Sea Venture Shipwreck Game

You are one of the Sea Venture Castaways from the 1609 wreck. Sailors compete with landsmen to build their pinnace and get off the islands. But maybe the competition isn't so friendly afterall.

Based on the true events of 1609.

Purpose & Objectives

The purpose of this game is to introduce players to the numerous dramatic events that occured on the Bermudas by the castaways of the 1609 Sea Venture shipwreck.

All events are true and based on first-hand accounts.

Players: 2

Age: Upper elementary to young adult

Objective: It's sailors vs landsmen. Be the first to move your marker from the START position (where the survivors came to shore) , around the island, and get the to the END position (where they departed ten months later) before your opponent.

Purchase the Sea Venture Game (printable download)

Student Guide AND Teacher's Answer Key Included
$2.49 - 8 printable pages

The download includes gameboard, 48 Event Cards, and directions.

Game Components

This comes with a black and white gameboard (printed on two 8.5 x 11 inch paper.)

It also comes with 48 event cards.

You will need a pawn for each player. (A peanut and a raisin work will work, if you have nothing else on hand.)

Event Cards

There are four sets of cards with 12 cards in each set. Each card describes one event that occured on the island. The four sets of cards are:

1. July to August 1609 events (1 dot)
2. September and October 1609 events (2 dots)
3. November 1609 to February 1610 events (3 dots)
4. March to May 1610 events (4 dots)

Set Up

Tape the two sheets of paper together to make the gameboard. Directions are on the printed page.

Cut the four sets of cards apart. Keep them in their sets. (They are differentiated by the number of dots.) Shuffle the cards within their set, keeping the four sets separate.

Put the first set on the gameboard in the space marked CARDS.

Rules

Put your markers behind the space marked START.

The youngest player draws the top card. They read it outloud and then move the number of spaces indicated on the card.

The next player takes their turn. Players continue by alternating turns.

If a player ends his turn on a space already occupied by their opponent, they may send their opponent to any adjacent space of their choice.

When the first set cards (1 dot: July to August Events) is completed, put the second set of cards on the game board as the draw pile.

The first person to reach the space marked END is the WINNER.

If no one has reached END when the fourth set of cards is completed, shuffle the discarded cards and draw from them.

Please note: It is intentional that you are likely to run out of cards before getting to the END. This is so that all major events on the island will be read.

Purchase the Sea Venture Game (printable download)

Student Guide AND Teacher's Answer Key Included
$2.49 - 8 printable pages

The download includes gameboard, 48 Event Cards, and directions.

Sources

Information on the listed on the Event cards is from William Strachey's True Report. Check here for a modern version of Strachey's True Report of the Sea Venture, Bermuda Islands, and Jamestown appropriate for kids. See also Our timeline of Sea Venture and Jamestown.

Get the Early Settlers Unit Study

Explore scenes of native life, evaluate reasons for settling the new world, search for clues to the fate of the lost colonists, join the John Smith scavenger hunt on the 1612 Map of Virginia, sail with Strachey on the ill-fated Sea Venture, look for the location of old forts, and vote in the first legislative assembly.

Multi-Level Unit Study: Student & Teacher's Material Included
$5.99 Download - 199 pages

Early Settlers Pages

Check out our other pages for the Early Settlers Unit Study

Get the Lion To Guard Us Unit Study

Student Guide AND Teacher's Answer Key Included
$2.99 Download - 78 pages

Our pages for A Lion To Guard Us

Clyde Bulla's Historical Fiction of Jamestown & the Sea Venture