A-MAZE-ING GAME: THE PEACEFUL ALTERNATIVE TO BATTLESHIPS

On days when battle themes just aren’t right for your class, go with the A-Maze-Ing Game.

Bringing the classic games we grew up with into the classroom can be tricky. Sometimes we need to tweak them so they support learning, not just engagement (see more in TEACHING ‘FUN’DAMENTALS). And in some cases, changes in the world can make a game feel wronger than wrong.

Take Hangman, for example. It’s a familiar classic, but the imagery can be problematic, and for some learners, especially those who’ve experienced trauma, it can actually be distressing. Sometimes it’s enough to switch out the imagery: a cat chasing a mouse, melting ice cream, or a Spaceman, as a solution.

Another example is Battleships. I adapted this game for practising irregular verbs, and even after ten years, it’s still one of the most popular downloads. But with everything happening in the world, and in local news, it has started to feel a bit off. At the moment, the last thing I want to bring into the classroom is anything battle-hit-miss-related.

So I found an A-MAZE-ING alternative. I created this game a while ago (A-MAZE-ING GAME). It does everything Battleships is supposed to do, but in a peaceful way. Originally, it was designed as a low-resource game, where learners drew their own grids. You can still use it with learners just as it is. It works well with simple grids (3×3, 4×4), but for longer gameplay, making larger grids can become a bit problematic. So I’ve prepared bigger maze grids and added a little twist for extra fun.

If you want to see all the steps for creating learner-generated materials, check out the process in the A-Maze-Ing Game.

How to Play

Option 1

Students play it like Battleships. Each student gets Grid A (their own maze) and Grid B (their partner’s maze to explore). Both players start at the same entrance point (all mazes have the same Enter/Exit squares).

Players take turns calling out coordinates, e.g. ‘I move to B2’. They can only move one square at a time. When they land on a word square, they need to give one or two forms of the irregular verb OR make a meaningful sentence using it (depends on the level of your group). Their partner checks whether the verb form or sentence is correct. If they’re right, they mark the word on Grid B and continue their turn. If they’re wrong, their turn ends. If they revisit a word, they should again give the forms or make a new sentence.

I’ve also included a few extra colour-coded squares: yellow for the Treasure, pink for Hints, and blue for Keys.

Hint Squares

A little gift from the maze gods (erm, goddess).
If the player lands on a Hint, the opponent must give a hint, for example, ‘You can’t go to B4, there’s a wall there’, or ‘You’re near a key, it’s just two squares from here’.

Key Squares

Players can collect Keys along the way. In a stricter version of the game, they need to collect all of them before claiming the Treasure. But this depends on the time you have available (requiring all keys will make the gameplay longer). You can also introduce optional bonuses like giving an extra hint or letting a player ‘break through’ a wall.

When they hit a wall (their partner says ‘Wall!’), they mark it on their grid and the turn passes to the other player.

The player must collect the Treasure before they can exit the maze.

You can also remove Keys-Treasure rules for fastest play.

Quicker variation

Players navigate the same maze together and must reach the exit as a team, giving verb forms or creating meaningful sentences (with the added challenge of finding 2 or 3 alternative paths).

Big Maze Board Game

With larger maze fields, you can also use the activity as a board game. You will need one die and a game piece for each student. The rules are simple. Students play in pairs or small teams, using one die per pair/team. They take turns rolling the die and moving their pieces. When they land on a square, they must give the forms of the verb or produce a sentence that is true about them (just like in the original A-Maze-Ing Game). If they fail to do so, they move back to their previous square. (Turn it into a learning moment. A partner can give the correct form or sentence, or the player can use their verb list or look up the verb and example sentences in Wordsplainer)

All players start at the starting point, but there is no fixed path. Each student chooses their own route depending on their strategy. The first player to reach the exit wins. In this version, you can also set additional rules for Hint (pink) and Key (blue) squares. For example, in my game, I used blue for an extra move (the player may roll the die again) and pink for a swap (swapping positions with another player to introduce a bit of chaos and fun!). I’ve also added the Portal Square (purple): when students land on it, they can ‘teleport’ to the other Portal Square.

Here are two versions of (12×12) grids to play the game.

Storytelling variation

Each team should create a short story using the irregular verbs found along the maze path. Once the teams have completed their stories, have them present their stories to the class.

You can download the template grids (two versions for Student A and Student B) as a PDF here.

Happy maze-ing!

If you want to make a maze for the A-Maze-ing Game using your own words, try my small maze generator here.

It’s very easy to use: Pick your maze size and the number of Keys, Hints, and Portals. If you add loops (check the Loop box), the generator will remove some dead ends. Type or paste your words (you can enter a whole list separated by commas), and click Generate Maze. You can also check Blank Maze if you want your students to fill in their own words (a great extra revision activity!). Regenerate the maze if you’re not completely happy with it. Now click on the Worksheet button (Download as PDF), or save it as a PNG (Download as PNG) if you’re planning to use the maze in your own worksheet. I hope you find it useful!