Over the next few posts Ru and I will think a bit more about each insect in turn and brainstorm some game strategies based on the insect and its behaviour!
Today we’ll look at the Hoverfly…
When working out your game strategy, a lot will depend on which insect you choose and which part of their life-cycle or behaviour you focus on. Here are some facts about Mayflies and some game strategy suggestions based on the facts.
Remember to think about: How players will win, and what do they have to do to come out on top?
- The objective might be to find and uncover a stash of food before the other players.
- Or if the objective is to avoid predators, the winner will be the player who manages to survive to the end.
Hoverflies look very like wasps and bees. They evolved this way to avoid being eaten by predators like birds and frogs, that would normally eat flies. These animals avoid eating wasps and bees because they sting and taste bad.
So… could your game strategy be about building a disguise so you can avoid predators that lurk around the board?
Could you add wings, legs, black and yellow stripes as you collect points?
Gardeners encourage hoverflies due to the fact that the larval stages prey on insect pests.
The larvae can control 70 – 100% of the aphid population that is near them!
Here is a hoverfly larvae eating an aphid (greenfly)
So… could your game strategy be about eating the most greenfly? This could be rolling a certain number on dice, or working your way up a flower stem collecting aphids as you go.
The winner could be the one who has eaten the most aphids.
Hoverflies are also loved by gardeners because they pollinate flowers!
They are a really important pollinator, which means we get fruit from flowers. Some pollinators like bees are struggling so it is important that we have other pollinators too.
So… could your game strategy include visiting as many flowers as possible? Or collecting as many nectar cards as you can on your way around the board, whilst getting rid of as many pollen cards?
You could design a really colourful board with flowers to visit!