Stock sales, GST returns and Environmental Court fines are among the facets of a new board game entered in this year’s New Zealand Pride In Print Awards by offset printer Lithoprint.
Developed specifically to promote secondary school learning about New Zealand’s rural sector, the game – called Grit forms part of the larger secondary schools learning tool, “Rural Source”, developed by Agriculture and Horticulture Industry Training Organisations and designed by FitzBeck Creative. FitzBeck Creative’s Kerry Deane says the aim of the game was to encourage students to learn through fast-paced fun.
“Students are faced with a range of daily farming scenarios and must make careful and informed farming decisions to achieve the ultimate game-winning goal of owning their own farm and associated equipment,” says Mr Deane.
“The game-play had to be challenging enough for a range of ages -- year 11 to year 13 students -- while also simple enough to complete in a single class. Each game can be played by two to six players or teams.”
Mr Deane says a key component of the game was “Farm Boards”.
“Each mini-board contains a set of individually die-cut and laminated cards, which need to fit cleanly into a printed frame and backing card. The Farm Boards required meticulous attention to detail, with accurate die-cutting and gluing to ensure their frames aligned with the individual cards.”
Lithoprint’s Charles Framhein says the job, which is packaged in a 495mm-wide x 45mm-high x 255mm deep box, required a variety of challenging print solutions.
“The board game consists of multiple elements, predominantly printed in full colour, with a range of print-finishing techniques applied, including specialist die-cuts, reinforcing and laminations for added durability,” he says.
“The challenges of this project gave us the opportunity to showcase the skills of our team.
“Client satisfaction is the ultimate goal, while also feeling we have achieved the best possible outcome, on time and within budget. Feedback is that the game is very popular with students and valued by teachers.”
An initial print run of 300 copies of the game has been organised for nationwide distribution amongst secondary schools.
