Race to the Treasure

 

A cooperative game by Peaceable Kingdom

Peaceable Kingdom is known for their cooperative games where players must work together to beat a common foe. In cooperative games, players either all win together or all lose together. In Race to the Treasure, players will work together to defeat the ogre pictured on the box lid. I have previously blogged about several of their games and I will add them later in this post. 

In Race to the Treasure, players will beat the ogre to the treasure by creating a path, on the game board, from START to END. Along the way players must collect three keys to open the treasure. If players do it before the ogre gets there, they all win! If they beat the ogre to the END, but don't have three keys, they still lose.

The game board measures 12 x 17". It is designed as a grid and across the top it is lettered A - F, and down the left side it is numbered 1 - 6. START is in the upper left hand corner and END is in the bottom right hand corner, at the end of the ogre's path. The orange path down the right side of the game board is the ogre's path.

The game also includes one letter die, one number die, 10 ogre cards, 27 path cards, 4 key tokens and 1 ogre snack token. Here is a pic of the contents.

 

There is something about Peaceable Kingdom games that I love - they print the instructions on the inside of the box lid. Never lose the rules or have to go searching.

Other cooperative games I have blogged about:

• Hoot Owl Hoot
• Count Your Chickens
• Stone Soup
• Snug as a Bug in a Rug
• Willy's Wiggly Web
  
• Obstacles
• Max 
• The Orchard
  

Object:

Beat the ogre to the treasure by creating a path from START to END. Along the way collect 3 keys to open the treasure.

Set up:

Place the board in the middle of the players. Place the four key tokens and the one ogre snack token on the game board by rolling the dice. For instance, roll the dice and if you get, for example, 5E, place one token on that square on the board. Look for E across the top and then 5 down the side. Where they intersect is 5E. Keep throwing the dice until all tokens are placed on the board. Shuffle the path and ogre cards together and place them face down in a pile near the board. 

Play:

Players take turns. Choose a card. If it is an ogre card, place it at the top of the orange column and you're turn is over. If it is a path card, place it on the START square on the board. Once the first path card is laid, future path cards must connect to a path card that is already on the board. Players are trying not only to beat the ogre to the END card, but they have to weave their path so that it covers keys that have already been placed on the board. Three of these keys must be collected to win. If you place a path card on a square where there is a key, collect the key and place it at the bottom of the board on one of the ovals, for safe keeping. If your path covers the square with the ogre snack, you may remove one of the ogre cards from his orange path. Players are encouraged to discuss moves together, planning and using strategy to win the game. Players continue to draw one card at a time and either place an ogre on his orange path, or add to the players path. Whoever make it to the END square first (ogre or player's path) wins the game.

Try this:

• Skip the game. Use the dice to build a path from START to END. Place the path tiles face up on the table so you can see them all. Throw the dice. Place any path piece on that square. Keep throwing the dice and placing path pieces. Can you connect enough of the path pieces so that they will make a path to the END?
• Cup the hand for shaking the dice. If the player has difficulty doing this, place a small ball in the palm and curl the fingers around it. Remove the ball and place the dice in the players palm.
• Keep the palm cupped for a while longer by counting to ten, watching them "dance", answering a couple of trivia questions about Shrek, etc.
• Skip the game. Mix the path and ogre cards and place the pile face-up in front of you. Place one ogre card to the left of the stack and one path card to the right. These single cards will start new piles.Take the cards off the middle pile one at a time, with the dominant hand, and place it on the matching pile, either the ogre or path. Separate them without taking more than one at a time or toppling the stack. 
  
• Work on manual dexterity, palmar arch development, visual discrimination, spatial relations, planning, strategy, logic, process skills, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
  

In the box: Game board, 27 path cards, 10 ogre cards, 4 key cards, 1 ogre snack card