Holiday Projects: DIY Lego Board Games

The holidays are upon us and I didn’t want the boys having too much time on their “screens” so I gave them a project.

Design a Board Game

Why a board game? Because board games for good for executive function development so we’ll have a new game to play after they’re done. See, I like efficiency – one activity, multiple benefits.

To give them a springboard to get started, I brought out their old Lego Ninjago Board Game for inspiration. Then I told them to come up with their own game with their own rules. This was G1’s creation – inspired by Nexo Knights and Minecraft:

Rules of the Game

• Aim of the game: ascend the volcano and challenge Ultimativer Flama to a duel. Roll a 5 or a 6 to defeat him. If you roll 1 to 4, Flama defeats you and you die.
• Black squares: land on these and you fall into the volcano and die. You also lose your weapons (if you have any).
• What happens when you die: you miss two turns as you go into the lava of the volcano to re-spawn. You can only die a maximum of 3 times before you’re out of the game. There is a special square you start at when you return to the game so you don’t have to start from the beginning.
• Dark green squares are portals that send you forward to the next portal on the board.
• The light green square sends you back to the start.
• Blue squares: land on these and you get to choose a weapon. Weapons increase your chances of defeating Flama either by doubling your score, giving you two chances to roll the die, or allowing you to roll twice and add up your score. Make sure you pick your weapons wisely.

Project Extension: SCAMPER It!

Taking a leaf out of G1’s school enquiry project, I told him to “SCAMPER” his board game. SCAMPER is a mnemonic for brainstorming new ideas to improve an existing idea/product/concept.

• S – Substitute: replace one thing with another; change the parts
• C – Combine: add different elements together
• A – Adapt: change it to meet other needs
• M – Modify: change the look/quality; make it bigger/heavier/faster; make it smaller/lighter/slower
• P – Put to another use: use it in a different way
• E – Eliminate: remove something
• R – Reverse: change the order – turn it around, inside-out, upside-down

Image Source: Five Whys

G1’s Board Game: Volcano Battle

These are the new rules and modifications after SCAMPER (written by G1):

Volcano Battle

Volcano Battle is a four-player game where the winner is the person who gets to the top of the volcano and defeats the boss. The youngest player starts first.

Special Spaces

There are some special spaces in this game that do different things. Any spaces not listed are not special spaces.

• Black spaces are death spaces. If you land on one you are dead.
• Dark green spaces are teleportation spaces. If you land on one you teleport to the next teleportation space and move forward one space. The last teleportation space (Nearest to the boss) does nothing.
• Light green spaces. There are three light green spaces. The one at the start is linked to the one at the top. If you land on the space on the top you teleport to the start space. The third space with the skull on it is a Skull Space. If you land on it you have three choices: Teleport straight to the boss, get a weapon, or be possessed. Being possessed is explained later.
• Blue spaces are weapon spaces, which give you a weapon of your choice.

Death

There are three ways to die: Be possessed by a death spirit, landing on a black space, or battling the boss and losing. If you die, all your extras (Good spirits, weapons, etc, etc) are lost. You then go straight into the volcano for two turns. If you die three times, you are out of the game.

Boss Battle

When you get to the top of the volcano, you will have to fight the boss to win. To fight, you have to roll a dice. The results:

• One – You lose and you are dead.
• Two – You lose and you are dead.
• Three – You lose and you are dead.
• Four – You lose and you are dead.
• Five – You win! The boss is dead.
• Six – You win! The boss is dead.

If you have extras that interfere with this dice roll and tell you to do something else, then listen to the extras.

Being Possessed

If you choose to be possessed when you land on the Skull Space, you roll a dice. The results:

• One – You are possessed by a death spirit and you die.
• Two – You are possessed by an unlucky spirit and when you fight the boss, you have to roll a six to win ONLY.
• Three – You are possessed by a flight spirit and you fly to any teleportation space. You go to the space in front of the teleportation space you chose.
• Four – You are possessed by a fighting spirit, who gives you a weapon.
• Five – You are possessed by a restless spirit and you have three turns in a row.
• Six – You are possessed by a magic spirit, who gives you a choice: Teleport to the boss, kill any player you want, or have five turns in a row.

Once you have done what the spirit lets you do, you are unpossessed. If you die, when it is your turn again, roll a dice. If you roll one, two, or three, you are possessed. If you roll four, five, or six, you are not.

Winning

There are two ways to win. The first way to win is defeat the boss. The second way to win is survive until you are the last player in the game.

Weapons

There are five weapons: Flame Sword, Slime Gun, Shadow Gun, Golden Sword and Ice Crystal. The different weapons have different ways of helping you win when you are fighting the boss.

• Flame Sword – When you are fighting the boss, Flame Sword will burn the boss, allowing you to win if you roll three, four, five, or six on the dice.
• Slime Gun – When you are fighting the boss, Slime Gun will cover the boss with slime, giving you enough time to roll two dice.
• Ice Crystal – When you are fighting the boss, Ice Crystal will freeze the boss, allowing you to re-roll if you don’t get five or six on the dice. You do NOT add your first roll to your second roll.
• Shadow Gun – When you are fighting the boss, you can choose to swap it for any other player. The player you chose and you will roll a dice. If the player has a lower roll, or you are tied, you win. If you have a lower roll, you lose and the player you chose will fight the boss.
• Golden Sword – When you are fighting the boss, Golden Sword will blind the boss, so you can choose to escape to the start, or attack.

G1 has continued to build on the game, so I’d say that this project is far from over.

Related:

• The Benefits of Playing Board Games
• DIY Board Games: Fantastic Beasts Cases from the Wizarding World LEGO Board Game