Yeah. I finally made it into a game. Here. Limited editions only.
The A2 size print of this game has been soft laminated to make it waterproof so it is kind of funny to fold it. I rolled it into a tube bought from the post office, and drew on each tube the Evil Mum, with her babies trapped inside her. Of course, this game comes with the dice and the players.
This is a close up of the characters I drew on the what-do-you-call-it. Players? Every single player is different, of course. (Thank God for that.)
Each of the drawing on each tube is...different, of course! They are all hand-drawn. What do you expect?
If you think I sound like I am in a foul mood in this post it is the real me all hang out. I am not in a foul mood.
one of my least favourite games when i was a kid was Snakes and Ladders. I didn't like games that use the concept of punishment. what i didn't like especially, was the strange and unfair "right"s and "wrongs"s that the game set, which didn't make sense to me when i was a kid. ( they still don't)
i saw this at a toy shop in my neighbourhood last year, and bought it, because i like the illustrations.
the Snakes and Ladders i bought
what i didn't like about the game when i was a kid, was the strange reason one got to move up the game. Here, it seems that the kid is rewarded for returning the handbag to the lady..so you go up the game, and you see the lady holding some green notes in her hand. Looks like she is about to give MONEY as a reward to the honest kid, who looks kind of disappointed...I mean, do you return the handbag to the lady cos you WILL be rewarded? Perhaps some of us would. Maybe more of us will just keep the handbag. but is this what kids get taught in school - that being honest earns you money?
ok. at first i thought this is more straightforward. That being overly narcissistic is no good, that one will end up with no friends. So the player goes back 3 steps. for " being narcissistic". But then, the narcissistic girl still looks happy all by herself, with a new hat and a bright smile. It's like, she doesn't care if she has no friends. (And why are the 2 girls in the distance hugging each other so tight? they look like they are sobbing or something.)
i call the move up from 36 to 44 Stairway To Hell. This is the most disturbing reason for advancing in the game. Here, a terrified-looking girl is being grabbed by an expressionless woman. When we go up the ladder we see her looking subdued, she is even hugging the woman now. She looks expressionless. The woman's face looks like a mask. i mean, you get to advance in a game because a kid is being subdued by an adult...
hahaha. i know that maybe no one actually look at the pictures when they play Snakes and Ladders. but when i was a kid, i would look at something strange like that and drove myself crazy trying to figure out what it was all about, what it was trying to tell me, or why i got "punished" for something and "rewarded" for another thing?
Let me now tell you the other reason for buying this Snakes and Ladders.
I knew that i needed to revamp the rules of the game, that's why.
I will use this original version as a sort of trigger or template, to make my own version of Snakes and Ladders.
I didn't do it for many months, getting preoccupied with other work. But I finally sat down to doing it, a couple of days ago. Here it is- my version of Snakes and Ladders, revamped.
Snakes and Ladders "Evil Mum" version. October 2011 by Sia Joo Hiang
In this Snakes and Ladders "Evil Mum" version, players get to advance because of some twisted, evil motives by the Evil Mum. It stars the Evil Mum, her 3 clueless babies, the wise but unhappy owl, some excited puppies, a retarded school teacher, a kitten who doesn't know how to get down the tree, some flies just hanging around, and that old lady whose handbag gets returned (again). Guest-starring Daddy, who made a short appearance of 2 scenes only.
these are 2 close ups from that "handbag" scene. players get to advance from 71 to 91 for returning that famous handbag.
the original version
in the world of the Evil Mama, no kids should ever talk back to their mother. Not even when Mum is wrong.
I will make this into a real game very soon. Or maybe just as a poster or something:D
RSS Feed