Educational Games

Click the links below to download the necessary materials for OML's educational games. The game boards are intended to be printed on 11x17 (tabloid size) paper, but it is possible to print on two 8.5x11 (letter size) pieces of paper that can then be taped together. Game cards should be printed on either card stock or printable business cards, depending on the game. For player markers, dice, and other game pieces, such as fire markers and water tokens, we recommend www.thegamecrafter.com/parts.

Games:

Falmouth During the Revolutionary War

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Setup:
    • In addition to the board and cards, this game requires a game marker for each player, one 6-sided die, 10 fire markers to represent fires, and 5 water markers to represent that a person is carrying water.
    • Each player chooses a game piece and randomly chooses a card from the deck. Find the location on the game board that matches the card you drew and place your piece there.
    • Put the location cards back in the deck and shuffle well. Spread the first five fires by turning over the top five cards on the stack, finding the matching locations on the board, and placing a fire marker on the appropriate spaces on the board.
    • Roll to see who goes first.
  • Order of Play:
    • Roll the dice.
      • If you rolled a 1, you may not move and the fire has spread. Turn over the top card on the deck and place an fire marker on that location.
      • If you rolled another number, you may move that number of spaces in any direction.
    • If you land on or move over a water source (blue spaces), place a water marker on or under your game piece to show your character is carrying water. You must have water to put out fires.
    • If you land on or move over a space with a fire marker and you are carrying water, you may use the water to put out the fire. Remove the water marker. You must return to a water source (blue space) to collect more water before putting out any more fires.
  • How to Win: Work together to remove all fires from the board. When there are no fires, the team wins.
  • How to Lose: If there are still fires on the board when you draw the last card in the deck or if you run out of fire markers, the team loses.
  • Recommended game components:

  

Resources of Colonial New England

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Setup:
    • In addition to the board and cards, this game requires a game marker for each player and one 6-sided die.
    • Each player chooses a game piece and places it on Player Start.
    • Seperate the game cards according to color, and place them in a spot where all players can reach.
    • Roll to see who goes first.
  • Order of Play:
    • Roll the dice and move your game piece that number of spaces (counter-clockwise).
    • If you land on a colored circle, follow the directions on that circle.
      • If the directions say to take a card that it is already taken, you may take that card from the player who currently has it.
  • How to Win: Be the first player to collect all the cards of a single color: all of the orange skin cards; all of the blue fish cards; all of the green lumber cards; all of the red gather cards; or all of the gray crafting cards.
  • Recommended game components:

 

Dangers of Sea Exploration

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Setup:
    • In addition to the board and cards, this game requires a game marker for each player and one 6-sided die.
    • Each player chooses a game piece and places it on the Prince Henry the Explorer space.
    • Roll to see who goes first.
  • Order of Play:
    • IF you are beginning your turn on a whirlpool space, roll the die and move that many spaces back the way you came.
    • IF you are beginning your turn on a sea monster space, roll the die. You may only move if the number is a 2, 4, or 6.
    • IF you are not beginning your turn on either a whirlpool or sea monster space, roll and move that number of spaces in any direction you choose, forward or backward.
      • If you land on a brown "Danger Card" spot, draw a Danger Card and follow its directions.
      • If you reach on a yellow "Forage Card" spot, draw a Forage Card and save it for when you need it.
      • If you land on a spot with another player on it, jump over them to the next spot.
  • How to Win: Be the first player to reach the Riches of the Far East.
  • Recommended game components:

 

Touring Maine Trivia Game

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards (B&W) | Download Cards (Color)
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Setup:
    • In addition to the board and cards, this game requires a game marker for each player and one 6-sided die.
    • Each player chooses a game piece and places it on Player Start.
    • Roll to see who goes first.
  • Order of Play:
    • At the beginning of each turn, roll the dice and move that number of spaces. Make sure to go the direction that the black arrows indicate.
    • If you land on a circle:
      • Have the player to your right draw a card of the same color. For example, when you land on the yellow Portland Observatory space, the player to your right will draw a yellow History card.
      • The player to your right will read the question on the card and give you four possible answers.
      • If you choose the correct answer, you may keep the card until the end of the game. If you do not answer correctly, discard the card.
  • How to Win: Be the first player to collect five correctly-answered cards.
  • Recommended game components:

 

Ocean Liner Game

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards
  • Download Game Flags
  • Instructions
  • Ages 9+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Setup:
    • In addition to the board, cards, and player flags, this game requires 25 coin tokens. (Pennies work well as coin tokens).
    • Each player chooses a flag, and collects four coins to start.
    • Each player receives six Steamships & Technologies cards.
      • If a player has no ships in their hand of Steamships & Technologies cards, they must discard one card of their choice from their hand and draw a new one from the deck, showing it to the other players. If that card is not a ship, discard it and draw another.
      • Repeat this until each player has at least one ship card in their hand.
    • Each player lays down their earliest launched ship.
    • Arrange the Ships on the board with the earliest launched ship in the 1st Place spot, the second earliest ship in 2nd Place spot, and so on. (The order of the ships will change during the game).
      • Whenever a player places a ship on the board, he/she must place one of their flags on top of the card, so everyone can see who owns that ship.
    • Whoever has the earliest launched ship goes first.
  • On Your Turn:
    • Draw 2 Steamships & Technologies cards.
    • Do ONE of the following:
      • Launch a Ship: if you have a Ship card in your hand, you may place it and a flag behind the other ships on the board.
      • Buy an Improvement: if you have an Improvement card in your hand, you may pay the number of coins the card requires to build it on one of your launched ships.
      • Wreck a Ship: if you have a Shipwreck card in your hand, you may play it to either remove an improvement from a launched ship belonging to each player, or to discard any one ship and its improvements. In either case, no one receives any coins.
      • Scrap a Ship: Move one of your launched ships to the discard pile. If it has improvements, they are also discarded and you collect a coin for each.
      • *If you can do none of the above, move one of your launched ships directly behind the ship in last place. Scoot the necessary ships forward a place, so that there are no gaps in the Place spots.
    • Discard 1 card from your hand.
    • Turn over an Event Card, and follow its instructions.
      • If a ship is moved forward or back, adjust the necessary ships so that there are no gaps in the Place spots.
  • How to Win: When all event cards have been played, the game is over. Each ship on the board and each coin counts as 1 point. Each improvement is worth the same number of points as the coins it took to build. Whoever has the most points wins the game.
  • Recommended game components:

 

Civil War Surveyors and Spies Game

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards (Optional: cards without cut lines; you may prefer this option if you are printing on pre-scored business cards, Avery 28877)
  • Download Turn Reference Cards
  • Illustrated Instructions | Text Instructions
  • Ages 9+
  • 4 - 7 players
  • Setup:
    • Determine roles with the eight "Surveyor or Spy?" role cards.
      • Step One: Depending on how many people are playing, remove some role cards from the game:
        • 7-player game: Remove no cards. All 5 Union Surveyor cards and all 3 Confederate Spy cards will be used at start.
        • 6-player game: Remove 1 Union Surveyor card from the game. You will start with 4 Union Surveyor cards and 3 Confederate Spy cards.
        • 5-player game: Remove 1 Union Surveyor and 1 Confederate Spy from the game. You will start with 4 Union Surveyor cards and 2 Confederate Spy cards.
        • 4-player game: Remove 2 Union Surveyors and 1 Confederate Spy from the game. You will start with 3 Union Surveyor cards and 2 Confederate Spy cards.
      • Step Two: Shuffle the remaining role cards and hand one facedown to each player. Players may look at their own cards, but may not show their cards to anyone else.
      • Step Three: There will be one role card leftover. This ensures that no one knows the exact number of Confederate Spies and Union Surveyors in the game. Without looking at it, place it under the board.
    • Deal 7 play cards to each player.
    • The person who most recently had a birthday goes first
  • On Your Turn:
    • EITHER Play: Play a card from your hand:
      • If it is a Map card, it must connect to another Map card on the board. If there are any other cards surrounding it, the edges must match up. (The Union Encampment space counts as a Map card).
      • If it is a Sabotage card, you must choose another player to play it on. That player must keep the Sabotage card in front of them where everyone can see it, and cannot play a Map card until the Sabotage card is removed.
      • If it is a Replacement card, you may use it to remove one Sabotage card of the same type (Solar Compass, Surveyor Chain, or Balloon) in front of any player, including yourself. Both cards go into the discard pile.
      • If it is a Resurvey card, you may use it to remove one Map card from the board and put it in the discard pile.
    • OR Skip: Discard a card from your hand. (The discard pile should be facedown, so no one can see what another player has discarded).
    • *At the end of every turn (even ones in which you chose to skip), you may pick up another card from the draw pile. (You should always have seven cards in your hand).
  • Goal for Union Surveyors: Create an unbroken path to Richmond. Try to find out who the Spies are and keep them from building dead ends. Once there's an uninterrupted path to Richmond, your team has won.
  • Goal for Confederate Spies: Keep the Surveyors from completing the path to Richmond. If the cards run out, and there is still no completed path to Richmond, you have won. Try not to reveal who you are too soon, as the Union Surveyors will probably break your tools.
  • Recommended game components:
  • *Note: This game plays similar to Saboteurs, a less educational, but very fun card game involving dwarf miners.

 

Mythology Mystery Game

  • Download Game Board
  • Download Cards
  • Download Game Sheets
  • Download Game Cutouts
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 3 - 7 players
  • Setup:
    • Place the god tokens on their starting squares.
    • Sort the cards into three groups -- Location Cards, Mythical Item Cards, and God(dess) Cards. Shuffle each group seperately. Take one card at random from each group and put it in the prophecy envelope. Make sure that no player sees any of these three cards!
    • Shuffle together the three piles of remaining cards. Then deal them face down clockwise around the table. Make sure that no player sees any of these three cards! (It doesn’t matter if some players receive more cards than others.)
    • Secretly look at your own cards: Because they’re in your hand, they can’t be in the Prophecy Envelope - which means that none of your cards are involved in the prophecy.
    • Take a Prophecy Clues sheet and, so that no one can see what you write, fold it in half. Mark off the cards that are in your hand.
    • Each player chooses a god or goddess that they would like to play, and rolls the die. Whoever rolls highest will go first, followed by the person to their left, and so on.
  • Order of Play:
    • Roll the die to see how many spaces you may move.
    • When you enter one of the seven prophecy locations (not Oracle of Delphi), you may make a suggestion by choosing a god or goddess and a mythical item token to bring into that location with you.
    • At your suggestion, the other players will try to prove it false, starting with the player to your left. This player looks at his/her cards to see if he/she has one of the three suggested cards (the god you suggested, the item you suggested, and the location you are in). If the player has one, he/she must show it to you and no one else. If the player has more than one of the cards named, he/she selects just one to show you.
    • If the player to your left does not have any of the three cards, then the next player to his/her left attempts to disprove your suggestion. This continues until some player has shown ONE card to the suggesting player, whose turn then ends.
  • Final Guess: When you believe you know which three cards are in the prophecy envelope, go to the Oracle of Delphi, where you can make your Final Guess. If you guess right, you win, but if you are wrong, you lose.
  • Recommended game components:
  • *Note: This game plays similar to Clue.

 

Streamlined Train Game (1930s)

  • Download Game Board
  • Instructions
  • Ages 8+
  • 2 - 4 players
  • Rules for Playing:
    • In addition to the board and cards, this game requires a game marker for each player and one 6-sided die.
    • Roll to see who goes first.
    • At the beginning of your turn, roll the dice and move that number of spaces. (If you are on the Start space, you must roll an even number to move).
    • If you land on the same spot as another player, you must send that player back 10 spaces. (If there are less than 10 spaces between the player and Start, simply move that player back to Start).
    • First player to reach Boston wins.
  • Recommended game components: