Creating a LEGO Ninjago adventure game!

(Written by Geneva – gid617)

Have you ever wanted to make your own LEGO game? It isn’t as hard as it seems! Ninjago already has its own spinner game, but my brother and I wanted to incorporate that into an even bigger LEGO board-game. 😛

So we started out making a LEGO game-board, using most of last year’s locations; the 4 Weapons Blacksmith Shop, the Dojo, the Frozen Wasteland, Floating Ruins, Fire Temple, Caves of Despair, Forest of Tranquility, and a City.

After we finished the basic board, we started thinking up some rules – how to move was obviously the first one needed! So we finally settled on using a LEGO die (available in any of the LEGO Games) with the following color tiles on its sides (as indicated on the bottom of the board): Red for the Fire Temple (Kai), Blue for the Floating Ruins (Jay), Black for the Cave of Despair (Cole), White for the Frozen Wastelands (Zane), Yellow for the Blacksmith’s shop (Nya), and Brown for the Dojo (Sensei Wu).  We made the game before Lloyd was around. If you wanted to add him to the game, you could make his space the Dojo as well as Sensei Wu’s. 

Whichever color you got would be your next stop – if you got yellow, you’d go to the Blacksmith’s, Brown, visit the Dojo, etc. Then, of course, there had to be an object of the game – getting the four golden weapons seemed like a good idea. 

So we made a deck of 24 cards, each with one normal weapon except four which had the golden weapons of Spinjitzu and a few “go to” action-cards. And finally we came up with an entire set of LEGO game rules:

➡Object of the LEGO Ninjago Game: Be the first to have all the golden weapons at the same time. This player is the winner.

➡ Setting up the LEGO Ninjago Game: Each player needs the following or its equivalent: a Ninjago weapon, character, character-card, and spinner. If you have Ninjago battle-cards you may use them as well. 

• Place the weapon in your character’s hand. The character will never lose this weapon. He may not use it for trading in or any other purpose. You may not play a golden battle-card (from the Ninjago spinner sets) unless you have a golden weapon card from this game (i.e. from the blacksmith).
• Separate the golden weapon-cards and give them to a player who will double as the blacksmith. The cards must be kept separate from any other cards the player may receive during play.
•  Shuffle the remaining cards and place them in a draw pile. All players start at the Dojo. Youngest player starts first.

➡ Moving in the LEGO Ninjago Game: Roll the die. Follow the instructions on the die and in the legend.

➡ LEGO Ninjago Game Cards: Here are the instructions for using the game-cards during the game.

  Receiving Game Cards:

• Every time you land on your element, you receive one card. For example, if you are Kai (and therefore fire), you may pick up a card upon landing on the Fire Temple. For any other Fire character, the rules would be the same.
• When you land on the Dojo you always receive two cards (Sensei would receive three). If they are action-cards, use them in the order received.

  Using Game Cards:

• Action-cards must be played on the turn received. They must be replaced on the bottom of the pile. (If you find this makes all the action-cards get clumped into one place, you can stick them in the middle instead, or create a discard pile.)
• Weapon-cards must be kept face up in front of you. If you do not have a weapon-card you may not fight. In a battle the winner chooses which weapon to take. In trading weapon cards for a golden weapon card, cards are returned to the bottom of the draw pile.

➡ Fighting in the LEGO Ninjago Game: When you land on a space (excluding City or Forest of Tranquility) you must fight by spinning against any opponent who is on that same place. The only exception is if you, they, or both, do not have any weapon cards. Then you may not fight. After one battle (when you or your opponent has lost a weapon) you may stop attacking. No matter what happens, both players remain on the place until their next turn. A player who loses all their cards is not out of the game.  The winner chooses which weapon to take. See the Ninjago Battle Guides for instructions on who wins and how to spin.

➡ LEGO Ninjago Golden Weapons: Here are the instructions for using the Golden Weapons during the game.

  Receiving Golden Weapons:

• By trading: Three different weapon cards or three of the same type of weapon cards (for example, three daggers or three katanas) may be traded for any available golden weapon at the Blacksmith’s shop. To trade you must be at the Blacksmith’s shop.
• By battle: If you win, you pick which weapon you want.  If your opponent has a golden weapon, you may take it.

  Loosing Golden Weapons:

• You may only lose a golden weapon in battle.  If you have a golden weapon, your opponent may take it after winning a spin.

➡ Other LEGO Ninjago Game Rules: Here are some other rules for the Ninjago game we came up with.

• Rest spots: Anytime you land on either the City or the Forest of Tranquility you may not fight.
•  If your opponent has landed on your space and fought you, and you land on the same spot in your next turn, you must fight the player (as long as both of you have weapons). If two people are already on one spot, and a third arrives, that player may pick who to fight. He may not fight both.
• If you find the game too long with all that spinning, you can shorten it by fighting in one of two ways: If you don’t have spinners you can use dice, or if you just want to make it shorter you can use Ninjago cards – keep a deck near you and when you have to fight, turn the top one over at the same time as your opponent. Whoever’s top card scores highest wins (scoring is based on SP).

 We made the game-cards by printing out the backs, then the fronts, and then gluing them together, and finally laminating them. Of course, you could make a game that didn’t need cards at all, or change our game by putting weapons in a bag and having players draw them when necessary.

So, how do you like the idea of making a LEGO game? Are you going to try one? You’re welcome to use any of our rules or templates as well! (Of course this game is for your own private use; you may not market or sell such games without permission from the LEGO Company.) Feel free to share any comments or questions you might have below! 😉

If you would like to try out our LEGO Ninjago Game, you can download the PDF files of the game-board and the cards here:

• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game-Board – download PDF here
• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game Cards 1-8 – download PDF here
• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game Cards 9-16 – download PDF here
• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game Cards 17-24 – download PDF here
• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game Cards Back – download PDF here
• LEGO Ninjago Adventure Game Instructions – download PDF here

You might also want to check out the previous posts below, or head over to the LEGO Ninjago section for more Ninjago discussions:

• LEGO NINJAGO Spinjitzu Cards for September
• Playing Ninjago Spinjitzu – Part 1: Essentials
• Playing Ninjago Spinjitzu – Part 2: Cards
• Playing Ninjago Spinjitzu – Part 3: Weapons
• LEGO Ninjago – September Spinners!
• LEGO Ninjago Lloyd ZX Spinner Preview
• LEGO Ninjago Season 3 – New Trailer!