Green Box of Games

Snakes and Ladders is an ancient Indian classic, imported to England in 1892 and published in the USA in 1943. It is a game of pure chance and pure frustration, just about as simple as a game can get, and just about as intellectually unrewarding as a game can get as well. Nevertheless, it is played by children all over the world, and with the Green Box components it can serve as a starting point for getting creative and thinking about game design.

The basic gameplay of Snakes and Ladders are shared by many different games: Roll, move, see what happens. In the following setup we use arrow tiles for climbing up and drop tiles for falling down. With just these tiles you can create a variety of tracks, and have more fun building the board than playing through it. Then you can move on to come up with alternative rules for other symbols and keep playing around. Continue reading “Snakes and Ladders – Game #33” →

Peg Solitaire, or simply Solitaire, is a single player game dating back several centuries. Usually played on a board with holes and pegs, or marbles, it can be easily set up with the Green Box. Continue reading “Cube Solitaire – Game #31” →

Fox and Geese is an abstract asymmetric strategy game for two players with ancient roots. Continue reading “Fox & Geese – Game #30” →

Liar’s Dice is a classic dice game where each player rolls five dice secretly, and then states a bid for how many total dice of a specified value are on the table. With the Green Box, you can play the same game with cards, and maybe add a few variations. Continue reading “Liar’s cards (aka Liar’s Dice) – Game #27” →