Setup
Take out the game board and place it on the table. Shuffle the CHANCE cards and place in the middle of the board. Players choose a grandmother character card, and place the corresponding piece on the start square. Each grandmother has an effect listed on her card. Marsha’s effect happens at the beginning of the game. Everyone else’s effects will happen as they become relevant (the specific card is drawn). The oldest player goes first.
Objective
The goal of this game is to beat the other grandmothers and collect the most yarn before the sale at the craft store closes.
Actions Players Take
At the start of their turn, the player will roll a die and move that number of spaces. Spaces include yarn, chance, and blank spaces. If players land on a yarn space, they get a skein of yarn. If players land on a chance space, they pick up a chance card and do what it says. If the player lands on a blank space, they do nothing.
Chance Cards
+/- yarn cards: the yarn comes from and goes back to the craft store, unless otherwise noted
Grandkids: each grandmother has one visit from their grandkids. Whoever’s grandkids are visiting, they get +1 yarn. If you pull a grandkids card that does not have your grandmother name on it, you must give one yarn from your stash to that grandmother. If no one is playing that grandmother, you do not have to do anything.
Neighborhood Swap: you get a lovely pot roast (this does not affect the game, but it’s tasty) and you choose one of the other grandmothers to get 1 yarn
Canasta/Bingo: The grandmothers listed on that card receive 1 yarn. If you are not a grandmother listed on that card, you do not get any yarn
Estate Sale: Give 1 yarn to every other player from your own stash. If you do not have enough yarn for the amount of people playing, give 1 yarn to each person starting on your left and going clockwise until you run out of yarn.
Retirement: Receive 1 yarn from every other player. If a player does not have any yarn, then you do not get yarn from them (pretty simple)
Ending the Game
The craft store will kick you out when you have gone around the board 3 times. When you have gone around 3 times, you are done and must remove your piece from the board. Once you are off the board, your stash of yarn remains constant, and is not affected by any of the chance cards.
The grandmother with the most yarn in her stash wins.
Granny Squares Rules v.2
Setup
Take out the game board and place it on the table. Shuffle the CHANCE cards and place in the middle of the board. Players choose a grandmother character card and place the corresponding piece on the start square. Everyone starts with 3 yarn.
Each grandmother has an effect listed on her card. Marsha’s effect happens at the beginning of the game. Everyone else’s effects will happen as they become relevant (the specific card is drawn). Each time you go around the board, you will get one round token. The oldest player goes first.
Objective
The goal of this game is to beat the other grandmothers and collect the most yarn before the sale at the craft store closes.
Actions Players Take
At the start of their turn, the player will roll a die and move that number of spaces.
Spaces
Start: Where players start. Collect 1 yarn each time you go around the board and pass or land on this space. Do not collect yarn at the start of the game.
Chance: pull a chance card
+ Yarn: If you land on a colored yarn space that matches your grandmother color, you get +2 yarn. Otherwise, you get +1 yarn.
– Yarn: Lose 1 yarn. It goes back to the craft store.
Mobility Aids: Advance forward 2 spaces to Chance and pull a chance card.
Advance to Start: Move your character piece to the start space. Collect 1 yarn and 1 round token.
Blank: nothing happens on these spaces.
Chance Cards
+/- Yarn: the yarn comes from and goes back to the craft store, unless otherwise noted
Grandkids: each grandmother has one visit from their grandkids. Whoever’s grandkids are visiting, they get +1 yarn. If you pull a grandkids card that does not have your grandmother name on it, you must give one yarn from your stash to that grandmother. If no one is playing that grandmother, you do not have to do anything.
Neighborhood Swap: you get a lovely pot roast (this does not affect the game, but it’s tasty) and you give 1 yarn to the first member of the opposite granny gang sitting to your left. Dawn does not lose any yarn, but she can still gain yarn.
Canasta/Bingo: The grandmothers listed on that card receive 1 yarn. If you are not a grandmother listed on that card, you do not get any yarn
Bingo Hall Brawl: Each member of the Canasta Cadre must give 1 yarn to a member of the Bingo Brigade. Carol gives to Marsha, Ethyl gives to Heidi, Rosemary gives to Dawn. If a granny is not in play, disregard this card.
Canasta Combat: Each member of the Bingo Brigade must give 1 yarn to a member of the Canasta Cadre. Marsha gives to Carol, Heidi gives to Ethyl, Dawn gives to Rosemary. If a granny is not in play, disregard this card.
Steal: Take 1 yarn from a member of the opposite granny gang
Estate Sale: Give 1 yarn to every other player from your own stash. If you do not have enough yarn for the amount of people playing, give 1 yarn to each person starting on your left and going clockwise until you run out of yarn.
Retirement: Receive 1 yarn from every other player. If a player does not have any yarn, then you do not get yarn from them (pretty simple)
Ending the Game
The craft store will kick everyone out as soon as one person has gone around the board 3 times or collected 3 round tokens. The person who does this will earn 1 yarn for each member of her granny gang.
The grandmother with the most yarn in her stash wins.
Playtest for: Granny Squares (River)
Playtester: Clay
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
Many turns pass without anything happening. Being the last one on the board, I had to roll several times in a row although I didn’t land on anything new
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
The theming is unique although the allegiance of the characters didn’t play much into the gameplay
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
Collect yarn more frequently. Excluding the possibility of getting some via a chance card, there is a 1/6 probability of getting a yarn on any turn, which for a game about collecting yarn, seems low
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
Start with at least several yarn since several of the chance cards involved required people to have yarn
How has the play experience changed since the first play test?
N/A
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
I would want to see some changes made to the pacing before I would interested in playing again
Hey River! I really enjoyed playing Granny Squares. Heres the notes from the play test:
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
I honestly was never frustrated. The only thing I had issues with was how many turns could go past without a chance card being picked up or someone getting/losing yarn.
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
I enjoyed reading the chance cards and how they applied to each character. Getting a yarn bonus was also a great feeling. I also enjoyed that even though I was pretty lucky through most of the game, I didn’t end up winning. It leaves others to have the potential to do better in the later game.
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
If there was a way to choose a player to sabotage if they have a bunch of yarn, that would be cool. Maybe being able to steal yarn
If you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
I would create more chance cards with more drastic outcomes, like a lot more yarn or a lot less yarn.
Would you play again and why?
Absolutely I would. It was fun and easy to understand while adhering to a unique storyline.
Playtest- Granny Squares(River)
Playtester-Mia
Most frustrating?
Not landing on a lot of spaces like the chance cards. Sometimes it felt that I was rolling the perfect number to avoid the chance spaces.
Favorite moment?
I liked the idea of collecting yarn and stealing it from other grannies
Anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
Not really, I don’t think there is anything I wanted to do that I couldn’t
Magic wand?
Add more chance spaces or maybe add some other event spaces
How has the play changed from the first time?
My first time playing
Would you play again?
Yes, I enjoyed the concept and the chance spaces kept the game going. Also, I felt the pacing was good, I wasn’t waiting forever to take my turn and it was still fun when other players took their turns.
Playtest for – Granny Squares (River)
Tester – Delaney
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
– Finishing the game with no yarn – or losing my one single yarn 2 squares before finishing
– Repeatedly rolling high numbers, and missing the chance/yarn spots
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
– I really liked the character cards, and how different granny’s did different things. It’s a good idea.
Was there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
– Have more opportunities to collect/earn yarn – maybe steal yarn from other players
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
– Make it more likely to draw a chance card or get yarn (more spots on board)
– Possibly add “minus yarn” spots on the board – if you add more “plus yarn” spots – just give the board more spaces that “do something” and I feel like it will help make the game a little bit more competitive.
– It was just an idea I had after playing when we were all discussing the game, but if you’ve played mario fortune street game, then I’m assuming you know the squares that can send players to a different smaller board, and if you kept the chessboard setup you could make a smaller track in the middle and have a spot on the larger track that can send a granny there for a turn or a chance card that does it, and have that smaller track have higher rewards/risks ?? Idk if that made any sense but its an idea
How has the experience changed since the first play test?
N/A
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
– Yes I would absolutely play this game again! I would love to see how it develops, and I’m determined to play it again and finish with yarn this time.
tester Aaron
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
the number of spaces that had no real use
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
the chance cards
Was there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
to work with the other grandmoms in the grandmom mafia
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
lager board, add more yarn and chance spaces, work with the other grandmoms in the grandmom mafia
How has the experience changed since the first play test?
first test
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
yes like to see where it goes
tester Aaron
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
the number of spaces that had no real use
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
the chance cards
Was there anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
to work with the other grandmoms in the grandmom mafia
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
lager board, add more yarn and chance spaces, work with the other grandmoms in the grandmom mafia
How has the experience changed since the first play
N/A
Is this a game you would play again? Why?
yes like to see where it goes
Playtest for Granny Squares (River)
Playtester-Mia
Most frustrating?
Landing on the blank spaces. Maybe change it to something else so the player can still do something.
Favorite moment?
The granny gangs and being able to steal yarn from the granny in the other gangs
Anything you wanted to do but couldn’t?
Not really, everything I needed to do I could.
Magic wand?
Maybe adding minus spaces to the blank spaces
How has the play changed from the first time?
The game has a lot more spaces to land on, so it was more engaging and allowed the players to do more action.
Would you play again?
Yes, I love the concept of the game and I really like the pacing of the game. It’s not going to take over an hour to play and due to the chance spaces, everyone is engaged for most of the game.
Playtest for: Riva
Tester: Max
Most frustrating: Having my yarn stolen.
Favorite moment: I liked the lore.
Anything you wanted to do but couldn’t: Win
Magic wand: I’d make the blank spaces like pathways to each other. Either just down each stretch or maybe across the whole board.
How has play changed: N/A
Would you play again: Yees. I’d want to see more artwork, though.
test 2
Tester Aaron
1. the corner trap
2. the collation of yarn and chance cards
3. work with the others in the grandmom mafia
4. fix the corner trap
5. the addition of spaces
6. yes interesting