This board game is part of the learning resource CTRLZ Skole, inspiring young people to become more responsible players and make them better understand how their behaviour can affect other people. By using this resource, students will learn about undesirable behaviour and avoid saying things they may later regret. The board game is based on the classic “Snakes and ladders” game, where groups of four students roll a 6-sided dice, move their pawn to the appropriate square, and then respond accordingly to the colour. Some have no action, others have “read a card”, while others have “move to another part of the board” as an automatic action.
The cards to be read fall into three different categories.
- The first category is “reflection cards”, where the player reads out loud a case or situation, and then discusses possible solutions according to the case, all based on real scenarios.
- The second category is “toxic cards”. The player has to look at one of the other players and read out a statement. Example: “You’re ugly and stupid.” “You should never have been born.” – collected from real communication in video games. The reader can then decide if they want to give the player they said this to an advantage in the game or not, to make up for the bad thing they just did. The testing feedback indicated that players found this part very uncomfortable, which is actually the game's main purpose. Saying something toxic to someone’s face is much harder than via a screen.
- The third category is “joker cards”, where random stuff happens, such as “move back to the start”, “move five spaces forward”. Random and sometimes unfair things happen in life, as illustrated by this aspect in the game.
It is important to have an adult/teacher present when the board game is played. The teacher might need to help some groups along, offer tips on how to discuss the reflection cards, and so on. It is also important to have a joint session after the groups have played to summarise learnings and new ideas about how we communicate through our screens. Please note that some of the tasks might contain foul language.
Note: this resource is currently being translated into 15 languages; translations will be available soon.
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This resource was previously voted as the winner of the March 2025 Insafe-INHOPE joint training meeting resource competition.
Go back and discover the other competing entries.