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Zester

SDG Card Game

“Congratulations…earthlings. We are an alien race called Zester, and your earth is now OURS! Why? Because you stupid humans are destroying it! Thanks to you, the weather sucks, so we’ll have to fix Earth through one of you puny humans. And guess what? You and your friends have all been selected as the final candidates for this prestigious role. But…there can only be ONE Chief Zester.”

Have you really never heard of Zester? It's a party card game that educates people on the seventeen sustainable development goals (SDGs), global goals from the United Nations aimed at making the world a better place. In Zester, you and your friends draw prompts with theoretical SDG-related (and frankly, crazy) problems, and compete to present the best solution in one to two-minute rounds. But wait..there's a twist. You must act as a randomly drawn role like “scientist”, “influencer” or “minibus driver” and act as them while playing.

How to Play?

Sit in a circle and shuffle the prompts and roles decks.
To start, deal each player one role card.
One person sets a timer for twenty seconds. Then, deal one prompt card facing up in the middle for all players to see. Start the timer. In these twenty seconds, players should think of a creative solution to the situation given in the prompt card (extra points for silliness).
Once the timer runs out, each player will have another twenty seconds to pitch their solution. The player who is the oldest will start.
Explain your voting and why they chose the solution
Vote for the team with the best explanation + solution (constructive feedback)
The winning team will obtain the role card and another round will commence
The objective is to obtain the most role cards

How to Play?

Sit in a circle and shuffle the prompts and roles decks.
Sit in groups of 5-6
One person sets a timer for twenty seconds. Then, deal one prompt card and one role card facing up in the middle for all players to see.
All players have to think of the most realistic solution to this prompt.
Start the timer.
Once the timer runs out, each player will have another twenty seconds to pitch their solution. The player who is the oldest will start.
They will vote for the player with the best creative/realistic solution out.
The willing team will obtain the role card and another round will commence
The objective is to obtain the most role cards

How to Play?

This is a classroom mode that breaks into groups of 5-6 players.
One person sets a timer for twenty seconds. Then, deal one prompt card and one role card facing up in the middle for all players to see.
All players have to think of the most realistic solution to this prompt.
Start the timer.
Once the timer runs out, each player will have another twenty seconds to pitch their solution. The player who is the oldest will start.
The oldest student’s team will have to start with their own solution to the prompt, the next player sitting on the (left or right?) of them will continue to build off the previous idea and why they chose that solution
They will vote for the team will the best build up
The willing team will obtain the role card and another round will commence
The objective is to obtain the most role cards

How to Play?

Sit in a circle and shuffle the prompts and roles decks.
To start, deal each player one role card.
One person sets a timer for twenty seconds. Then, deal one prompt card facing up in the middle for all players to see. Start the timer. In these twenty seconds, players should think of a creative solution to the situation given in the prompt card (extra points for silliness).
Once the timer runs out, each player will have another twenty seconds to pitch their solution. The player who is the oldest will start.
Once the pitching time ends, the next player will repeat the process.
Once all players have pitched their ideas, everyone must consider who to eliminate (in other words, who gave the worst answer). Whoever receives the most votes will be eliminated.
Repeat steps two to seven until there are two players left. Note that the person who pitched first for one round will decide who pitches first for the next round.
When there are two players left, repeat steps two to five until a winner is decided.
*special: If you draw the zester card in the pile, you can act as any role in the world.

What's

In Zester?

Zester taught students SDGs in the most innovative and engaging manner without resorting to indoctrination. It is inspiring, and an excellent tool for future educators.

HKU Professor of Innovative STEM Education Dr. Logan Chen

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