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Big Glasgow Board Game

How to play

  1. Get on board

    The organisers give out the game's code. Type it in with your name and that's you in. No password, no account.

    Game code

    GLASGOW-4X7

  2. Pick your team

    You land in the lobby. One of your lot starts a team and names it; everyone else taps Join. Rename it or swap teams as often as you like until kick-off, when teams are locked. Your team's code is on its card: note it, because it gets anyone on the team back in if their phone loses them.

    Finnieston Ferrets 3 players · Ash, Morag and you Yours
    Partick Thistles 3 players · Cal, Isla and Rab Join
    Gorbals Gremlins Create

  3. The city is the board

    Challenges are dotted all over Glasgow, each worth points. Some have a pin on the map: get yourselves there. Others you can do wherever you're standing. Each one is marked with a colour and a label, so you can tell at a glance whether it's still up for grabs:

    • Open Up for grabs
    • Yours Your team has it
    • Held by Partick Thistles Another team has it
    • Burned Done, gone for good

  4. Bag it

    Found one you fancy? Tap Claim. It's locked for every other team the instant it reaches the server. First tap to land wins, whatever anyone's phone clock says. Your team holds one at a time, so settle it before you take the next. No signal, no claim.

    Claim DUKE

    Lose the race and you're told who beat you to it.

  5. 10 seconds to bottle it

    Once you've claimed, a dial counts down 10 seconds. Put it back before it runs out and nothing counts. Once it's gone, you're committed: it's a pass or a fail.

    7 Put it back

  6. Tell the group

    Share the claim to the WhatsApp group, straight from the app. Pass and fail unlock once it's shared. Then do the thing, and post the proof in the group: a photo, a video, whatever the challenge asks for. The group is where the proof lives.

  7. Pass or fail

    Say how it went on My claims. Pass, and you score its points. Fail, and it costs you exactly what a pass would have paid. Either way it's burned, and nobody can take it again. The organisers can overturn a call, so keep it honest.

    +200

    Passed

    −200

    Failed

  8. Mind the clock

    The game runs to a set time, and the time left counts down at the top of the board. It turns orange for the last hour and red for the last five minutes. At full time claiming stops, but you can still say how the ones you're holding went.

    Finnieston Ferrets 1h 12m left
    1h 12m 48:10 4:05 Time's up

  9. Sealed till the end

    You only ever see your own score. The feed shows what's been taken and what's come back, never who scored what. Then the organisers reveal the standings, and every phone in the pub flips at the same moment.

    Sealed

    +1,240 yours to know, nobody else's

  10. House rules

    • Nothing checks where you are. A pin is there to help you find it, not to catch you out. It's an honour system.
    • The organisers run the show. They can pause claiming, send announcements to every phone, and settle arguments. Their word is final.
    • WhatsApp for the banter, the app for the score. If it isn't in the app, it didn't happen.
    • Be sound. No trespassing, mind the roads, and look after each other. No challenge is worth a trip to A&E.
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