My family and I love to play board, card, and dice games. There is at least one game on my Christmas list every year. Though we all enjoy the bonding time and delicious snacks, it seems to me that my family has the most fun when they team up against me. While I prefer strategic games like Settlers of Catan, Risk, and Ticket to Ride, my wife enjoys simpler games like Mexican Train Dominos and Yahtzee. And when we play cooperative games like Pandemic or Escape Room the Game, I am often amazed by our genuine selflessness and impressed by our collective ingenuity to solve the challenges of the game.
It is not surprising then that I fell in love with Teen Bible Quizzing. In addition to the Bible study, disciple-making, and spiritual growth this ministry offers, the game appeals to my fondness for strategy and teamwork.
Yet at times home study or team practices can get routine or even boring. And if you are bored, you are not learning. To keep everyone engaged, it is good to add a little variety every now and again.
With the goal of making reviewing at home and team practices fun and engaging, playing Tribute: The Youth Bible Quiz Board Game just might do the trick (assuming, of course, you enjoy board games as much as I do). Now you can review at home without it feeling like you are studying. Or play it during a team practice to keep practices from getting stale. In addition, the beauty of this game is that it is different every time you play. The types of questions are in a different order every game and you decide in advance from which chapter or chapters you want questions asked. There are 2 versions available: physical game board or a print-your-own version.
While some of the board games I like to play are so complicated that they take hours to learn, this game is so simple that you can learn how to play almost faster than you can set it up.
It is not surprising then that I fell in love with Teen Bible Quizzing. In addition to the Bible study, disciple-making, and spiritual growth this ministry offers, the game appeals to my fondness for strategy and teamwork.
Yet at times home study or team practices can get routine or even boring. And if you are bored, you are not learning. To keep everyone engaged, it is good to add a little variety every now and again.
With the goal of making reviewing at home and team practices fun and engaging, playing Tribute: The Youth Bible Quiz Board Game just might do the trick (assuming, of course, you enjoy board games as much as I do). Now you can review at home without it feeling like you are studying. Or play it during a team practice to keep practices from getting stale. In addition, the beauty of this game is that it is different every time you play. The types of questions are in a different order every game and you decide in advance from which chapter or chapters you want questions asked. There are 2 versions available: physical game board or a print-your-own version.
While some of the board games I like to play are so complicated that they take hours to learn, this game is so simple that you can learn how to play almost faster than you can set it up.
Setting Up The Game
Tribute: The Youth Bible Quiz board game. Play with up to 4 players or 4 teams of players. (Click to enlarge) Once you shuffle and place the Question type Cards around the game board, your mission is to Master as many questions as you can. Mastering a question allows you to collect gold Tribute from guests who land on your Question Card and error when answering that type of question. Each type of Question Card carries a different value and you can double the value if you land on and answer a question for that card a second time.
Everyone starts with 20 gold Tributes and 15 Master cubes matching the color of their Player token. Since the game does not come with questions, provide each person with about 20 questions of each type to ask (from Set Maker, for example). Alternatively, everyone could just as easily share a book of questions, a printout, or the NPH Youth Quiz app for iOS or Android. If you ask all of your questions before the game ends, just start over and ask them again!
Everyone starts with 20 gold Tributes and 15 Master cubes matching the color of their Player token. Since the game does not come with questions, provide each person with about 20 questions of each type to ask (from Set Maker, for example). Alternatively, everyone could just as easily share a book of questions, a printout, or the NPH Youth Quiz app for iOS or Android. If you ask all of your questions before the game ends, just start over and ask them again!
Playing The Game
A Question Card whose Tribute Value has been Doubled by that question's Master. (Click to enlarge) On your turn, roll the die and advance your token that number of Question Cards.
If you land on a Question Card that has no Master, you become that Question’s Master by correctly answering the question and placing one of your Master cubes on the game board.
If you land on any of your own Question Cards, you can do nothing or choose to double the card's Tribute value by answering another question of that type. But be careful! If you error, you must remove your Master Cube from the board for that Question!
If you land on a Question Card Mastered by someone else, you must attempt to answer a question matching that Question Card. If you get it right, nothing happens and your turn is over. If you make an error, however, you pay Tribute to that Question’s Master matching the value of the Question Card.
Just as in Youth Bible Quizzing, erring on Questions 16 through 20 carries a penalty. Incorrectly answering these questions not only requires paying Tribute to that Question's Master (if there is one), but also depositing that Question Card’s Tribute value in the Tribute Storehouse on the board. Anyone can earn the Tribute in the Storehouse by rolling “Quizzer Bonus” with the die on any turn.
As players run out of Tribute, they have erred out of the game and must remove their Master cubes from the board and return any of their Double Tribute Question Cards to the Normal Tribute side. They are still involved in the game by asking questions to the remaining players. Alternatively, choose to have them join another player’s team that could use the help.
If you land on a Question Card that has no Master, you become that Question’s Master by correctly answering the question and placing one of your Master cubes on the game board.
If you land on any of your own Question Cards, you can do nothing or choose to double the card's Tribute value by answering another question of that type. But be careful! If you error, you must remove your Master Cube from the board for that Question!
If you land on a Question Card Mastered by someone else, you must attempt to answer a question matching that Question Card. If you get it right, nothing happens and your turn is over. If you make an error, however, you pay Tribute to that Question’s Master matching the value of the Question Card.
Just as in Youth Bible Quizzing, erring on Questions 16 through 20 carries a penalty. Incorrectly answering these questions not only requires paying Tribute to that Question's Master (if there is one), but also depositing that Question Card’s Tribute value in the Tribute Storehouse on the board. Anyone can earn the Tribute in the Storehouse by rolling “Quizzer Bonus” with the die on any turn.
As players run out of Tribute, they have erred out of the game and must remove their Master cubes from the board and return any of their Double Tribute Question Cards to the Normal Tribute side. They are still involved in the game by asking questions to the remaining players. Alternatively, choose to have them join another player’s team that could use the help.
Winning The Game
There are two ways to win the game, so here is where a bit of strategy comes in. One way is to be the last remaining player with all of the Tribute. That is the Battle Royale or Survivor way to win. The second way to win is to be the first player to Master 15 Question Cards or 10 Double Tribute Cards.
In our experience, each Tribute game using these default rules takes about 30 minutes and we ask roughly the same number of questions as we do in a quiz practice.
To keep the board game from getting tiresome, the instructions include four other ways you can play. One of them is even a travel-friendly game to play in the van on the way to the quiz meet. So actually, it is five games in one!
Or, make up your own rules to suit the skill level of your quizzers. Who would know?
And since you provide your own questions, you can use this board game every quiz season!
So grab some snacks, gather your team, quizzer, or family around the table, and test your knowledge while playing a board game!
In our experience, each Tribute game using these default rules takes about 30 minutes and we ask roughly the same number of questions as we do in a quiz practice.
To keep the board game from getting tiresome, the instructions include four other ways you can play. One of them is even a travel-friendly game to play in the van on the way to the quiz meet. So actually, it is five games in one!
Or, make up your own rules to suit the skill level of your quizzers. Who would know?
And since you provide your own questions, you can use this board game every quiz season!
So grab some snacks, gather your team, quizzer, or family around the table, and test your knowledge while playing a board game!
Looking For A Challenge?
The "Challenges" expansion pack adds a new way to play Tribute and gives each player objectives to accomplish before the game ends. (Click to enlarge) To add a layer of strategy and drama to a game of Tribute, there is an expansion pack called Challenges: Tribute expansion pack.
As the name implies, this 40-card deck contains unique challenges for the player to accomplish before the end of a totally new game mode using the Tribute board game. For example, some of the cards ask the player to “Master 5 General Questions”, “Master 1 Question of Each Type”, or “Double 3 Question Cards”.
Before the game begins, players draw 3 Challenge cards and keep at least 1. They may also draw additional Challenge cards during the game. These cards are kept secret until the end of the game. During the game players Master questions and earn gold Tribute from the Storehouse based on the value of each question they answer until all 80 gold Tributes are earned.
At the end of a Challenges game the players add together their gold Tributes, the value of the Question Cards they mastered, and the value of the Challenge Cards they accomplished. However, they subtract the value of any Challenge Cards in their hand they did not complete!
So if you are looking to expand your Youth Bible Quiz toolkit – or perhaps give a unique Christmas gift for the Youth Bible Quizzer in your family – give Tribute and Challenges a try!
[Full Disclosure: Priced $5 above cost, all profit from Tribute (physical game or the print-your-own version) and Challenges benefits the Louisiana Youth Bible Quiz program]
As the name implies, this 40-card deck contains unique challenges for the player to accomplish before the end of a totally new game mode using the Tribute board game. For example, some of the cards ask the player to “Master 5 General Questions”, “Master 1 Question of Each Type”, or “Double 3 Question Cards”.
Before the game begins, players draw 3 Challenge cards and keep at least 1. They may also draw additional Challenge cards during the game. These cards are kept secret until the end of the game. During the game players Master questions and earn gold Tribute from the Storehouse based on the value of each question they answer until all 80 gold Tributes are earned.
At the end of a Challenges game the players add together their gold Tributes, the value of the Question Cards they mastered, and the value of the Challenge Cards they accomplished. However, they subtract the value of any Challenge Cards in their hand they did not complete!
So if you are looking to expand your Youth Bible Quiz toolkit – or perhaps give a unique Christmas gift for the Youth Bible Quizzer in your family – give Tribute and Challenges a try!
[Full Disclosure: Priced $5 above cost, all profit from Tribute (physical game or the print-your-own version) and Challenges benefits the Louisiana Youth Bible Quiz program]
RSS Feed