Idea for a cross-country game

Game concept

The teams are divided into three groups of equal size. Each group owns a boat and goes fishing. The fish are fished in the fishing zone and from there they are brought back to the boat. In the boat, the fish are processed and prepared for sale in the harbor, where they are sold to the merchant. Each 3 fish make a pack of 6 fish fillets. Of course, the whole thing doesn't work without catching each other. The whole area is combat zone, except for the group boats and the harbor.

Objective of the game

Make as much money as possible by selling the fish.

Start:

Each player receives a fishing license (a transparent film canister with a cube in it), without which he is not allowed to fish. In addition, each group receives a fishing net, which must be stored in the boat and may be used to fish for the first half hour. After this half hour at the latest, a new net must be bought so that fishing can continue.

Catching and transporting fish:

The fish are spread out in the catching zone, about 50 fish each with a nail attached to a wooden stake. The fish can be easily torn off, but only one at a time per catch. After fish processing (a leader exchanges 3 fish at a time for a fish fillet pack) at the boat, the packed fish fillets must be transported to the port, a maximum of two packs per person.

Combat phase:

If two opposing players clash, the count is three and then whoever has rolled the higher number with his dice in the film box may take away his opponent's fishing license and everything he has on him and then take the loser to the harbor. There, the winner is paid a sum of money for the fishing license surrendered and the player without a license goes to the waiting room and must be patient until he is freed (see below).

Port:

The port is the trading zone. There are a few leaders there who oversee the market, the waiting room, and give out licenses. Here the players can sell their fish packages, depending on how the market is at the moment, higher or lower prices are paid. This is determined by the game board.

What can be done with the money?

• Taken to the boat treasury
• Buy a new net, because with one net you can only fish for half an hour at most
• Buy new fishing licenses for the players who are sitting in the waiting room because they have no more licenses.

Tactics:

To get money, you have to catch and sell as many fish as possible and defeat opponents. The right measure between catching and fighting decides about victory and defeat.

Game control:

About the port, the game can be strongly controlled. For example, an additional rule can be introduced that a certain amount of fish must be delivered in a certain time. If a group delivers too little, a fine is levied, which must be paid by all groups. If sales are good, a bonus can also be paid to all groups. In exactly the same way, prices for licenses and nets can vary. If there are many fishermen sitting in the waiting room, there are many licenses to buy and thus they become cheaper and vice versa. Via the market, the game management has a good tool to add even more excitement to the game.

Material:

- transparent film canisters
- dice
- approx. 1000 fish cards with stand - approx. 500 fillet cards
- net cards
- money
- posters (harbor, waiting area, etc.)
- scoreboard (times, prices)
- bird scare tape
- Fähnli
- torches
- pharmacy
- game plan
- whistle
- gas lamp
- calculator

• Content: Forum Child Issue 0/01, page 28. Fishing licenses and fishing are how kids make money in this off-road game. © Copyright www.forum-kind.ch
• Author: Matthias Meier, Jungschar leader in Rümlang
• Title image: Clipart courtesy of the publisher buch+musik ejw-service gmbh, Stuttgart - www.ejw-buch.de from: Jungscharleiter Grafik-CD plus; Second revised edition 2002© buch+musik ejw-service gmbh, Stuttgart