The Birthday Cake Race Game

Tim Morrell

Aim of the Game

To be the first player to deliver a slice of birthday cake to each of the 12 guests on the player’s playing board.

Overview of Game

Each player has their own board which has 13 squares. These squares show the birthday cake and 12 guests. The 13 squares are connected by pathways which are coloured blue, green, red and yellow. Each board is unique as to which coloured pathways connect which guest squares to each other.

Each player also has a playing piece. At the start of the game this is placed on the birthday cake square. Each player needs to imagine that they have just picked up a plate with 12 pieces of cake on it.

The starting player now calls out one of the four colours. All players must slide their playing piece from the birthday cake square along a pathway of the appropriate colour and onto a guest square. If this is the first time they have visited this guest (and on the first turn of the game this will always be the case) they mark a cross in the box beneath the guest to show that the guest has received their piece of cake.

The player to the left of the starting player now looks at their board, decides which colour pathway they want to travel along, and calls out the colour aloud. Again all players must slide their playing piece from their current square along a path of the appropriate colour and onto a new square. If they arrive at a guest who they have not yet visited then they once again mark a cross in the box beneath the square to show that the guest has received their piece of cake.

Play continues in a similar manner, each guest taking their turn in calling a colour. If a player’s piece is on a square where there is only one pathway of that colour then they are forced to travel along it. If they are on a square where there are two pathways of that colour then they can choose which of the two pathways to take.

The winner is the first person to deliver a piece of cake to all 12 of their guests. Immediately they have delivered the last piece of cake they should shout out to let people know they have won. They do not have to return to the birthday cake before declaring their win.

Preparation you will need to do before you play

  • Obtain a pencil for each player so they can mark off which guests they have delivered cake to.
  • Obtain a playing piece for each player. These could be a small coins.

Game Set Up

  1. Give one playing board, a playing piece and a pencil to each player.
  2. Decide who will call out the first colour pathway.

Playing the Game

  1. All players place their playing piece on the birthday cake square.
  2. The first player calls out one of the four colours.
  3. Each player moves their playing piece along a path of the appropriate colour to a square containing a guest.
  4. If it is the first time the playing piece has landed on this guest then they should use a pencil to mark a cross beneath the guest signifying that they have been given a piece of cake.
  5. The second player now names a colour and the process is repeated.

Keep playing in a similar fashion until someone calls out that they have won because they have put a cross beneath each guest and have effectively distributed their 12 slices of cake to each of the 12 guests on their playing board.

You can play a further two games using the “Game 2” box and the “Game 3” box beneath each guest.

Back to blog