When the Chariots of Destiny,a NGO based in Nairobi to advocate for road safety, was looking for ways to raise money a board game was not top of the list. But thanks to some inspiration and determination from Ms Casey Marenge and her team, they were able to design and develop the 50/50 board game which they hope will not only help them sustainably raise money but also entertain and educate Kenyans locally and abroad.
The 50/50 Kenyan board game, launched on 12 December 2013, is an exciting, entertaining, fast-paced, first of its kind, word guessing game, celebrating 50 years of Kenya’s history. It is the culmination of a long journey for Ms Casey and her team who faced a number of challenges, most notable finding a designer and manufacturer for the game. In the end it all came through in the final months and they were able to design and develop the game using local companies and launch it in December.
Casey Marenge. Founder, Chariots of Destiny
The game touches on words that define or describe Kenya in the past 50 years. Anything from people, places, events, TV/radio programmes and stations, celebrities, politicians, historical sites etc After months of research, the team came up with 2500 words that would capture this.
The objective of the game is for a team to accumulate 250 points before the other team/s. The game consists of a red sand timer, dice, five playing tokens, 50 court cards, 250 question cards, 50/50 black cards, and Supreme Court cards. Each team playing in a clockwise direction moves a token from square to square on the board.
They were able to give a demonstration of how the game is played on the Trend with Larry Madowo.
Earlier this year, the Fifty Fifty board game team was invited to State House to present a copy of the board game to the First Lady Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta. They were able to talk to her about the creation process and play the game with her and her staff. The good news didn’t end there as they were also the third recipient of the awesome foundation grant price of 100,000 to expand on the project. They were able to use the funding to produce more board games most of which were donated to drug and alcoholic rehabilitation centers and hospitals in Nairobi to serve as a recreational activity for individuals in the center.
50/50 Team Present The Board Game To Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta At State House April 1, 2014
Currently, they are still setting up a distribution network but one can place an order on their site here and have the game delivered to them.