Animal Soccer

Download Printable Rules  Animal Soccer

Game Type:

Board Game

Players:

2-4 players

Field:

24 x 48 inch checkerboard with 512 squares

Equipment needed:

8 sided die, Animal Soccer Players, 4 goal posts,Checkerboard

Time:

20-30 min

 

Game Summary

Animal Soccer is a fun board game project to make with children. You can buy plastic animals in almost any dollar store or big box store and paint on uniforms with acrylic paint. You can buy a 2′ x 4′ sheet of 1/4 inch plywood at any Home Depot or Lowe’s for about $10 and paint on squares- see the video in our resources on how to paint a checkerboard pattern. You can make goalposts or use any small items to demarcate goals.

 

 

Game Rules:

Start of Play

Before play, each team arranges their players on different squares. The offense must place one player in one of the two kickoff center squares and the ball in the other. Defensive players must not place their players in the kickoff center squares or any square adjacent to the offensive player or the ball. 

The offensive team puts one player in the kickoff square and roles the dice. The ball then can move that amount of squares.

Dice Roll and Ball Movement

If the player roles a 1,2, or 3 then they may dribble, pass, or shoot the ball

If the player roles a 4-8 they may pass or shoot the ball

Dribbling = player moves the ball 1,2, or 3 spaces and then moves the kicking player the same amount of spaces so that they end up adjacent to the ball

Passing = moving the ball to another player so that it is adjacent to them. 

NB Offensive teams can double pass, i.e. pass to one player and then pass to another player provided there is enough spaces left to move the ball. The ball must first enter an adjacent square of the first player, then travel to the next player and land on an adjacent square of that player. For example, if an 8 is roled, the first pass travels three spaces to the first player, then five spaces to the second player.

Shooting = moving the ball towards the goal

Dice roll and player movement

Once the offensive team plays the ball, then it can reposition its players by moving them the same amount as the dice role. They can move one player the entire amount or spread the moves between many players

The defense gets to move their players after the offense has repositioned, though they get to move one less than the offense. 

Passing backwards – If the offensive team passes the ball backwards at any point, either on their first or second pass, then they forfeit their repositioning and are not allowed to move their players. The defense still gets to move their players. 

Turnovers

The ball is turned over if-

1. An offensive player kicks the ball and it lands adjacent to only a defensive player 
2. An offensive player roles a 1 and there is a defensive player adjacent to the ball
3. An offensive player kicks the ball to a space with no adjacent players. The defensive team then gets to move one of their players to the ball and takes over possession. 
4. The ball goes out of bounds

Scoring

A player scores a goal when they roll an amount to get the ball past the end of the board. If the ball ends up on the goal line and no defender can get next to the ball then it is also a goal as the offensive player will definitely score on the next roll. If a defending player can get adjacent with the ball then it is possible to get a turnover on the next roll. 

Defense

The defense gets to move one less than the offensive team. If the offensive team rolls an 8 and gets eight player moves, the defensive team gets seven player moves. Defenders move after the offensive team has moved. 

 

Out of bounds

When a ball goes out of bounds the new team gets to move a player off the field and place the ball on the last square the ball landed on before going out of bounds. That team then rolls the dice. When throwing in, the new team can move their pieces first and then move the ball. The defense can move their pieces once the ball has been moved into play. The throwing in team cannot throw the ball to itself. If after rolling there is no adjacent player to meet the ball,  then it is a foul throw and the other team takes the throw in. 

Goal Posts

If a ball hits a goal post it rebounds back at a distance of the number of spaces left on the roll. 

The goal posts can be moved up or down the field depending on how high scoring you want the game to be.

Goalies

There are technically no goalies, you may put any amount of players in the backfield who will defend the goal at the expense of your offense