Summary
This document describes the basic concept of a local community board game . The example here is based on the Iowa City community.
Game Goals
The game could have a few goals, such as:
- Fundraising — Players could contribute to local charities as part of the game.
- Learning — The game could help inform players about local non-profits, businesses, artists, authors, musicians, history, parks, and more.
- Socializing — Playing the game would be a fun socializing activity for friends, family, and welcoming new residents to the community.
Game Rules
The game rules could be flexible, making use of traditional boxes around the perimeter of the board, with some boxes having action tasks such as “draw a card from the trivia deck” or “move forward three places.” For each player’s turn, dice or runes could be used to determine how many squares to advance.
There could be multiple decks of question cards based on topics, so players could choose from a deck with a topic they are familiar with.
Dice could be used to determine who goes first at the start of the game.
Variety could be included in the game by having some questions with open answers instead of multiple choice. A question such as, “name a significant event for yourself or the community last year” or “ask the other players to answer a question about a current news story.”
The game could include a points system to determine when the end of the playing has been achieved and who the winner was. Or, a timeframe could be set for the game playing and the game ends at after a certain amount of time. Winners could be among the players, or if money is being raised for local non-profits, the winners could be the organization earning the most donations.
Game Features
- BOARD SIZE — Variations of board size could help make the playing area smaller for fewer players or larger for bigger groups and for those wanting larger print.
- POSTER — Larger versions of the board could be printed as a photo on poster size photo paper.
- LEDGER — If the playing board was 11-inches by 17-inches, then a single ledger page could be printed at most print shops.
- LETTER — For home printing, a single page could be a small version of the playing board or two pieces of regular 8.5-inch by 11-inch pages could be taped together.
- CARDS — Playing cards could be printed using a business card printing service with thick paper stock. These could be for the game trivia / questions deck, or other card stacks. Printers such as Moo have nice thick cards with rounded corners. Use our referral link to save 25% on your first order, and we get a $20 referral bonus. [Moo Cards]
- CHARITY — One aspect of the game would be to promote local non-profit groups and help raise money for good local causes. Game play could result in a growing kitty of donations to be collected or pledged.
- CIRCULATION — The game could be played by the same groups of friends and families, or by neighborhood groups. It could also be passed around by people in the community, with some of the game prizes being replenished and passed along to the next group of participants. Libraries and coffee shops could also have copies of the game available for checkout.
- EVENTS — Local community events and fundraisers could be promoted in the game, perhaps as cards that get refreshed for the current year. Iowa City has some regular annual community events such as Jazz Fest, Arts Fest, East Side Artists market, etc.
- GAME PIECES — As part of promoting the work of Local Artists, the game pieces could be small figures made from clay or other materials.
- HISTORY — Another source of trivia questions would be relating to the history of the city, including old buildings and historic people.
- LOCAL ARTISTS — The playing board, cards, dice, game pieces, instruction book, and currency could be designed with the help of local artists. Their work would be credited, helping spread the word about their artistic talents. One artist could design the entire game, but it might be nice to have several local artists involved to help promote their work.
- LOCAL MUSIC — Local musicians and groups could be part of the game, perhaps as trivia questions, or having a CD or LP as a prize for game winners.
- PARKS — Featured local parks, green spaces, preserves, prairies, and trails could be a way to highlight local nature destinations. Some parks, like Hickory Hill in Iowa City, have local community volunteer support and fundraisers.
- PERSONAL — The game could be personalized by having some questions in the trivia card desk allow players to share how they came to live in the city, what significant events or experiences they’ve enjoyed in the city.
- PLANTS — The game trivia question deck could include photos of local plants, trees, and fungus for identification. On one side of the card would be a photo and the other side would have the facts.
- PRIZES — An example of a prize could be a calendar or tote bag from a local non-profit, and/or various cards, drawings, paintings, and other items purchased by the group ahead of time from local artists. Gift cards to local coffee shops, book stores, and restaurants could be a prize.
- QUOTES — Quotes from books, articles, poetry, and other writings by local authors could be incorporated into the game, perhaps as a multiple choice card with the answer on the back.
- STEAM — Stops along the game board could require that the player draw something, paint something, write a poem, or use an electronics hobby multi-task kit to make some electronics device.
- USER GUIDE — The user guide would serve as the instruction book. There could also be information about local charities that people can donate to.
Open Source – Public Domain
The intension of offering the general description here is to create an open-source concept that others can build on for their own local communities. By introducing the concept here, we reserve the right for ourselves and others to create free versions of this game without being prohibited by someone trying to patent, trademark, or copyright the concept.
Monetizing
The concept could be commercialized with more elaborate game pieces, a heavier material for the playing board, or by selling advertising space on the board or in playing cards to local businesses. Perhaps a software version could be created. Using affiliate referral codes, like the one above for Moo card printing, could help raise money without any cost to people. [Moo Cards – Affiliate Link]
Concept Contributors
The initial posting of this page was by Greg Johnson. We can include your name on this page as a contributor if you have a suggestion for improving this open-source project.
Document History
This page was first posted on 14 Dec 2024. Revisions to the page will be included above and noted here.