About
Step back in time to olde England when life was short, tough and smelly. See medieval life through the eyes of our 6 characters and see if you’d have been strong enough to survive and thrive.
The Game of Medieval Life can help anyone understand what life was like for ordinary medieval folk, and not so ordinary folk.
The game is set between about 1000 and 1485 AD taking us from Æthelred the Unready to the Wars of the Roses. This was an age when the poor struggled and famine, disease and death were a part of everyday life. Women lived restricted lives – even the rich ones. And religion affected every aspect of your life, and death. It was a time of soaring cathedrals, horrific plagues and vicious wars. But people still managed to have fun despite all the dangers and hardships. Join our merry band and step into their shoes (if they have any) and follow their destinies as they live their medieval lives.
I did. I am Emily Greig and you can see me in the introductory video. I live in Oxford in the UK and the game’s history began 35 years ago when I was still at school. I really, really wanted to be a historian but nobody shared my vision (I was not considered mature enough). But my love for history has survived and I have shared my quest for historical knowledge with my nearest and dearest. I dragged a bored boyfriend around churches in Spain, tramped around museums with my children trailing behind, enrolled on multiple history courses and persuaded local children to join my school history clubs. The Game of Medieval Life is my most creative idea for bringing this period of history alive.
The aim of the game is to be the first to reach your life’s goal at the end of the path. Make your way along the path of life facing all the turds and triumphs that medieval life offers.
Each player decides which character they want to become. Rolling the dice moves you through your life but it’s not always a straight path, there are lots of problems to face and you may end up going backwards. But don’t worry, there are plenty of triumphs waiting for you too.
Random events can enrich your life or make it even worse. Answering Quite Tricky questions and Really Tricky questions correctly can transform your life; how much do you know about medieval times? There’s plenty of poo, wee, ignorance and disease to dodge as you fulfil your destiny. Medieval lives were often short so make the most of every roll of the dice, it may be your last.
- 1 x board
- 6 x counters
- 6 x character cards
- 31 x Quite Tricky question cards
- 33 x Really Tricky question cards
- 1 x dice
Game of Medieval Life can only be a success if you back our campaign.
Anyone supporting this campaign is also supporting a small business dedicated to developing educational board games. We do not take your support lightly; we know that backing a crowdfunding campaign is a risk. Because of this, we want to make sure that you get the best possible experience and we want to show you our appreciation. We can’t do this without you.
We’re looking forward to chatting with you about the game’s development and how it can bring history to life. This is going to be a lot of fun!
Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve your backer experience.
Risks and challenges
Every project has its risks -
Some risks we are aware of and will try to control but there may be others we don’t yet know about. We’ll do our best to navigate around them. We have developed over 50 educational games and this experience minimises the risks and improves our ability to respond to challenges.
This is our first Kickstarter campaign for a game aimed at families as well as schools. We have already done a lot of legwork to develop this game and we just need a helping hand to produce it. We have completed design and development, completed artwork, and lined up manufacturing and logistics. We have a plan to get the game completed to the highest quality. We are also committed to being open and transparent about our process and the challenges and triumphs associated with it. We want you along for the ride and will keep you up-to-date as new developments emerge. If any challenges arise, we will keep you informed every step of the way.
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