Play the 12 Labours of Hercules board game
Travel back in time to ancient Greece and discover if you’ve got what it takes to complete the 12 Labours of Hercules. Are you able to capture the Cretan Bull and slay the Lernaean Hydra? To find out, download and play this brilliant board game!
The board game
One of the most famous stories to come out of ancient Greece was that of the 12 Labours of Hercules. A son of the god Zeus, Hercules had superhuman strength, but he was driven mad by a goddess and killed his family. He was sent to serve a king as a punishment.
During this time, the king sent Hercules to perform a series of difficult tasks, called Labours, which included capturing or slaying a series of fearsome monsters. Thankfully, Hercules was up to the challenge and, in return, was made immortal.
Now it’s your turn to see if you can be a hero like Hercules and complete the 12 Labours by playing our epic board game. Challenge your friends or family to see who can be the first to complete this series of fiendish feats!
Setting up the game
To make the game, ask an adult to download the templates and print them out for you (make sure you print out a scoring sheet for each player). Then stick the two halves of the the board game on to a thin, A3-sized piece of cardboard (or you can just stick them together using tape).
Cut out the challenge cards – you can also stick these on to thin card, if you want to. Finally, cut out the spinner, stick this on to card and carefully push a pencil through the middle so you can spin it.
You’ll also need a dice and something for each player to use as a playing piece – you can use coloured plastic counters, different coins or even playing pieces from another game.
Get your templatesHow to play the game
- Place the challenge cards face down in a pile next to the board.
- Each player places their counter in the centre of the board and rolls a dice – whoever has the highest number goes first.
- Take it in turns to roll the dice and move around the board. You can go in any direction, including moving across the centre of the board (but you can’t change direction halfway through a go).
- Follow the instructions on the space you land on if there are any.
- If you land on one of the 12 Labours, then use the spinner to find out if you complete the task or not. If you do successfully complete a Labour, tick it off your scoring sheet. It’s then the next player’s turn.
- Once you’ve completed all 12 Labours, you must land back on the picture of Hercules at the centre of the board. The first person to do so wins the game!
