The Dangerous Book for Boys Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Aim of the Game
• Contents
• Be Prepared
• Set-Up
• Some Things You May Need
• Useful Information
  • Resource Cards
  • Storm Cards
  • Planets
  • Stars
  • Flag Cards
  • String
  • Tracking Sticks
  • Rafts
  • Word Searches
• How to Play
  • On Your Turn
  • Dangerous Tip
  • Fork in the Path
  • Winning the Game
• Reference
  • Squares
  • Tic Tac Toe
  • Flag Chart
  • Compass Picture
  • Tracking Signs
  • Roman Numerals
  • Word Searches
• Solutions
  • Flag Diagrams
  • Roman Numerals
  • Compass Drawings
  • Constellations
  • Knots

Aim of the Game

Make your way around the island completing challenges to win parts of your raft. When you have 5 pieces, you can build your raft and escape! The first to escape wins the game.

As this is a game for boys, any girls who want to play must agree to be honorary boys for the duration of game, by saying 'Boys are fantastic, girls are elastic!' three times.

Contents

Gameboard, 90 one-man challenge cards, 70 group challenge cards, 40 resource cards, 20 flag cards, 24 tracking sticks, 32 stars, 20 raft pieces, 10 cardboard planets, 4 wooden pawns, 4 folders, 1 piece of string, 1 pad of paper, 1 die, 1 sand timer.

Be Prepared

Take all the pieces out of the box and lay the board out flat in the middle of the playing area. The first time you play, push out the planets, tracking sticks, raft pieces and stars from their cardboard sheet and take all the pieces out of their bags. Throw away any waste safely and recycle where possible.

Set-Up

The set-up page labels the following components: pawns, resource cards, one-man challenge cards, group challenge cards, swimming track start, stars and flag cards.

Each place a wooden pawn on the shipwreck. Roll the die. The adventurer who rolled highest goes first and play continues to the left.

Some Things You May Need

The following are not supplied but you may need them:

• A pencil each
• A coin (for flipping)
• An eraser (for mistakes)
• Scrap paper (for tearing and drawing on)
• Extra pieces of string
• Anything else you have in your pockets

The same page also labels the sheet, timer, die, string, planets, raft pieces, folder and tracking sticks.

Useful Information

Resource Cards

If you land on a resource space, take a resource card. Look at it, then hide it in your folder.

Cards may help you complete specific challenges, give you extra time or let you help another player (and win a raft piece with them).

If you're lucky, you'll draw the resource cards you need to complete the challenge cards you draw.

Once you've played a resource card, put it face up on a discard pile. If you run out of resource cards, shuffle the discard pile and turn it face down to make a new card pile.

Note: Keep them hidden in your folder, but don't forget to use them!

Storm Cards

Mixed into the resource cards are 8 storm cards. When one of these is played, a storm hits the island. All players are affected, so unless you can play a rope resource card (which lets you tie your raft down), you lose one raft piece.

Always play storm cards as soon as they are drawn, then put them on the discard pile.

Planets

Use the planets in one-man challenges. Do you know which is closest to the sun, or which is biggest?

Stars

Use the stars to do Constellation challenges.

Each star also has a letter on the back, which you will use in the Word Scramble challenges.

Flag Cards

There are 20 flag cards in the game. Flag Word challenges ask you to spell words with them. Look at the Flag Chart on page 9 to help you.

String

Use the string to tie the knots shown in the challenge cards.

Tracking Sticks

Use the tracking sticks to make tracking signs or Roman numerals.

Rafts

Build your raft piece by piece as you win challenges. You cannot leave the island until your raft is complete.

Word Searches

When you play a Word Search challenge, put the book in the middle where everyone can see it. If it's your turn, you can make sure the book is facing you.

How to Play

On Your Turn

Roll the die and move around the track the number of spaces you rolled. Do as you are instructed depending on the space you land on.

If you land on:

• Empty Space: Do nothing. Your turn is over.
• Resource Space: Take a resource card. These help you complete challenges. Look at it, then hide it in your resource folder. Play the card when a relevant challenge is taking place, then place it face up on the discard pile.
• One-Man Challenge Space: The player to your left takes a card from the one-man challenge pile and reads it aloud. On timed challenges, they also turn over the sand timer. You complete the challenge. Reader, don't show the card to the player whose turn it is unless the card tells you to. If you answer the question correctly or complete the challenge before the timer runs out, take a raft piece that matches the color of your pawn. If you get the answer wrong, fail the challenge or run out of time, your turn is over.
• Group Challenge Space: The player to the left takes a card from the group challenge pile and reads it aloud. All players compete to win the challenge. On timed challenges, that player turns over the sand timer when everyone is ready. The winner of the challenge takes a raft piece of their color. If nobody completes the challenge successfully, or you run out of time, the next player takes their turn.

Note: For some challenges, you can look at the information in the instruction book to help you.

Dangerous Tip

Boys, look and learn! Watch carefully as other players complete the challenges. Whether they get them right or wrong, you can learn how to do them yourself.

Fork in the Path

When you come to a fork in the path, look at your raft to see if it's ready to sail. If it isn't finished, go around the loop again to try and win more raft pieces. If your raft is complete, steam on ahead towards the shore. You could be very close to victory!

Winning the Game

Whenever you win a raft piece, use it to build your raft. As soon as your raft is complete, you can continue to the end of the path. The first adventurer to reach the end of the path and step onto the raft there is the winner!

Reference

Squares

1. Take a sheet from the pad. If it's your turn, challenge the player to your left.
2. Take turns drawing one line between any two adjacent dots on the Squares grid. You go first. Your aim is to close a box by drawing the last line to complete it, then put your mark (your initial or a symbol, if you prefer) in the box.
3. Whenever you close a box, you get another turn. Keep playing until all the boxes are filled.
4. The player with the most boxes at the end of the game is the winner and can take a raft piece.

Tip: The game tends to follow a pattern where first, most of the lines are filled, then sudden chains of boxes made. It may be a good strategy to sacrifice a small chain of boxes in order to win a larger one.

Tic Tac Toe

1. Take a sheet from the pad. If it's your turn, challenge the player to your left. You will go first, using 0s and your opponent follows with crosses.
2. Take turns drawing your symbol in one of the spaces on the tic tac toe grid. Your aim is to get three of your symbols in a row, vertically, horizontally or diagonally, before your opponent does.
3. The winner gets a raft piece. In the case of a draw, nothing is won and the next player rolls the die.

The manual's example board shows a finished diagonal win for the 0s (top-left to bottom-right): 0 X X / . 0 X / . X 0.

Flag Chart

Each flag is marked with a letter or number as follows:

Flag	Value	Flag	Value	Flag	Value
0	0	A	1	B	2
C	3	D	4	E	5
F	6	G	7	H	8
I/J	9	K	10	L	11
M	12

The chart also shows three further flags labelled Preparation, Finishing and Repeat.

Example: Insect. Remember to always use the Preparation and Finishing flags!

Compass Picture

1. Each player takes one sheet.
2. The person who drew the card reads out the instructions step by step, but as they also act as judge, they cannot take part in this challenge.
3. Each step tells the players to move their pencil a certain distance in any compass direction. They must do as instructed, starting each step from the point where the last step ended.
4. When the reader has read out all the steps in turn, he must now compare the drawings with the picture on the card. Any correct drawing wins a log.

Example: N3, SW2, E4, NW2 (the manual shows these as four numbered step drawings: 1. N3, 2. SW2, 3. E4, 4. NW2).

Tracking Signs

The manual illustrates these tracking signs: Turn left; This way; Party split up; This way over obstacle; Water in this direction; Not this way.

Roman Numerals

Use this table to help you solve the Roman numeral challenges.

Numeral	Value	Numeral	Value
I	1	VIII	8
II	2	IX	9
III	3	X	10
IV	4	L	50
V	5	C	100
VI	6	D	500
VII	7	M

Word Searches

When you play a Word Search challenge, put the book in the middle where everyone can see it. If it's your turn, you can make sure the book is facing you.

The manual prints four letter grids for the word searches (numbered 1 to 4). The words to find are not printed on these pages.

Grid 1
N U G O R U H O U F
X N N D R U E N G W
Y I I A M L L N T E
N O N N A C I C E C
D U N Y G H C K R O
S C U J S T O T C M
F S R I W O P C E P
D E F G B E T U S A
T E H C U B E R T S
W T A N K F R J D S

Grid 2
N O I R O P P O U J
M N E P T U N E Q U
Y A T E K C I R C G
A E R O P L A N E G
B S H B M J E U N L
E Z P B L A X I P I
E R T I R I T V I N
T D R T D N N P L G
L P H G U E E G B E
E M Q H N I R N M I

Grid 3
T P R C I P H E R S
N R H U E K W R U B
I E I C A A D O F F
A S N P T S R I G T
T S J C W E O W F O
P U B U G I L N I D
A R W N B E R F I G
C E A Z P D K E F D
H D E V I S E H D A
T E L E S C O P E I

Grid 4
F H J G S F C L R P
L O R A O K A M O I
O R O S S T T F T N
T E S T I J A Y A H
S I U T B T P R U O
L Y U J S A U N Q L
W D O O T U L P E E
E I L B V Z T L I T
E S R E V I N U H U
P E R I S C O P E N

Solutions

Flag Diagrams

The flag diagrams are pictures; each is numbered and named as follows.

1. Match
2. Battery
3. Hunting
4. Timer
5. Cipher
6. Insect
7. Spider
8. Helium
9. Pirate
10. Secret
11. Wedge
12. Magnet
13. Pinhole
14. Rifle
15. Venus
16. Earth
17. Methane
18. Comet
19. Egypt
20. Cubic

Roman Numerals

65 = LXV, 24 = XXIV, 107 = CVII, 43 = XLIII, 19 = XIX, 59 = LIX.

Compass Drawings

The manual shows six numbered compass drawings as pictures (1 to 6). No text is printed with them.

Constellations

The constellation solution is a star-map diagram. The manual labels these stars and constellations: Polaris, Ursa Minor, Aries, Cassiopeia, Navi, Caph, Schedar, Sirius, Canis Major, Kochab, Pherkad, Erral, Adhara, Cepheus, Alfirk, Mizar, Alkaid, Alioth, Dubhe, Big Dipper, Megrez, Alderamin, Phad, Merak.

Knots

Reef Knot: Remember, left over right, right over left. (Shown in steps 1 to 3.)

Bowline: A useful, solid knot. (Shown in steps 1 to 4.)

Figure 8: Looks like the number 8. (Shown in steps 1 to 4.)

Clove Hitch: A classic cowboy knot. (Shown in steps 1 to 4.)