Build a coral reef together, but try to position your own species of coral closest to the top.
| Duration: 10 – 15 min Number of players: 1 – 4 Material: building blocks Link: https://pen-en-pion.nl/en/building-game-coral-combines-the-beauty-of-coral-and-the-tactics-of-play/ |
Short description
Every player gets 6 building blocks + 1 coral plant in the same colour. First the players have to cover a bare rock (the starting block) with blocks (= the coral).
When that part is finished the main game starts. In turns every player places a block and puts his/her coral plant on a block, which may not be their own colour.
After every block is placed, you take a look from above. How many coral do you see of each colour? The player with the most visible coral wins.
Educational Value
- Strategic thinking
- Spatial awareness
- Building
- Growing and development of coral
Recommendation for use
While the topic is about ecology, this game is also interesting for spatial awareness . You can play it with a group or in solo-modus. The solo-modus is quite a puzzle, so use this own if you want to challenge people. The group-modus is interesting for strategy. If you want to let players talk out loud about their strategies, make teams and let them play in teams.
Decide beforehand in what context you will put this game on the table. Do you want to play it to raise awareness of the theme or do you want to focus on strategy and teamwork.
Tips and tricks
- Play this game in 4 teams and let participants deliberate in their team where to put a block.
- Observe or have one of the team members observe what the group dynamics in the teams are like: who thinks, who decides, who puts down the block.
- Ask questions about strategics and planning. And if in groups: about the communication.
- Dive into the growing of the corals. How does this work with the light, the growing and getting in the way of each other.