Background

Being bored with just playing video games (I know… it’s not possible, right) I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a game I could play with my family. Something they could play as well. And I remembered something from back in the day from when we used to sit around the table playing something called board games. I thought about this game that had little geese moving around a paper board and I also remembered it was quite fun. So I set out on a little project to create this game on the as a desktop app, because hey! I still like to be behind a computer screen. And I do enjoy a game being ready by just clicking it once. Yes, I am lazy.

As everything was on the computer I first thought of randomizing the dice throw, but I noticed that this makes the game kind of boring. As the peons are moved automatically, the user almost has nothing to do. So I added multiple options, one in which you can throw dice manually and one in which a little mini game is used to determine the dice result.

How does it work

The game has some basic rules that will be explained below as well as any deviations from those rules. First of lets explain the setup of the game. When you start the game you will be greeted by the player setup window:

Setup

Instead of the standard board game where you can play with up to 4 players, you can setup up to 12 players. It will have a different dynamic as more players means you will be send back to your previous position more easily. This is because only a single peon may occupy a spot at any time. I think it will be fun though.

Every player has to fill in a name (1) and choose a unique color. Before you start the game you can change the Settings (2).

This settings window contains options to change the volume of the sounds and music played in the game. You can also change the DICE MODE . For this you have three options. You can either use Automatic mode, which is the default. This mode will automatically throw dice in game and then move the peon accordingly. There is the Manual mode in which you can use real dice (you will need two dice) and then enter the resulting faces of each throw into the game. The last mode is probably the most fun. This is Mini game mode. With this mode you will get two spinning wheels, one for each die, and you will have to stop them both at exactly the right time, to get the faces that you want.
Lastly you can change the language. Right now the options are Dutch (my native language), English and Spanish. If you are interested in helping me add more languages, do contact me.

Once your game has been set up, you can press the Determine order button (3). Normally dice can be thrown to determine the order of player turns. Pressing the Determine order button will randomly sort the players as if you had determined this by throwing dice. Once the button is pressed you will see the result of the automatic ordering and you can press the Start game button (3) and off you’ll go.

The rules

The games is based on the following rules, but you don’t really need to know them as the game will uphold all these rules for you. But if you would like to know why you lost, you may want to read on!

The game has 63 spots. The first to reach spot 63 exactly wins. Exactly means you will have to throw the exact amount of eyes to get to 63. If you go over 63, you will have to move back the number of spots according to the eyes you have left.

When you are at the start position and you throw a special combination you can go forward a bunch of spots. How much depends on the combination.

• If you throw 3 and 6, you will move to spot 26
• If you throw 4 and 5, you will move to spot 53

If you land on a spot with an opponent you will have to go back to were you were at the beginning of the turn.

Special spots

If you come to a spot with an image of a goose, you must move the same number of spots forward as you have thrown in this turn. If you happen to be moving backwards, because you went passed 63, you will have two move the same number of spots backwards. If you happen to come to a spot with an opponent you will be placed back in your spot at the start of your turn.
Then there are these special spots

Spot	Name	Rule
6	Bridge	Go to spot 12
19	Inn	Wait 1 turn
31	Well	Wait 3 turns
42	Maze	Go back to spot 39
52	Jail	Wait 3 turns
58	Death	Go to the start of the game

That’s about all there is to tell about the game. Enjoy!

Support

If something is unclear or you have any other question, you can contact me through the contact form.