The Big Old Tree is a board game made for Leslie Hirst's foundation year design class. This final project was to design a game inspired by the Slater Mill field trip. Slater Mill is a historic cotton spinning mill complex located in Rhode Island.
Laser cut baltic wood, air dry clay, acrylic, gouache.
In a small forest far far away, there lived Beth the Bunny, Finn the Fox, and Sarah the Squirrel. They lived a simple life around nature in harmony. But then one day, they heard a loud BANG! Outside, there were three men, Morgan the Mayor, Bob the Builder, and William the Worker, chopping down the Big Old Tree in front of their house. The Big Old Tree had been protecting the small forest for centuries and he animals loved it to their dear hearts. But the three men had to cut down the tree to build a cotton mill that will bring fortune to their town. Hence, to figure out whether to cut the Big Old Tree or not, the animals and the three men started a game…
Number of Players:
2-6
Objective:
Obtain as many tokens by the time each team reaches the end. Obtain more tokens than the opponent team by the time both teams reach the “END”.
Equipment:
Game board, 1 dice, tokens, 1 Big Old Tree slot, 1 Cotton Mill slot, 17 smaller slots, 3 animal pawns, 3 men pawns.
Set Up:
Decide who is gonna be on which team.
Place the tokens inside the holes and cover them up by putting the smaller slots in the holes.
Roll the dice to decide with team goes first. The team with the high number goes first.
Place the pawns on the “START” hole.
Playing the Game:
The first team rolls the dice. The number on the dice indicates how many steps a pawn can take.
The second team rolls the dice and their pawn takes steps according to the number on the dice.
Continue to take turns rolling the dice and taking further steps.
If the pawn lands on a slot, open the slot to obtain tokens inside. Some slots may not have tokens. If the pawn lands on a normal path, continue on with the game.
Continue playing the game until both teams land on the “END” hole.
Count how many tokens each team has. The team with more tokens win.
The team that won can place its ending slot on the “START/ END” hole. If the animal team wins, place the Big Old Tree slot. If the three men team wins, place the Cotton Mill slot.
