At the end of 2016, The Daily Constitutional's editor Adam looks back at his walking & blogging London year…August
As a kid I'd always wanted to invent a board game. And this August, I assisted my daughter Isobella in doing just that… Inspired by the Designology exhibition at the London Transport Museum, the first step was to make the board. We stuck the tube map to the mounting board (we're going to tape down the edges to give the game a longer lifespan, we don't want it to peel and tear)…
Then Isobella designed a logo to cover up the serial number bit on the mounting board. She chose the name Mind The Gap…
… and while she was doing that, I typed and printed the game cards - Destination, Change & Gamble! – on medium-weight card using the closest font to Johnston (the Tube font) that I could find, which was Gill Sans…
Then we cut out the cards so that they looked like this…
Next, Isobella marked the spot on the board where the cards are placed…
During gameplay it looks like this…
As we went along with the making, we drew up some rules:
To begin, place your token at East Finchley on the Northern Line (our home station, but you can choose your own local station if you make your own version)…
(The token & die were borrowed from other board games)
Throw a six to start then draw a Destination Card to determine the station where your journey will end…
Throw again and move your token the number of spaces shown on the die.
If you land on an interchange station, draw a Change Card and follow the instruction written on it (e.g Go Back 3 Stops, Stay On This Line, etc)…
If your Change Card moves you forward/backward to another interchange you do NOT draw another Change Card, your turn ends and the next player rolls the die.
If your Change Card instructs you to change lines…
… you should do so on your next turn. If multiple lines are available you must announce which line you are changing to. We worked out that finer detail after a bit of an argument at Embankment with a move on the District and Circle lines. But we're friends again now.
If you need to change lines, you have to do so at an interchange station. You can interrupt your turn to stop at an interchange station, e.g if you throw a five but reach an interchange station within three moves, you can choose to forfeit your two additional moves. If you choose to do so, your turn ends. You cannot change onto another line without stopping at an interchange station unless instructed to do so by a card.
If you throw a 2 or a 5, draw a Gamble! card and follow the instructions. Here are a few examples…
"You fell off the platform! Go To The Whittington Hospital at Archway" (Seriously, kids: Mind The Gap. Really.)
"You have tickets to see Adele at the Olympic Stadium" (Ergo, advance to West Ham. Isobella is a big Adele fan)
"You have lost your teddy Go to Lost Propety (sic) office in Baker Street"
Other faves include "You have tickets to see Spurs - go to Seven Sisters" (Isobella is a Spurs fan); "Tube Strike – Go Home" (i.e back to the beginning).
My favorite Gamble! card of all is: "You spill your drink on the passenger [player] to your right. Miss a go. Also the passenger [player] to your right has to go home to change clothes." Like all the best board games, it's harsh.
The winner is the player who reaches their destination first.
We're still ironing out a few kinks, but it was a blast making it.
If you decide to make your own version at home (ooh! I feel like a Blue Peter presenter!) then do drop me a line and a pic!
Isobella also made her debut as a groundling at The Globe (an EXCELLENT Macbeth!)…
And she also took me to the Handel and Hendrix House Museum…
… where I can highly recommend the dressing up box.
I always HATE it when the school hols come to an end…
At my desk already depressed that my daughter goes back to school nxt week 😢 #endofsummer #doodledaily #tubesketch pic.twitter.com/zU98tjcclf — Adam Scott (@AdamScottG) August 31, 2016
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
