A game of cardboard ships and water balloon munitions.
The Battle of the Cardboard Clads recreates the historic Battle of Hampton Roads in which the naval ironclads The Monitor and Merrimack fought each other to a standstill. Now players have the chance to experience the ship-rattling chaos of the battle as they huddle inside their own cardboard clads and try to weather water balloon bombardment.
In the first phase of the game each team is given a large stack of cardboard sheets with which they can construct a cardboard clad ship. Teams have 30 minutes to build a ship from cardboard and packing tape.
After the ships are built, the ships do battle over three 3-minute rounds. Each round the ships are decorated with 10 chalk markings. Teams score points by washing the markings off the other team’s ship with water balloons barrages. Each team also has sailing ships chalked on the ground around the battlefield that they must protect. Teams get points for washing away the other teams sailing ships as well. Finally, teams score points for each team member of the other team they get wet. So keep your sailors safe and dry inside your cardboard clad.
Designer – Greg Trefry & Gigantic Mechanic
Greg Trefry is a partner at the game design studio Gigantic Mechanic. They make games. All kinds of games.