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 Mayfly…
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.
Adult mayflies live for a very short time, between a few hours and a few days!
So… could your game strategy be a race against time? Or perhaps involve answering questions against the clock?
Maybe the first person to race around the board avoiding fish and other predators along the way is the winner?
Mayfly larvae or nymphs (the young) can only survive in clean water, so they show where water is unpolluted.
The picture below is of a mayfly nymph. They can live for several years underwater.
So… Could your game be about cleaning up a polluted lake so that the mayfly larvae can survive and multiply?
Maybe as you travel around the polluted lake you could collect points which allow you to ‘buy’ clean-up cards to clean the polluted lake?
Mayflies go through MANY changes from egg to adult. Nymphs go through about 20 changes or transformations to their bodies! At each stage the size of their body increases.
So… could your game strategy be about landing on squares to earn points so that your nymph can grow and change?
Maybe you have to go round the board to collect and eat a certain amount of pond weed before each transformation?
P.S. DId you know that adult mayflies can’t eat because they don’t have a proper mouth!