Set up: place one lion in each corner of the playing area. Place the jeep and the explorer anywhere, preferably as far apart as possible.

Method of play: give a student a simple task. If the student succeeds give the student the 'explorer' dice. If the student makes a mistake give the student the 'lion dice'. The explorer can escape the lions by getting to the jeep and then driving the jeep off the playing area. The lions always move towards the explorer. If a lion lands on the explorer, the explorer is eaten. If the jeep is rolled move it away from the explorer. When the explorer has reached the jeep only move the explorer when the jeep is rolled (i.e. ignore explorer rolls).

Comments: The above description assumes that the students want to save the explorer. One alternative is to let the students choose which dice to throw which may create competition if some students want to save the explorer and others want to get the explorer eaten. Another possibility is to ask the students where a playing piece should be moved. With very young students it is possible to play the game without them realising that there are actually two dice.

Editor's Note: Download lion.zip, 256k.

For those of you who would like to try the game I have worked the above graphic into a more useable format. I have cut it into three peices, the two dice and the playing cards. Because I have had to enlarge them somewhat the quality of the graphics isn't all that you may want them to be but they are still quite useable. For example, the dice are now sized to four centimeters a side and the playing cards have been expanded to a similar degree. The graphics have been saved in .PCX format so that they can be used in your favorite word processor. I then compressed them into a self-extracting .ZIP file to save space and download time. There is one problem though. the Geocities File manager doesn't like to upload files with an .EXE designation. So to get around this problem I have named the file with a .ZIP extension. All you have to do is rename it with an .EXE extension and it should work alright. If you have any problems email me and I will send you the original .EXE file.

Game Update

Here is a different slant on the game offered by Gertraud Muraoka. It consists of three Word for Windows documents, Lion Board.doc - the board for playing the game, Lion Game-rules.doc - the rules for playing the game, and The Lion Game.doc - a list of suggested questions and answers for the game. I have bundled them into one self-extracting zipfile called liongame2.zip. To get the game just download the .ZIP file and change the extention to .EXE and double click on it. The game will then extract itself into a subdirectory called 'Lion Game'.

Download liongame2.zip

Comment from Chris Hunt - the original games author.

Down in the Jungle

In the Jungle, the mighty jungle the lion eats tonight....

Was that the singer or the song? For a 'cover' to be interesting it must be different in some way from the original. I guess I feel flattered that the original inspired this reworking, though I have more than mixed feelings about the result. Having basically abandoned competitive games with my own classes it is strange to see a competitive version of one of my own games. But then again, is it a competitive version? It seems to be. There are four players and the game ends when the first player gets to the car. Does that player drive away abandoning the other players to the delights of the lions' bellies? Or is there a daring rescue? There is a story here somewhere, and the rules above leave the story unwritten.

The idea of the task sheet is good. With a little preparation the teacher can make sheets specific for individual students. Not to make as competitive game 'fairer' but to provide greater learning opportunities. If the players can read they can look after each other's task sheets. I would also make the questions as real as possible. I'd use examples from the students' world. The more personal and funny the questions are the more the students will get involved.

But what about that story? I'd present the game in different ways to different groups. With young learners and students unused to co-operative games I'd feed them the daring rescue ending. Otherwise I'd make the game more realistic and let the player who reached the car first decide what to do. The game becomes non-competitive. The players do not need to help each other to win and one player's race for safety does not adversely affect the others. I wouldn't tell the players that the first one to the car was the winner. But I think facing the driver with a moral decision is interesting. It could be a good lead into exploring issues of self esteem and inter-personal communication. If students get used to exploring their decision making then they can begin to learn to explore their learning strategies.

To make the story more exciting I'd introduce more chance. On every move players could flip a coin allowing the player or the lion the opportunity to move one or two fields rather than just one. Alternatively, one face could be a lion, so even if a player got the question right a lion could still move. But in this case I'd allow the player to choose which lion. If the players were trying to help each other this could introduce strategy. How many men can the players rescue? If this were the aim then the game would be truly co-operative, more so than the original. In the jungle the mighty....