Show the sea turtles safely to the water before time runs out. A roll and write game for 1 to any number of players of all ages. A Family Game Shelf original game.
Save the Turtles is my first roll and write game. What is a roll and write game? These are games where you roll the dice and then you mark on a sheet. Scores are figured out at the end based on what you have marked in the game. Qwixx is a roll and write game.
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What You Need for Save the Turtles
For Save the Turtles, you will need one six sided dice, a pen or pencil and the game sheet that you can get in our Fun Library. Each player will need their own game sheet. You can get your password to the Fun Library by clicking in the black box below.
The baby turtles have hatched and they need to find their way to the water before time runs out. It is your job to draw paths in the sand to help as many turtles as you can. Watch out for the rocks that are fatal to the turtles.
The Game Sheet
At the bottom of the sheet is a set of 10 boxes. These are the time boxes. After every turn, a player crosses off a box. When the last box is crossed off, the game is over.
Above the time boxes, are the rolls. These show what paths a player can draw in the sand according to the dice roll. For example, if a 1 is rolled, a player can draw a line that is two spaces long. If a 2 is rolled, the player can draw a path that goes one step closer to the water and two to the left.
The turtles are next and the beginning of the play area. Each turtle follows the path that starts at the dashed line that is in front of them. A turtle can only follow any paths that touch their start spot.
In the play area, there are small dashed lines. These are the start stop lines for players paths.
The sides of the playing area show rocks. The rocks are too sharp for the turtles to survive. If you`re path leads to the rocks any turtle following that path perishes.
At the end of the playing area is the water. Turtles that make it to the water are safe!
Playing Save the Turtles
On a players turn, she rolls the dice. All players use that number to start one turtle path on their own sheet. Each player can choose a different turtle. At the end of the turn, all players mark off a time box.
On the next player`s turn, he rolls the dice. Again, players choose where to draw their path and mark off a time box.
Paths must start at a turtle. Once a path has been placed, it can`t be changed. If two paths touch, they become one path and any turtles following the paths are now on the same path.
If a path touches the rocks, then all the turtles on the path perish. This ends this path and can`t be added to.
When all the time boxes have been checked off, the game is over.
Winning Save the Turtles
At the end of the game, all players see how many turtles they have led to the safety of the water. The player with the most saved turtles is the winner.
Alternative Play
Instead of every player using the same dice roll, players could roll individually each turn.
Solo Save the Turtles Play
A player can play Save the Turtles alone by seeing how many turtles they can save. Then play again to see if they can improve their score.
Conclusion
Save the turtles is a quick roll and write game. It is simple to play but can be frustrating. You can`t save all the turtles all the times.
I hope you enjoyed this game. You can tell me what you think in the comments below.
You can get your copy of the game sheet in our Fun Library here.
For more fun check out our other original dice games Monkey dice, Tug of War dice game, and our dice mini golf game Whacky Putt. Visit our Family Game Shelf Shop for even more seasonal and original games!
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