Forbidden Hall: Res Life Training Game

So the island is sinking beneath your feet.

Pretty forbidden right?

Forbidden Island, a game published by Game Wright, by Matt Leacock tempts potential adventurers to test their wits and luck against the island of doom.

Actual game of forbidden island.

Its a great game! It teaches players to solve problems under pressure, take calculated risks, develop teamwork and strategy, and its fun too! Great principles to teach your staff!

We run a residence hall on a college campus, and I wanted my RAs to get some training review, to have fun, to run around, and to think and act as a team.

Enter "Forbidden Hall."

A complex web of rooms set to self-destruct in...5, 4, 3...

The game I devised was only a slight modification from Forbidden Island. Instead of island tiles that sank, I made room tiles that would collapse. Instead of drawing flood cards each turn, I would draw earthquake cards every...minute.

Snap! The office is going to be in bad shape!

I gave them clues (relating to serious Res Life issues that could come up...things that would require a little thought) to help them find "treasures" hidden within the building. After starting the timer, I set them loose to strategize, organize and go!

Sample "treasure": aka, something easy to hide, but unique enough to find.

Every minute I drew more cards to determine which rooms were in need of repairs. One of the RAs stayed behind to communicate to the others (via text message) which rooms needed repairs.

Got to "repair" the office if you want to leave the Hall alive!

If an RA occupied a room when it collapsed, everyone lost. If the rooms with the treasures were destroyed before the treasures were found, everyone lost. If the office (where they had to bring all the treasures to at the end) was destroyed, everyone lost.

Good stuff. They were quaking in their boots.

The treasures were pretty well hidden too. I wanted them to feel a sense of anxiety whenever they entered a room...knowing it could collapse at any second.

The outcome?

I'd say it went well. They found all the treasures (all they needed was one of each color) and returned to the office within 6 minutes. Nobody died.

I'd like to say they got a little lucky...which they did. I didn't draw any "waters rise" cards, which would cause the "damaged" rooms to begin to collapse, but they also put their minds together, ran hard, and generally let their imaginations grant them the incentive they needed to find the treasures in just over five minutes.

Looking for a game for your staff? Consider "Forbidden _______." Let me know if you'd like some tips about how to modify it for your purposes!