The story of Moses from his birth to his calling. An adventure program packed into a 'game of life'-type ladder game with a cool twist. Easily adaptable to different team/participant sizes.
Idea of the game
The aim of the game is for the participants to relive the life of Moses.
There is a long loop of boxes, which are all covered with post-its. Spread out from beginning to end are the different stages of Moses' life; from birth to Pharaoh (yes Pharaoh, here's the twist).
There is an empty space under most of the post-its. When participants land on such a square, they must make a post according to the number they just rolled to get to the square. (If they rolled a low number, the task tends to be easier than if they rolled a high number) [Example tasks in the Posts section]
Under some Post-its, however, there are special squares which take on the function of the ladder of the 'ladder game', but are written in the style of the 'game of life', e.g. "the basket in which baby Moses is lying is washed away a little 2 squares back". These events are wildly invented (=not necessarily true to the Bible), but adapted in the style of the respective age group Moses is currently in.
If a group comes across a life stage space with their Moses, they have to stop on it, even if they might have landed 3 later (stop mechanic of the Game of Life) and then have to go to a certain place where they meet a disguised leader who explains the current age stage to them theatrically. [see Life Stages section]
Twist: At some point in the life stage where Moses grew up, there are 6 consecutive special spaces on which it is written that Moses kills an Egyptian, has to flee and therefore flees to another space.
This escape board has a similar structure to the first board (many spaces, with different life stages), only it is placed in a different location, where the respective groups only find out when they have to 'escape'. It begins with the escape life stage and ends with the calling of Moses stage.
However, the game mechanics also change on this board. Instead of being against each other, all the groups that land on it are with each other. In other words, there is only one piece that is driven by each group, but the participants are still in their original group. [more details under Playing field setup]
Preparation
Material
Minimum material:
2flipcharts or other type of board
A lot of post-its
Game pieces
Dice
Disguises
Item material (can be adapted very well)
Nails, hammer, wooden log
Phantomime terms
Kappla, double meter
3 reject sheets
Ball, chalk
Nice to have
Walkie-talkies
Playing field construction
Pictures of pitches under this section
Playing field 1
There is a series of long loops/rows of squares, which are all covered with post-its. Scattered in between, from the beginning to the end, are the different stages of Moses' life; from birth to Pharaoh (yes Pharaoh, here's the twist). These life stages are slightly highlighted and not covered
There is an empty field under most of the post-its. When participants land on such a space, they must make a post according to the number they just rolled to get to the space. (If they rolled a low number, the task tends to be easier than if they rolled a high number) [Example tasks in the Posts section]
Under some Post-its, however, there are special squares which take over the function of the ladders of the 'Ladder Game', but are written in the style of the 'Game of Life', e.g. "the basket in which Baby Moses is lying is washed away a little 2 squares back". These events are wildly invented (=not necessarily true to the Bible), but adapted in the style of the respective age group Moses is currently in. (we had to write the actions of the special fields on the back of the post-its, as you could recognize the fields through the post-its)
Twist!!! At some point in the stage of Moses' life where he grew up, there are 6 consecutive special fields on which it is written that Moses kills an Egyptian, has to flee and therefore flees to another field.
Playing field 2
Playing field 2 also consists of a long row of fields, with special fields and life stages, with the difference that the fields no longer necessarily have to be covered with post-its, but it makes sense to cover the life stages from now on in order to keep the game exciting.
It is important to make a relatively long path from the start of this field to the next life stage, which is littered with negative special fields, so that the remaining groups can catch up if possible. this has the advantage that the theater sequences can be done with everyone.
Example life stages
This can be shortened or extended depending on the leadership resources that are available as it requires a small theater for each life stage. The examples we did here were solved with a leader who simply changed costumes, was in the house and was warned with radios which group was coming and which life stage he should represent.
Example sections playing field 1
Birth, abandonment in the Sea of Reeds, being found by the queen, growing up at the royal court, (now come the wildly invented ones, because now comes the twist) sorcerer, prince, pharaoh, world ruler
Example sections playing field 2
Fleeing, helping women at wells, tending sheep, calling from God
Important other
Think about how you will assemble the game board later and what kind of game pieces you will need. we used a whiteboard and a flipchart, which resulted in us having magnets as game pieces.
The groups should not be able to send actions from special fields to another life span, otherwise it makes little sense chronologically (for example, if Moses had to be abandoned twice in the Red Sea)
Playing fields
Gameplay (=explanation)
Participants are divided into groups
Preferably one leader per group.
Playing field 1 is set up centrally, everyone can see it.
The game leader explains that today we will get to know Moses better and the aim is to reach the top first as a group.
You can move forward by rolling the dice, 1=1 space...
When the group has arrived at the correct square, its Post-it is briefly removed, checked to see whether it is a special square or not and then the Post-it is put back on.
If a group lands on a special field, then this action must be taken and perhaps a special task must be performed, but can otherwise roll the dice again.
If a group lands on an empty space, then the respective group must do the post that corresponds to the number they have just rolled. after the post has been successfully mastered, they may roll the dice again
If a group drives onto/over a life stage square, they must stop on it (even if they would have driven over it) and go to watch a theater sequence. once they have seen this, they may roll the dice again and then drive if they have passed a stage
Phase 2
-->is only explained to children when they have had to flee
There is now only one character
Groups are still traveling individually, earning dice, the previous rules do not change
When the life stage is crossed, all groups that have already escaped watch the theater stage together.
-if there are groups that come to playing field 2 later, they simply experience several theater sections in succession before they can continue playing.
Posts
Depending on the number that the groups have rolled (if they come to an empty field), they have to do a different task.
The basic principle is that there is a task that can be completed more quickly with low numbers than with high numbers in order to make bad luck more bearable so that all groups land on square 2 at a similar time.
These items can also be changed during the game to add more variation to the game.
Example items that we used:
1 Pantomime
Leader whispers a word to a participant from the group, who has to mime it until the group has guessed it
2 Throw the ball back and forth
Ten times in a row, without it falling down, pass the ball to each other over a given distance
3 Hammer in a nail
Hammer the nail into wooden mud, participants each have one hit and then pass the hammer on, the next person hits it once, passes it on... until the nail head is sunk.
4 Cap tower
Group has to build a 1 meter high Kapplaturm
5 Blade hose
The whole group has to crawl through a sheet hose once
6 Sport
everyone in the group must do 5 jumping jacks, then run around the building once and then do 2 push-ups
Conclusion
When you arrive at your destination, do a final play and possibly a short prayer.
The Klingenberg youth group wishes you lots of fun
