PLANSHIELD

Funding programme

Erasmus+ KA220-YOU – Cooperation Partnerships in Youth

Project reference

2023-1-ES02-KA220-YOU-000155891

Period

2023–2025

Coordinating organisation

Club Deportivo Chañe (Spain)

Participating countries

Spain, Lithuania, Croatia, Türkiye

Official project website

Visit official website

PLANSHIELD aimed to strengthen environmental awareness, green skills and responsible consumption among young people through physical tabletop gaming, multimedia learning and non-formal education.

The project focused particularly on the environmental impacts of single-use plastics and sought to provide youth workers with practical educational resources that make sustainability topics accessible and engaging.

Its educational approach combines rapid visual recognition, environmental knowledge questions, physical activity challenges and digital game-based learning.

Specific learning objectives

• Environmental awareness: Increase understanding of the impacts of plastic pollution on ecosystems, wildlife, human environments and natural resources.
• Single-use plastic reduction: Encourage participants to recognise the environmental consequences of disposable plastic products and consider alternatives.
• Circular economy: Introduce concepts relating to reducing, reusing, repairing, recycling and recovering materials.
• Responsible consumption: Encourage participants to examine everyday purchasing, packaging and waste-disposal decisions.
• Waste management: Develop basic knowledge of waste prevention, material separation, recycling processes and responsible disposal.
• Marine conservation: Increase awareness of plastic contamination in oceans and its consequences for marine biodiversity.
• Biodiversity protection: Introduce the relationship between pollution, resource extraction, habitat degradation and ecosystem conservation.
• Climate awareness: Explore connections between plastics, fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental sustainability.
• Sustainable Development Goals: Familiarise participants with selected UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.
• Environmental vocabulary: Encourage recognition and discussion of sustainability-related concepts using visual symbols and thematic cards.
• Knowledge reinforcement: Use environmental questions to introduce, review and discuss information about plastics and sustainable practices.
• Attention and visual discrimination: Practise identifying identical symbols quickly under the time pressure created by the physical game’s mechanics.
• Processing speed: Provide opportunities to respond rapidly to visual information during simultaneous card-based challenges.
• Active participation: Encourage engagement through short, repeated game rounds rather than exclusively instructor-led presentations.
• Physical activity: Incorporate movement-based challenges into educational gaming sessions, supporting the combination of cognitive and motor participation.
• Communication: Encourage participants to name symbols, answer questions, explain responses and discuss environmental issues.
• Healthy competition: Introduce game situations requiring players to respond quickly, respect rules and manage success or failure.
• Strategic thinking: Provide additional opportunities for planning and decision-making through the complementary Plastic Patrol multimedia game.
• Social inclusion: Increase access to playful environmental education among young people facing social, economic or geographical barriers.
• Youth worker competences: Equip educators and youth professionals with practical resources and guidance for delivering Game-Based Learning and gamification activities.
• Environmental responsibility: Encourage young people to consider practical actions that can reduce plastic pollution and contribute to more sustainable lifestyles.

The physical game and the digital game address these objectives through different educational processes.

The physical PLANSHIELD game relies mainly on visual matching, factual questions and physical exercises. The digital Plastic Patrol game incorporates route planning, plastic collection and recycling decisions.

Consequently, the project’s broader sustainability objectives should not automatically be attributed equally to every component of its educational toolkit.

Similarly, opportunities to practise attention, communication or environmental reasoning during gameplay should be distinguished from independently demonstrated improvements in these competencies.

PLANSHIELD developed an original sustainability-themed physical tabletop card game based on rapid visual matching, environmental questions and physical activity challenges.

The game was created within the Erasmus+ partnership coordinated by Club Deportivo Chañe and is intended to support environmental education among young people, particularly regarding the impacts of single-use plastics.

1. PLANSHIELD Game – Physical Tabletop Card Game

The physical game uses cards containing environmental symbols. Participants compete to identify the single symbol shared between two cards, name it aloud and collect or discard cards according to the selected mini-game.

The basic gameplay is complemented by lightning cards introducing environmental knowledge questions and physical challenges.

Main game characteristics

• Game origin: Project-developed educational card game.
• Game type: Competitive, real-time visual-matching tabletop game with educational and movement-based challenges.
• Target group: Primarily young people aged 13–20.
• Player count: The reviewed physical rulebook does not establish a single definitive player range. The number of challenge cards introduced can be adjusted according to the group.
• Playing time: Flexible. The rules suggest an optional 20-minute game limit or a tournament consisting of five rounds.
• Card deck: The rulebook describes 57 symbol cards containing eight symbols each.
• Matching principle: Any two symbol cards are intended to share exactly one identical symbol.
• Environmental iconography: The symbols represent concepts such as recycling, pollution, renewable energy, sustainable transport, marine biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Simultaneous play: Participants search for matching symbols at the same time rather than waiting for traditional sequential turns.
• Lightning Cards: Special cards introduce additional educational or movement-based tasks.
• Scoring: Players accumulate cards or points according to the selected mini-game and the completion of special challenges.
• Game objective: Win mini-games through rapid and accurate symbol recognition, with optional cumulative tournament scoring.
• Physical components: Printable cards and game rules, distributed through two PDF resource packages.

Environmental symbols

The published symbol legend includes a wide range of environmental concepts:

• Plastic, paper, glass and organic waste.
• Recycling symbols, recycling trucks and recycled products.
• Renewable energy, wind energy and green electricity.
• Electric vehicles, public transport and green transport.
• Contaminated water, marine plastic pollution and underwater cleaning.
• Deforestation, tree planting and biodiversity.
• Ecological footprints, CO2 emissions and sustainable buildings.
• Reuse, resource recovery and waste reduction.
• Selected Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDGs 11–15.

These images provide a thematic connection between rapid visual recognition and environmental vocabulary.

However, identifying a symbol does not necessarily require the player to understand the environmental concept represented by that image.

The three physical mini-games

Mini-game 1 – The ECO Tower

Each player begins with one face-down card. The remaining cards are placed face-up in a central pile.

All participants reveal their cards simultaneously and attempt to identify the shared symbol between their own card and the top card of the central pile.

The first participant to identify and name the matching symbol collects the central card and places it on their personal pile.

This reveals a new comparison opportunity. Gameplay continues until the central pile has been exhausted.

Winning condition: Collect the greatest number of cards.

Principal mechanics: Real-time pattern recognition, speed, visual attention and card collection.

Mini-game 2 – Recycling

Cards are distributed among the players, with one card placed face-up in the centre.

Participants simultaneously attempt to identify a matching symbol between the top card of their personal deck and the central card.

After naming the matching symbol, a player discards their card onto the central pile.

The reference card therefore changes throughout the round.

Winning condition: Be the first to discard all cards; avoid being the last participant with cards remaining.

Principal mechanics: Real-time symbol matching, hand depletion, competition and rapid responses.

Mini-game 3 – The Sustainable Potato

Each participant receives one card face-down.

All participants reveal their cards simultaneously.

A player who identifies the symbol shared between their card and another player’s card names it aloud and transfers their card to that participant.

The receiving participant must then find another match and transfer their accumulated cards.

Losing condition: Be the participant holding the accumulated cards at the end of the round.

Principal mechanics: Real-time symbol matching, card transfer, speed and player interaction.

Tournament structure

The rules allow educators to combine the three mini-games in a five-round tournament.

A separate scoring system is suggested:

• The ECO Tower: One point per collected card and a bonus of five points for the player collecting the most cards.
• Recycling: The first participant to discard all cards receives a bonus, while remaining cards and finishing last can generate penalties.
• The Sustainable Potato: Players receive a five-point penalty for losing a round.

The facilitator may also set a time limit or adapt the number of rounds.

Lightning challenges

The physical game incorporates two additional categories of challenges identified by different colours.

Yellow Lightning – Environmental Knowledge

The printed rules identify 46 yellow challenge cards.

These cards contain questions concerning environmental sustainability, plastics and the circular economy, usually accompanied by multiple-choice answers and explanatory information.

Example topics include:

• Recycling rates and the treatment of plastic packaging.
• Plastic waste entering marine ecosystems.
• The circular economy and material reuse.
• Climate impacts of plastic production.
• Recycling processes and waste management.
• Effects of pollution on biodiversity.
• Renewable energy and sustainable choices.

Blue Lightning – Physical Activity

The published rules identify 32 blue challenge cards.

These cards introduce physical exercises, including squats, planks, jumping jacks, lateral movements, push-ups and other short movement challenges.

The activity instructions specify repetitions or durations for each challenge.

Challenge procedure

When a lightning challenge appears, the participant who collected the preceding card is responsible for answering the question or performing the physical exercise.

The participant to their right reads or explains the challenge.

Successful completion awards one point; unsuccessful completion awards no points.

The facilitator may introduce yellow cards only, blue cards only, or a combination of both colours.

The rulebook recommends adjusting the number of lightning cards according to the number of participants.

Educational integration

The game combines three different learning mechanisms.

First, environmental images create opportunities for recognising sustainability-related vocabulary.

Second, factual questions introduce environmental information through direct retrieval, multiple-choice responses and accompanying explanations.

Third, physical challenges add movement and bodily activity to an otherwise rapid visual-recognition game.

However, environmental knowledge is not inherently required to succeed in the three main symbol-matching mini-games.

Players can identify identical pictures without understanding recycling processes, the causes of pollution or the consequences of different consumption practices.

The environmental learning therefore depends substantially on the lightning questions, the facilitator’s explanations and any discussion accompanying gameplay.

Accessibility and safety

The real-time format rewards processing speed and rapid visual identification.

Educators should consider adaptations for participants with visual, cognitive, motor or other support needs.

The physical exercise cards should be selected according to participants’ physical capacities, the available environment and appropriate safety considerations.

Replicability

The game rules and printable components are publicly linked through partner websites.

One PDF contains environmental knowledge cards, physical challenge cards and game instructions. A second, larger file provides further printable materials.

The first file has been directly examined. The second file is linked and publicly hosted but could not be fully inspected because of its large size.

Game approach: Project-developed educational tabletop card game using a familiar rapid symbol-matching system, supplemented by environmental questions and physical exercises.

Official game resources:

• PLANSHIELD – Rules, Environmental Questions and Physical Challenges
• PLANSHIELD – Additional Printable Game Components
• PLANSHIELD – Project and Printable Resources

2. Plastic Patrol: Ocean Cleanup – Complementary Multimedia Game

PLANSHIELD also developed Plastic Patrol: Ocean Cleanup, an original multiplayer digital game created by DamaSistem.

Unlike the physical rapid symbol-matching game, Plastic Patrol focuses on route selection, ocean exploration, plastic collection and the accumulation of recycling points.

Main characteristics

• Format: Digital multiplayer educational game.
• Developer: DamaSistem, Türkiye.
• Players: 2–5.
• Platform: Downloadable desktop application for Windows and macOS.
• Connectivity: Internet access required according to the Game Guide.
• Game objective: Accumulate recycling points by collecting plastic barrels and, on applicable maps, delivering them to recycling facilities.
• Player interaction: Competitive multiplayer gameplay with strategic card use.
• Route Cards: Cards allowing players to move towards plastic barrels, navigate towards recycling facilities or affect opponents.
• Plastic Barrels: Collectible objects with numerical values.
• Recycling Points: A scoring system rewarding successful collection and recycling actions.
• Bonuses and obstacles: Environmental features that influence movement and strategy.

Available maps

• Silver Sands Beach: An ocean scenario with a recycling facility.
• Sapphire Beach: An alternative scenario containing a recycling facility.
• Moonlight Cave: A scenario without a recycling facility.
• Blue Pearl Bay: A scenario without a recycling facility.

Game progression

1. Participants download and install the appropriate application.
2. Each player joins the game using their own device.
3. A map is selected.
4. Players use route cards to navigate their vessels and reach plastic barrels.
5. Collected plastic contributes to their recycling score.
6. On applicable maps, barrels can be delivered to a recycling facility.
7. The game ends when all barrels have been collected or the recycling facility reaches its capacity, depending on the map.
8. After the end condition is reached, one final round is played and scores are compared.

Winning condition: Accumulate the highest number of recycling points.

Educational integration

The game’s objective connects player progression more directly with collecting plastic waste than the physical symbol-matching game.

Its routes, collection decisions and recycling facilities provide a simplified representation of environmental cleanup activities.

However, the game does not necessarily represent the full complexity of plastic production, consumption, prevention, reuse and recycling systems.

Classification: Separate digital serious game. It should be recorded as an accompanying project result, not as a second physical board game.

Resources:

• Plastic Patrol – English Game Guide
• DamaSistem – Project Resources and Downloads
• Plastic Patrol – SALTO-YOUTH Toolbox
• Plastic Patrol – macOS Application

PLANSHIELD adopts a Game-Based Learning methodology combining a physical tabletop card game, environmental knowledge challenges, movement-based activities and a complementary multimedia game.

The physical game uses rapid symbol recognition to create an accessible recreational activity, while environmental questions and physical challenges introduce educational content and opportunities for active participation.

The project also developed training resources intended to help youth workers implement game-based environmental education in formal and non-formal settings.

Methodological approach

1. Identification of educational objectives: Youth workers select relevant sustainability concepts, particularly single-use plastics, recycling, circular economy and environmental responsibility.
2. Preparation: The facilitator prepares the printable symbol cards, lightning challenges and the corresponding rules.
3. Introduction to environmental symbols: Participants become familiar with the icons representing recycling, waste reduction, renewable energy, biodiversity and related concepts.
4. Explanation of matching mechanics: The facilitator demonstrates how two symbol cards share one identical image, allowing participants to practise the basic recognition task.
5. Selection of a mini-game: The group chooses The ECO Tower, Recycling or The Sustainable Potato.
6. Simultaneous gameplay: Players compete to recognise identical symbols, name them aloud and collect or discard cards.
7. Environmental knowledge challenges: Yellow Lightning Cards introduce factual questions and explanatory information about plastics and sustainability.
8. Physical activity challenges: Blue Lightning Cards introduce short exercises that complement the cognitive activity.
9. Scoring and feedback: Players receive points according to the mini-game rules and the completion of additional challenges.
10. Optional game variations: The facilitator can change the number of rounds, establish a time limit and modify the combination of question and physical challenge cards.
11. Environmental discussion: The information included on question cards provides opportunities to explain answers, clarify misconceptions and connect game content with everyday behaviour.
12. Further learning: Youth workers can connect the game with environmental workshops, discussions or community activities addressing plastic waste.

The sequence above combines the documented game procedures with the educational applications supported by its published materials. It is not presented as a universally prescribed lesson plan implemented identically by all project partners.

Game-Based Learning through symbol recognition

The central game mechanic requires participants to identify the single image shared by two cards.

Players are encouraged to respond quickly and name the matching symbol before their opponents.

This activity can provide opportunities to practise visual attention, discrimination and the recognition of environmental vocabulary.

However, the mechanic primarily rewards perceptual speed and familiarity with the images.

Correctly identifying a recycling symbol does not require a player to understand how recycling works or the environmental consequences of particular consumption choices.

Consequently, the environmental educational contribution depends on how the facilitator connects the symbols with appropriate scientific explanations and additional activities.

Knowledge reinforcement through Lightning Cards

The Yellow Lightning Cards provide a more direct connection with environmental education.

Each card presents a factual question with alternative responses and an information section explaining the intended answer.

This structure allows participants to review concepts about the circular economy, marine pollution, waste management and resource use.

It also gives the facilitator opportunities to distinguish correct answers from common misconceptions.

Nevertheless, factual questions primarily support knowledge retrieval and reinforcement, and their educational accuracy depends on the quality and currency of the information provided.

Integration of physical activity

The Blue Lightning Cards introduce exercises such as planks, squats, jumping jacks and other movement challenges.

This feature reflects the involvement of sports organisations in the project consortium.

The exercises can interrupt prolonged seated participation and provide opportunities for movement during the educational session.

However, physical activity challenges do not inherently teach sustainability concepts.

Their contribution should therefore be assessed separately from the environmental knowledge component.

Facilitator’s role

Youth workers are responsible for selecting appropriate activities, explaining the rules and supporting participants during gameplay.

The physical game rules also assign participants responsibilities for reading environmental questions or explaining exercises to other players.

Educators should verify that the environmental information is accurate and suitable for the age and knowledge level of the group.

Facilitators should also consider participants’ physical capabilities when selecting movement challenges.

Alternative forms of participation may be required to avoid excluding young people who cannot perform particular exercises.

Reflection and debriefing

The question cards include explanatory information that can support discussion of environmental concepts during gameplay.

The project’s wider educational approach also includes environmental activities and the preparation of a youth worker training guide.

However, the reviewed physical rulebook does not establish a standardised final debriefing protocol with defined questions, reflection stages or procedures for assessing transfer to everyday environmental behaviour.

A structured discussion could explore how plastic waste is generated, which alternatives are available and what actions participants might undertake in their communities.

Such a discussion would be a pedagogically appropriate extension, but it should not be reported as a verified standard procedure in all PLANSHIELD sessions.

Complementary digital methodology

Plastic Patrol uses a different learning process.

Players navigate a virtual environment, collect plastic barrels, choose routes and compete to accumulate recycling points.

Because the digital game’s objective involves collecting waste and, on some maps, delivering it to recycling facilities, environmental actions are more directly represented in the gameplay than in the physical symbol-matching game.

Nevertheless, plastic collection is only one aspect of environmental sustainability. Waste prevention, product design, reuse and broader systemic factors are not necessarily represented through its core mechanics.

Methodological distinction

The physical game uses environmental themes, factual challenges and active movement within a fast-paced recreational structure.

The digital game uses simplified environmental cleanup as the basis for route planning, resource collection and scoring.

Both resources are relevant to game-based environmental education, but they should not be treated as mechanically equivalent interventions.

Distinctive methodological feature: PLANSHIELD combines a reproducible rapid-matching tabletop card game with environmental question cards and motor challenges, while offering a separate digital environmental collection game.

PLANSHIELD was implemented through an Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnership involving five organisations from Spain, Lithuania, Croatia and Türkiye.

The project developed a physical environmental card game, a separate multiplayer digital game and training resources for youth workers.

Implementation

• European consortium: Club Deportivo Chañe (Spain, coordinator), Fundación Eusebio Sacristán (Spain), Asociacija Mano Europa (Lithuania), Sportsko učilište PESG (Croatia) and DamaSistem (Türkiye).
• Programme and reference: Erasmus+ KA220-YOU, 2023-1-ES02-KA220-YOU-000155891.
• Project budget: EUR 120,000, according to the Croatian partner’s institutional project record.
• Project period: 1 December 2023 – 30 November 2025.
• Initial transnational meeting: The partnership met in Valladolid, Spain, in January 2024 to establish work plans, allocate responsibilities and discuss the design of the physical board game.
• Initial game development: The consortium developed a sustainability-themed symbol-matching game with accompanying knowledge and physical activity challenges.
• Internal prototype testing: Fundación Eusebio Sacristán reported an initial internal test of the physical game during a consortium meeting in Croatia in 2024.
• Development review: Partner organisations continued discussing and refining the physical and digital educational resources.
• Physical game publication: The completed game materials include environmental symbols, three fast-paced matching mini-games, question cards, physical challenge cards and printed rules.
• Digital game development: DamaSistem developed Plastic Patrol: Ocean Cleanup, a downloadable multiplayer game involving plastic collection, navigation and recycling points.
• Youth worker training: The project’s third newsletter reports the completion of training sessions with youth workers and educators before the subsequent phase of testing with young people.
• Game testing with youth: The third and fourth newsletters document the testing of project games with young participants and the collection of feedback.
• Pilot report: The final newsletter reports the preparation of a pilot document containing feedback, observations and recommendations from the testing phase.
• Refinement of educational guidance: The partnership states that pilot feedback was used to improve and finalise the youth worker guide.
• Final transnational meeting: The consortium met in Lithuania to review pilot outcomes, local activities and the continuation of project results after completion.
• Multiplier events: The fourth newsletter reports that partner organisations delivered local events introducing the physical and multimedia games.
• Turkish multiplier event: DamaSistem reports an event in Ankara on 5 October 2025 involving 35 participants.
• Environmental outreach in Spain: Club Deportivo Chañe promoted the use of the physical game through activities reaching rural communities in Segovia and Valladolid.
• Public dissemination: The physical materials were published through Mano Europa and DamaSistem, while Plastic Patrol was also registered in the SALTO-YOUTH Toolbox.
• Post-project resource access: Partner websites continue to provide links to the physical game, training guide and digital downloads.

Evaluation approach

The documented evaluation process is primarily formative and implementation-oriented.

Project partners tested the games, gathered feedback from participants and youth workers, and used the observations to improve the final educational materials.

The final newsletter explicitly refers to a pilot report summarising feedback, observations and recommendations.

However, the full report and its underlying participant-level data were not independently examined during this review.

Documented findings

• Resource development: Physical tabletop game, multiplayer digital game and youth worker training resources completed.
• Prototype evaluation: Internal testing of the physical game documented in 2024.
• Educational implementation: Partner communications confirm game sessions involving young people.
• Professional training: The completion of youth worker training sessions is reported.
• Formative feedback: The final newsletter confirms that feedback and observations were used to refine the educational guide.
• Dissemination: Multiplier events organised by project partners; the Turkish event reports 35 attendees.
• Learning outcomes: No independently verified controlled results demonstrating improvement in environmental knowledge or green skills attributable to the physical game were identified.
• Behavioural outcomes: No longitudinal evidence demonstrating reduced single-use plastic consumption or improved environmental behaviour attributable to gameplay was identified.

Distinction between planned targets and verified results

The project initially aimed to train 25 youth workers and foster green skills in at least 100 young people.

The published newsletters provide evidence of training and pilot activities, but the reviewed sources do not establish a complete final participant dataset confirming the achievement of these exact targets.

The 35 attendees reported for the Ankara multiplier event should be treated as dissemination participants, not as a sample from an educational effectiveness study.

Evidence classification

Project identity: Confirmed through several independent consortium organisations.

Physical game development: Complete rules and printable resources publicly documented.

Digital game development: Downloadable multimedia game and rules documented.

Game testing: Internal testing and subsequent youth pilot activities reported.

Formative evaluation: Feedback and observations collected; pilot report existence confirmed by consortium communications.

Quantitative learning assessment: No independently examined pre-test/post-test dataset or statistical results identified.

Comparison group: No controlled comparison with equivalent non-game environmental education identified.

Long-term impact: No independently verified behavioural transfer or sustained environmental outcomes identified.

Methodological limitations

Incomplete quantitative reporting: Public implementation reports do not provide sufficiently detailed final sample sizes, validated outcome instruments, effect sizes or statistical analyses.

Potential differences between games: The physical and digital products have different mechanics, meaning that educational results should be reported separately.

Training and dissemination versus outcomes: Completing workshops and reaching participants provides evidence of implementation, not evidence of improved competencies.

Facilitator influence: The environmental knowledge component depends on the selection and explanation of questions, while the physical challenges require appropriate supervision.

Content accuracy: Environmental facts and statistics appearing in the cards may require updating or correction before repeated educational use.

Learning transfer: Recognising symbols and answering environmental questions does not necessarily establish changes in consumption behaviour or waste management.

Evidence status: Strong documentation of resource production and public availability; implementation and formative testing confirmed; game-specific educational effectiveness remains unverified.

PLANSHIELD provides educational resources designed to support environmental learning through physical tabletop games, multimedia gaming and training for youth workers.

The project results are hosted across several partner websites, including those of Club Deportivo Chañe, Mano Europa, DamaSistem and Sportsko učilište PESG.

Available educational resources

• PLANSHIELD Physical Card Game: A project-developed rapid symbol-matching game addressing environmental sustainability, particularly single-use plastics and responsible resource use.
• Environmental Symbol Cards: Cards containing sustainability-themed images used for real-time matching activities.
• Environmental Symbol Legend: A reference identifying the game’s symbols and their related concepts.
• Physical Game Rulebook: Instructions describing three mini-games, matching procedures, winning conditions and optional tournament scoring.
• The ECO Tower: A visual-matching mini-game in which participants compete to collect the greatest number of cards.
• Recycling: A mini-game in which players seek to discard all their cards through rapid matching.
• The Sustainable Potato: A mini-game involving card transfers between participants.
• Environmental Question Cards: Forty-six yellow Lightning Cards containing factual questions and explanatory information about sustainability, plastic waste and environmental protection.
• Physical Exercise Cards: Thirty-two blue Lightning Cards containing movement-based challenges and instructions.
• Printable Game Package – Part 1: A PDF containing question cards, physical activity cards, rules and the environmental symbol legend.
• Printable Game Package – Part 2: An additional large-format PDF containing further physical game materials.
• Plastic Patrol: Ocean Cleanup: A separate downloadable multiplayer digital environmental game.
• Plastic Patrol Game Guide: A short English publication describing the digital game, installation requirements, cards, maps, rules and scoring.
• Windows Application: A downloadable game package linked from DamaSistem.
• macOS Application: An application linked through the Apple App Store.
• Youth Worker Training Guide: A project publication intended to support the implementation of the games and educational activities.
• Pilot Report: The fourth project newsletter confirms that a report was prepared using feedback, observations and recommendations from testing activities. The complete report was not independently inspected.
• Project Newsletters: Four publications documenting development, internal testing, training, piloting, dissemination and project completion.
• SALTO-YOUTH Toolbox Record: A public description of Plastic Patrol, including its purpose, gameplay and intended users.

Physical resource availability

The Mano Europa project page continues to link to two PDF files containing the PLANSHIELD physical game materials.

The first file has been inspected and includes environmental questions, physical challenge cards, a complete set of mini-game instructions and the symbol legend.

The second file remains linked but could not be fully examined through the available consultation service because of its large size.

DamaSistem provides an additional link to a large printable game PDF.

These sources establish that the project prepared its physical resources for distribution beyond the original consortium.

Digital resource availability

Plastic Patrol is distributed as a desktop application for Windows and macOS.

The English Game Guide provides basic installation requirements and gameplay instructions.

The digital game requires an appropriate device and internet access, according to its published guide.

The availability of downloadable installers should not be interpreted as independent verification of compatibility, security or functionality on every current operating system.

Open access and licensing

The consortium publicly links to the physical game and educational publications.

However, a single explicit Creative Commons licence covering all game components was not independently confirmed.

Educators should verify the applicable reuse, modification and redistribution conditions before publishing adaptations of the printable materials.

Transferability

The physical game can potentially be reproduced using printed cards without requiring specialised equipment.

Its three short mini-games allow educators to organise brief activities, adapt the number of rounds and introduce environmental questions according to the group’s level of knowledge.

The physical exercises provide an additional movement-based component that can be adapted according to the participants’ abilities.

The digital game provides another format for introducing environmental cleanup and resource collection.

The combination may be useful for youth centres, schools, environmental awareness workshops and community programmes.

Limitations affecting reuse

• Large production files may complicate downloading and printing.
• The continued functionality of every individual download should be checked.
• The environmental questions contain some historical statistics and claims that may require scientific or editorial updating.
• Physical activity challenges require accessible alternatives and appropriate safety considerations.
• The physical and digital games have different mechanics and should be accompanied by separate implementation instructions.
• Complete evaluation data are not publicly available in a format that permits independent replication of the reported pilot findings.

Replicability assessment

PLANSHIELD provides a high level of rule-level documentation for its physical card game.

The three mini-games and the additional Lightning Card system can be reconstructed from the published rules.

The complete physical production package should be checked manually to verify the symbol deck and component completeness.

The digital game is also documented, although installation and operational compatibility remain to be confirmed independently.

Replicability status: High for physical game rules; substantial printable resources publicly linked; final production-file verification recommended; limited independent reproducibility of educational evaluation.

Official educational resources:

• Club Deportivo Chañe – Official Project Page
• Mano Europa – Project Results
• PLANSHIELD – Printable Cards and Game Rules, Part 1
• PLANSHIELD – Printable Materials, Part 2
• DamaSistem – Game Downloads, Guide and Newsletters
• PLANSHIELD – Youth Worker Training Guide
• Plastic Patrol – Game Guide

PLANSHIELD represents a relevant European Board Game-Based Learning initiative because it developed and published a physical tabletop game addressing environmental sustainability, supported by a separate digital learning game and resources for youth workers.

Its methodology is particularly interesting for examining the relationship between recreational game mechanics, educational content and physical activity.

The physical game uses a familiar rapid symbol-matching structure, while environmental questions and movement challenges add explicit instructional elements.

The project therefore provides a useful case for distinguishing thematic adaptation from the intrinsic integration of educational concepts into game mechanics.

Methodological strengths

1. Verified original physical game. PLANSHIELD developed a dedicated environmental card game with specific illustrations, rules, mini-games and supplementary educational components.
2. Recognisable recreational mechanics. The core game uses a rapid symbol-matching system that creates immediate competition, clear objectives and repeated opportunities for participation.
3. Low entry barrier. The basic matching action is simple to explain and does not require extensive previous knowledge of modern board games.
4. Environmental visual identity. The cards replace generic illustrations with images relating to recycling, energy, pollution, biodiversity and sustainability.
5. Repeated exposure to environmental vocabulary. Participants encounter environmental symbols frequently during gameplay, potentially supporting familiarity with the terminology and concepts represented.
6. Three documented mini-games. The ECO Tower, Recycling and The Sustainable Potato provide alternative uses for the same underlying card system.
7. Flexible duration. The rules allow organisers to select mini-games, establish a time limit and modify the number of rounds.
8. Environmental knowledge questions. The Yellow Lightning Cards introduce factual content beyond the visual recognition task.
9. Explanatory material. Question cards include information accompanying the intended answers, creating opportunities for clarification and discussion.
10. Physical activity integration. The Blue Lightning Cards introduce movement tasks that distinguish the project from conventional seated tabletop learning activities.
11. Potential suitability for informal education. Short challenges and immediate scoring may make the game appropriate for environmental awareness workshops and youth events.
12. Professional training component. The partnership developed resources intended to help youth workers introduce game-based environmental education.
13. International formative implementation. The project documents internal testing, subsequent pilot activities and feedback used to improve the final educational resources.
14. Multiformat approach. The physical game is accompanied by a digital product using different mechanics to address related environmental topics.
15. Public resource preservation. Partner websites continue to link to the rules, cards, training resources and digital downloads after project completion.

Methodological limitations

1. Limited intrinsic environmental integration in the core mechanics. The physical game’s main objective is to identify matching symbols faster than other participants.

A player can perform well without understanding the causes of plastic pollution, the principles of the circular economy or the effects of waste on biodiversity.

Environmental concepts are represented through the illustrations, but they do not generally determine the relationship between player decisions and game outcomes.

2. Strong similarity to existing recreational mechanics. The card structure and three principal mini-games closely resemble established rapid symbol-matching card games.

The project’s distinctive contribution lies primarily in environmental thematic content, additional question cards and physical activity challenges rather than in the creation of a substantially new underlying game system.

Such adaptation can be educationally useful, but recreational originality and pedagogical originality should be assessed separately.

3. Symbol recognition is not conceptual understanding. Recognising an image of a recycling truck or a renewable energy source does not demonstrate understanding of recycling systems, energy production or their environmental consequences.

The game would require additional activities to assess whether participants correctly understand the meanings and relationships represented by the symbols.

4. Environmental learning through supplementary questions. The Yellow Lightning Cards introduce knowledge primarily through a question-and-answer mechanism.

This supports factual recall but does not necessarily require participants to apply environmental knowledge when making the decisions central to the game.

5. Limited representation of environmental systems. The physical game does not mechanically model plastic production, consumption, waste generation, reuse, recycling or environmental consequences as interconnected processes.

It therefore provides limited opportunities to experience the effects of different sustainability decisions through the game system itself.

6. Physical activity is largely separate from sustainability learning. Completing a set of squats or jumping jacks may provide movement and variety, but the activity does not directly help participants understand environmental processes.

The educational contribution of movement should be evaluated as a separate component rather than automatically interpreted as improved environmental learning.

7. Accessibility of rapid visual play. Real-time symbol matching can disadvantage participants who require additional processing time or have visual-perceptual difficulties.

Competition based on speed may also reduce opportunities for reflective discussion unless the facilitator deliberately introduces appropriate pauses.

8. Physical activity accessibility and safety. Some Blue Lightning Cards prescribe exercises that may be unsuitable for participants with certain physical limitations or in environments without adequate space.

Facilitators should provide alternatives and avoid linking exclusion from play to an inability to perform a prescribed exercise.

9. Environmental fact-checking and currency. Several Yellow Lightning Cards contain numerical claims about plastic pollution, recycling rates and projected environmental outcomes.

These figures may be sensitive to publication dates, geographical definitions, measurement methods or later scientific developments.

They should therefore be checked against current authoritative sources before repeated educational use.

10. Confusion between recycling and reuse. One published question asks about the proportion of plastic bottles being reused, while its explanatory text refers to the percentage of recycled plastic content used in new bottles.

These are different concepts. Reusing a container and manufacturing a new container with recycled material involve different processes and environmental implications.

This illustrates the need for scientific and terminological quality control in educational question cards.

11. Limited explicit debriefing. The physical rules explain the mini-games and special challenges but do not establish a complete standardised protocol for reflecting on environmental behaviour after gameplay.

Without this pedagogical connection, participants may remember the competitive experience more clearly than the environmental concepts.

12. Differences between the physical and digital games. The partnership describes Plastic Patrol as an adaptation of the physical game.

PLANSHIELD is a relevant example of European Board Game-Based Learning focused on environmental education, the reduction of single-use plastics and the promotion of sustainable behaviours among young people.

Its principal contribution lies in combining a physical tabletop card game with environmental knowledge challenges, physical activity and complementary digital learning resources.

The project provides an original educational adaptation of a well-established visual-matching game system, supplemented by sustainability-related questions and motor challenges.

For the European Board Game-Based Learning Observatory, PLANSHIELD is particularly interesting because it illustrates the difference between introducing educational content into an existing type of recreational mechanic and designing game mechanics that intrinsically represent the concepts being taught.

Methodological strengths

1. Completed and reproducible physical tabletop game. PLANSHIELD provides a documented card game with matching mechanics, multiple game modes, scoring rules and publicly available printable materials. This establishes a substantial physical game-based educational output rather than a merely proposed activity.
2. Accessible and familiar core mechanics. The game uses rapid visual matching, a mechanic similar to that of Dobble (Spot It!). Participants search for a shared symbol between two cards, allowing gameplay to begin with relatively limited explanation.
3. Short, flexible game sessions. The three mini-games can be played individually, combined into a tournament or organised within an optional time limit. This flexibility makes the resource suitable for different educational schedules.
4. Environmental thematic consistency. The iconography relates to recycling, plastic pollution, the circular economy, renewable energy, biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals, establishing a consistent sustainability theme.
5. Educational questions integrated into game events. The Yellow Lightning Cards introduce questions concerning plastic waste, environmental impacts and sustainable practices, providing opportunities for knowledge retrieval and immediate feedback.
6. Explanatory content accompanying questions. Many environmental questions include additional information that can support discussion and clarification rather than limiting the activity to recognising the correct multiple-choice answer.
7. Combination of cognitive and motor participation. The Blue Lightning Cards introduce physical challenges alongside visual recognition and factual questions. This creates an activity structure combining recreational tabletop play with short movement exercises.
8. Variety of player interactions. The ECO Tower, Recycling and The Sustainable Potato use different card-collection, discarding and transfer objectives. This provides several ways to experience the same basic matching mechanic.
9. Motivational feedback. Rapid responses, collected cards, tournament points and additional challenges provide immediate information about players’ progress.
10. Complementary digital game. Plastic Patrol: Ocean Cleanup introduces different mechanics involving movement, route planning, waste collection and recycling points, broadening the project’s game-based educational resources.
11. Structured professional guidance. The Training and Piloting Guide for Youth Workers includes the physical and digital game rules, nine complementary educational activities and a chapter reporting results from the pilot phase.
12. Connections with real-world environmental action. The training guide proposes activities involving waste collection, audits of plastic consumption, creative reuse and reflection on practical ways of reducing single-use plastics.
13. Documented implementation. The project reports testing with 25 professionals and 104 young participants in Spain, Lithuania and Croatia.
14. Formative evaluation. The consortium collected participant questionnaires and professional feedback, using the findings to refine its educational resources.
15. Positive participant experiences. The pilot report describes favourable responses concerning engagement, enjoyment and perceived learning, with 70.2% of post-test responses classified as positive.
16. Public availability after project completion. The physical game materials, youth worker guide and digital game remain linked through operational partner websites, supporting continued educational use.

Methodological limitations

1. Limited intrinsic integration of sustainability concepts into the principal mechanics. The game’s central action consists of identifying the identical symbol shared by two cards.

Success primarily depends on perceptual speed, visual attention and familiarity with the images, rather than understanding the environmental relationships represented by them.

A participant can win The ECO Tower, Recycling or The Sustainable Potato without being able to explain why plastic pollution occurs or how to reduce it.

2. Environmental learning is concentrated in supplementary challenges. The Yellow Lightning Cards introduce the most explicit sustainability content through factual questions.

This creates a distinction between the recreational matching mechanic and the educational content added through question cards.

The connection is functional but relatively external: the principal matching system does not require participants to use environmental knowledge to make successful decisions.

3. Limited simulation of environmental processes. The physical game does not appear to model relationships between plastic production, consumption, disposal, ecological damage and recycling through interacting resources or consequences.

As a result, participants practise recognising environmental symbols and answering questions rather than experiencing the effects of different environmental management decisions within a simulated system.

4. Dependence on knowledge questions for conceptual learning. Multiple-choice challenges can reinforce existing knowledge or introduce new information.

However, correctly answering isolated questions is not equivalent to developing a comprehensive understanding of environmental systems or the capacity to make sustainable decisions.

5. Environmental facts require regular verification. Several cards include statistics, projections and claims relating to plastic recycling, marine pollution and the circular economy.

Such figures may become outdated or depend on particular definitions, geographical contexts and data sources.

The reviewed material also contains an example where recycled content is discussed in connection with a question about reuse, two concepts that should not be treated as equivalent.

Educators should therefore review the scientific accuracy and currency of the cards before using them as authoritative teaching materials.

6. Physical challenges are not intrinsically connected to sustainability learning. Squats, planks and jumping exercises introduce movement, but they do not directly represent the causes or consequences of plastic pollution.

These tasks may support engagement and variety, yet their contribution to environmental knowledge should be evaluated separately.

7. Accessibility concerns associated with real-time play. The core matching mechanic rewards rapid visual identification and verbal responses.

Participants with visual, motor, language-processing or other support needs may experience disadvantages unrelated to their knowledge of sustainability.

Optional untimed rounds, alternative response methods and modified card displays could improve accessibility, but such adaptations should be identified as recommendations rather than verified standard procedures.

8. Accessibility concerns associated with physical activity. Some Blue Lightning challenges require particular movements or levels of physical capacity.

Without suitable alternatives, these requirements may exclude participants with mobility limitations or other relevant conditions.

The activity should therefore distinguish participation in environmental learning from the ability to complete a specific physical exercise.

9. Competitive performance is not an educational outcome. Winning mini-games or accumulating points primarily reflects performance within the game’s rules.

It does not necessarily demonstrate environmental understanding, responsible consumption or sustainable behaviour outside the session.

10. Limited cooperative decision-making in the physical game. The principal mini-games are competitive and based on individual rapid responses.

Although participants interact socially, the published mechanics provide fewer opportunities for sustained negotiation, collaboration or collective environmental problem-solving than a cooperative resource-management game might offer.

11. Distinction between the physical and digital games. The project describes the multimedia resource as related to the physical game, but Plastic Patrol uses substantially different mechanics.

The digital experience emphasises navigation, collecting plastic barrels and scoring recycling points, whereas the physical game emphasises visual matching, questions and physical activities.

Consequently, the two games should not be treated as equivalent interventions when evaluating learning outcomes.

12. The digital game’s environmental representation is simplified. Plastic Patrol makes collecting plastic waste central to its game objective.

However, waste collection and recycling are only part of the broader environmental challenge. Preventing waste, reducing consumption and changing production systems may be more important in many contexts.

Without appropriate reflection, the game could overemphasise cleaning up existing pollution rather than preventing it.

13. No standardised debriefing specific to the physical game. The Training and Piloting Guide contains explicit reflection questions and action-oriented exercises.

However, these are primarily associated with complementary activities, and the published physical card-game rules do not establish a standard post-game discussion protocol.

The existence of environmental reflection elsewhere in the programme should not be interpreted as evidence that all physical gameplay sessions included the same debriefing procedure.

14. Evaluation results are not disaggregated by game. The pilot report combines the experiences associated with the physical PLANSHIELD game and the online game.

Therefore, the reported participant perceptions cannot be attributed exclusively to the tabletop intervention.

15. Self-perceived learning is not equivalent to demonstrated knowledge improvement. The project’s post-test reports that many participants felt more knowledgeable about recycling and environmental issues.

However, the published summary does not provide sufficient paired objective knowledge scores or statistical analyses to quantify actual learning gains.

The reported 70.2% positive responses must not be interpreted as a 70.2% improvement in environmental knowledge.

16. Absence of a controlled comparison. No controlled study was identified comparing the physical game with equivalent non-game instruction, another educational activity or a different board game.

It is therefore not possible to establish whether positive perceptions resulted specifically from the game mechanics, the environmental information, facilitator explanations or participation in an enjoyable group activity.

17. Limited information on measurement quality. The published pilot summary does not provide complete questionnaires, psychometric validation results, individual-level data, effect sizes or sufficient detail to independently reproduce the reported conclusions.

18. Differences between intended and tested age groups. Although the project originally targeted young people aged approximately 13–20, the final pilot report describes participants aged 18–30.

This difference limits assumptions about the suitability and effectiveness of the tested activities for younger adolescents.

19. No verified long-term behavioural change. The project aims to encourage more sustainable choices, but the published evidence does not demonstrate sustained reductions in single-use plastic consumption or measurable changes in waste management behaviour attributable to gameplay.

20. Reproducibility and licensing considerations. The physical resources are publicly linked, although one large production file could not be independently inspected in full.

The training guide identifies a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence, but the licensing conditions applicable to every separate printable game component should be verified before adaptation or redistribution.

Ludus Magnus assessment

PLANSHIELD is a clear example of a European project developing physical tabletop resources for environmental education.

Its strongest practical advantages are the simplicity of its core mechanics, short game sessions, multiple variants and the availability of printable materials.

The familiar visual-matching structure can facilitate engagement and help youth workers introduce sustainability-related vocabulary without requiring participants to learn a complex rule system.

However, the distinction between thematic content and mechanical integration is particularly important in this case.

In PLANSHIELD, replacing the environmental symbols with images of animals, historical objects or scientific concepts would leave the principal matching game essentially unchanged.

The mechanical challenge would still consist of identifying identical images faster than other players.

This indicates that sustainability is primarily represented through thematic iconography and supplementary educational questions rather than through the internal relationships governing the game.

The Yellow Lightning Cards provide the most direct environmental learning component.

They require participants to consider questions about plastics, recycling and sustainability, creating opportunities to reinforce knowledge and discuss relevant concepts.

Nevertheless, this approach is closer to using a recreational matching game as a framework for environmental quizzes than to simulating the environmental consequences of different decisions.

For example, a game with stronger intrinsic integration might require players to manage a supply chain involving plastic production, packaging choices, consumption, waste prevention and recycling.

Players could experience how their decisions influence costs, resource availability, emissions, waste accumulation and environmental outcomes.

Such a design would require participants to understand the relationships between sustainability concepts in order to succeed.

PLANSHIELD adopts a different educational approach, prioritising accessibility, speed, visual recognition and short factual challenges.

This does not eliminate its educational value, but it defines the type of learning that can reasonably be expected from the physical game.

The introduction of movement challenges is another distinctive feature.

Combining tabletop activities with physical exercises may be attractive in sports-based youth programmes and can help vary the pace of an educational session.

However, the educational contribution of the motor tasks is separate from their contribution to knowledge of sustainability.

Future evaluations should therefore distinguish engagement, physical participation and environmental learning instead of treating them as a single outcome.

The presence of a separate digital game also provides an interesting comparative opportunity.

Plastic Patrol requires participants to navigate environments, collect plastic waste and manage route cards, incorporating environmental cleanup into the actions required for success.

Although still simplified, this design establishes a more direct relationship between the game’s objective and an environmental action.

A future comparison between the physical and digital games could examine whether different mechanics produce different outcomes in environmental knowledge, problem-solving, engagement and perceived responsibility.

Such research would require comparable participant groups, equivalent exposure periods and outcome measures appropriate to each educational objective.

The project’s final evaluation offers a useful preliminary basis for further research.

The documented participation of 25 youth professionals and 104 young people provides evidence that both games were tested in educational contexts.

However, the reported satisfaction and perceptions of improved knowledge do not establish the causal educational effectiveness of the physical game.

One particularly valuable study would compare three conditions: the physical PLANSHIELD game with its environmental questions, the same visual-matching game without those questions, and a conventional educational activity using equivalent sustainability content.

This design could help separate the effects of the recreational matching mechanic, the added environmental questions and the educational content itself.

A second study could compare the environmental game with and without a structured debriefing session.

This would help determine whether guided reflection supports the transfer of factual information into more meaningful understanding and intentions to change behaviour.

The training guide also provides a foundation for improving the educational intervention through practical activities.

Its proposed waste audits, collection exercises, reuse workshops and reflective questions may help connect the simulated or symbolic experiences of gameplay with actual environmental issues.

These complementary activities could be valuable precisely because the physical card game itself does not simulate the wider environmental system.

Finally, PLANSHIELD illustrates the importance of critically reviewing educational game content.

Environmental statistics and policy claims are time-sensitive and may differ according to their original sources, definitions and geographical scope.

A reusable educational game should provide references and mechanisms for updating its factual content so that future facilitators do not inadvertently present outdated or misleading information.

Transferable methodological lesson: Familiar tabletop mechanics can provide an accessible and engaging structure for introducing educational themes, but thematic images and supplementary questions do not necessarily create intrinsic integration between learning objectives and gameplay. Evaluation should distinguish perceptual game performance, knowledge acquisition, engagement and real-world behavioural change, while examining the additional value provided by structured reflection.

Observatory eligibility consideration: PLANSHIELD meets the criteria for inclusion because it developed a physical tabletop game, published reproducible materials, provided educational guidance and documented pilot implementation. Its methodological contribution should be classified as sustainability-themed rapid-matching gameplay with supplementary knowledge and movement challenges, rather than an integrated simulation of environmental decision-making.