For those that are friends of mine in either Facebook or Instagram, you have been bombarded with photos of me working on my Labyrinth board game creation based on the 1986 classic film, which also happens to be my favorite movie of all time. I started planning for it back in highschool but until recently, I have not had the time to work on it.
In the game, players take on the role of Sarah (heroine of the movie), taking the journey through the perils of the Labyrinth in search for your baby brother Toby, who has been taken by Jareth, the Goblin King. You are not just racing to reach the Goblin Castle to confront Jareth, but also compete to have the most amount of crystal balls along the way. This is measured by, of course by glass marbles.
The core mechanism in Labyrinth is the player order youngest goes first and then there is no fixed player order. The current turn is always the turn of the player whose pawn is furthest behind along the journey. Once the player advances his pawn to any unoccupied space and takes the corresponding action, you check again who is now the furthest behind. It may even be the same player again.
Every location is represented by an area within the movie. These locations include, the Wooden Maze, the Underground, the Firey Forest, the Bog of Eternal Stench, the Goblin City and the Goblin Castle. There are three locations (namely at Alf & Ralph, the Door Knockers, and the Entry to the Bog, where everyone must stop before the next leg of the journey starts and everyone catches up to that point.
Every player gets to pick a Sarah character token at the start of the game, which each color gives special rolls of the dice along the journey. These usually encourage players to focus on one location type, so players will have slightly different priorities from the start of the game. Blue = An extra roll at the Bog, Red = An extra roll at the Underground, Yellow = An extra roll in the Maze, Green = An extra roll in the Forest.
The core mechanism is simple, so I had no problem teaching the game to my friends. Simply roll the dice and move the corresponding places. If you land on a marker with a crystal ball on it, u recieve a marble for your efforts. Despite the relaxed atmosphere and the pleasant artwork style, there is competition. You do have to pay attention to what your opponents are focusing on, and you do need to assess when to jump ahead to grab a highly sought after location, and when to grab the balls simply to deny your opponents.
As mentioned before, there are three (3) locations (namely at Alf & Ralph, the Door Knockers, and the Entry to the Bog, where everyone must stop before everyone catches up to that point. Also if you happen to land on the marker with a Red circle, you must miss a turn.
Overall it has been a pleasant game to work on, and very memorable (especially the gorgeous sculpting work I have done). I would describe it as a turn order mechanism with a few quirks being expanded into a complete, independent game. I hope my mates will enjoy playing it as much as I have been making it.
Campbell Craig 