic packaging annoys me, so I was determined to make a game that relies more on the gameplay than overproduction and still maintains its character,” says creator, Dan Bramham. “Inspired by traditional pub games like Chess and 9 Men’s Morris, I started thinking about what makes a great abstract strategy game but doesn’t require hours of gameplay. I wanted something that takes about the same amount of time to play as Pool, and after many months of playtesting, layout adjustment and material testing, I finally nailed it. Players can enjoy Nudge knowing that every component has been carefully considered to minimize its environmental impact and they don’t need to invest hours every time they want to play.”

Dan Bramham, creator of Nudge Games

Created for environmentally conscious adults who are time-short but love gaming, Nudge is the perfect game to play over a pint in your local pub.

Here’s how it works

Sit down with a mate, open the box and flip a disc to see who starts. Each player takes it in turns to make two moves – yes two moves – every turn. You can move individual discs one square at a time or move two squares with your two moves, either forwards, backwards or sideways and in any combination of these, but you can’t move a disc diagonally. To make things more interesting, you can move rows of linked discs together lengthways, like train carriages, one square at a time, which counts as one move, but you can’t move rows widthways.

To nudge an opponent’s disc, you have to outnumber them lengthways – two against one. The game ends when you nudge an opponent’s disc off the edge of the board. It’s as simple as that. Then you rack it up and play again – and again and again, until closing time!

About the Author: Nudge Games was created by Dan Bramham. The game is now available from www.nudgegames.co.uk and you can follow Nudge’s story on social media @nudgegames.