The Golden Compass: DVD Adventure Board Game

The Golden Compass: DVD Adventure Board Game is a DVD board game for two to four players that is based on the film The Golden Compass. This is a co-operative game in which all players work together to help Lyra cross the ice bridge which is the final destination on the sixth game area. The game has two levels of difficulty, Beginners and Advanced.

The game submitted comes in a tin measuring 28cm x 27cm x 7.5cm which contains three game characters - Lyra, Mrs Coulter, and Lord Asriel; one DVD in a card slipcase, a three page foldout Quick Start Guide; a twenty four page manual; twenty-five Daemon cards; twenty-five strength/reinforcement cards; a game board; six game fields - three arched boards with a different game field on each side; Fabric Chips and a Credit Meter. The game board is circular and when not in use folds into a quadrant. The Credit Meter is assembled from eight curved strips which fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, these fit around the main game board almost, but not quite, encircling it.

The game follows the story of the film which is set in a parallel universe where souls have visible form, daemon or animal. It is centred on the journey of a young orphan girl called Lyra as she goes in search of her uncle Lord Asreil who is somewhere in the far north of the world researching the Northern Lights. Opposing her are the world's ruler the Magisterium who opposes free will and Mrs. Coulter a powerful baddie who, in the film, is involved in something to do with missing children.

In a player's turn they can collect daemon or strength cards, fight a villain or move Lyra. Players use up a daemon card in order to move Lyra. When fighting the DVD shows a picture of the villain with numbers in each of the corners, some numbers refer to the villains strength while others show how much honour is gained by victory. Players use a combination of their strength cards to beat the villain, other players can assist by donating their strength cards but for this they expect a share of the honour. Losing a fight costs honour and may result in Mrs Coulter moving closer towards Lyra. If Mrs Coulter catches up with Lyra at any point during the game then everyone loses.

Once Lyra has reached the ice bridge the game enters its final stage which is played out entirely on the DVD. The DVD shows a sequence of ten symbols which the players must memorise as they must recreate the sequence in order to help Lyra cross the bridge. The player with the most honour/credit always plays first but with each mistake they lose some honour until eventually they are no longer the leader and someone else takes over. The game ends when the final symbol is identified, the DVD shows Lyra crossing the bridge and the player with the most honor at that point wins the game.

The DVD has a detailed set of instructions delivered by voice over, it also has a film trailer and a choice of languages - English, Dutch, German, French. Spanish and Australian. The English and Australian voice over s, for each language selection the DVD shows different company logos before the cinematic introduction sequence.