Explore... invent your own game

Game contents

* Playing field
* Game objectives and rules
* Dice, cards, posts or how to get ahead?

Designing the Playing Field

Depending on the environment and theme, you can create the playing field and pieces permanently or "one-time".

Playing field:

• With chalk on the ground
• Draw on the forest floor with stick
• Checked paper (draw your own if necessary)
• Cardboard (use several times) with scenario glued on
• Wood saw (a little more elaborate, but allows the simple redesign of "predefined" scenarios -> put together or connect with intermediate pieces)

Figures:

• Crosses on paper, ground
• collect different kinds of pebbles
• various pieces of wood from the carpenter's workshop
• Magnets
• Figures from playsets
• Create figures on your own (paint bricks colorful, saw out and paint wood, paint cones, etc.)

Define game objectives and rules

Only when all players know the rules and apply them, can a game be played excitingly and fairly.

The fewer rules that have to be observed, the faster the game usually flows and the fun factor also increases if the rules are clear.

A game without a goal usually gets boring quickly. But if you know how to win the game, you can try to reach your goal based on the defined rules using your own strategy.

In our case, one could define the following goals:

• The game is won as soon as a player can no longer make a move due to the game situation.
• The winner is the group that has conquered more than 50% of the game area.
• A mountain is drawn in the middle of the playing field. The group that first occupies the top of the mountain is the winner.
• The game ends as soon as two groups touch each other.

To make these situations happen, one could use, for example, the following rules:

• Every move must be made, even if it puts you at a disadvantage
• The size of the game board is predetermined. Extensions are not provided or the size is free. If necessary, it can be extended in all directions.
• There are special fields, which bring additional points or other advantages at the end.
• There is no order restriction (e.g. for items). You can occupy an additional field as soon as you have enough resources

Dice, cards, posts or how do I get ahead

Why does a board game always have to be played with dice? Brändi Dog, for example, is also played with Jass cards. Likewise, a game of conquest can also be played with Jass cards. Here are a few possibilities:

• Dice: 1 = extra field of water, 2 = extra field of land, 3 = remove 1 field of the opponent, etc.
• Jass cards: shovel = extra field of water, heart = extra field of land, etc. with special cards like ace = 3 extra fields, joker = any move...
• Posts: there is one stake card per executed post. Stake as for dice. Joker posts which can only be approached and used once.
  Posts can be sporting, bible knowledge, skill etc.
• Numbers in the house -> On a master plan is what effect the number has when brought / said (with location)

Concrete implementation

The following implementation can be played with a smaller group and is designed as a classic board game. However, based on the above, an implementation on a Jungscharn afternoon should not pose any problems.

Material:

• Saw wood (8x10cm to 15cm -> The size can vary) for the playing field
• Platelets from fretwork wood (1cm on 1cm -> min. 400pcs. -> depending on the game board size)
• 1 cube
• Scroll saw items (saw, platelets, holder, sandpaper, etc.)
• Container / bag for the game

Proceed:

• Saw out the plates for the playing field (if not already cut)
• Saw out the tiles and "deburr"

the edges with sandpaper

• Paint double-sided with different colors (red, yellow, brown, white). This allows more players to participate than if the tiles are only one color.
• Draw a 1cm grid on the plates. Paint as desired with watercolor. Best with green for the land and blue for the water.
• Let everything dry and meanwhile write down the rules of the game on a piece of paper or cardboard.

Game Objective and Rules:

• Objective: Whoever has occupied the most squares at the end of the game wins the game. Land and water count equally.
• The game is played with a dice. All moves are to be made if possible based on the game situation.
• End of Game: If a player is unable to occupy a new square (circled by the opponent), the game ends. A game ends automatically after 30, 45 or 60 minutes have elapsed. The time is set before the game starts. A round that has been started is finished.
• The game is opened by the player who rolls a 2 first. The youngest player begins rolling the dice.
• Each player determines his start individually himself. The following rule must be followed: He must keep at least 3 fields distance to his neighbors, who have already started. The first land piece may have a maximum distance of 3 fields to the edge. Further into the middle of the game you are not allowed to place your first piece.
• The following moves are possible:
  1 = Add a piece of land to your plot or remove a piece of land from one of your opponents.
  2 = Add a piece of water to your plot or remove a piece of water from one of your opponents.
  3 = Transplant 2 of your plots to another location. However, they must still be adjacent to your plot. It is allowed that afterwards none of them is closer than three fields from the edge.
  4 = Place a piece of land or a piece of water at your plot or move 2 plots at one of your opponents or one at each of 2 opponents.
  5 = Place a piece of water and a piece of land at your plot. If this is not possible due to the map, you must place the corresponding pieces on your opponent (or only one if one is possible). If a piece cannot be attached anywhere, you must take away any piece of land (or two, as the case may be) from your property.
  6 = Add any piece to your property. Remove the same piece from one of your opponents. If this is not possible, you cannot add a piece to yours.

Image credits

• Title photo: provided by Markus Grob