03 / BOARD GAME DESIGN

Snack’n
Ninja

Snack’n Ninja turns conversations about food and sugar into hands-on play. Designed for children and adolescents, this educational board game combines questions, everyday scenarios, and food pieces to encourage more thoughtful snack and drink choices.

PROJECT Snack’n Ninja
DISCIPLINE Board Game Design
FOCUS Nutrition Education / Learning Through Play
TIMELINE Approximately One Semester
01The concept
MEET THE GAME

Small choices.
Learning through play.

How can we help children think about eating less sugar while preparing for exams? Snack’n Ninja explores that question through a physical game built around food, drinks, and familiar everyday situations.

The goal: make nutrition education participatory, memorable, and approachable for young players.

01 The challenge
Bring awareness of sugary snacks and drinks into the conversation around studying and exam preparation.
02 The audience
Children and adolescents, with parents included in the wider conversation about everyday food choices.
03 The response
A board game that connects questions, action cards, and collecting pieces to a shared learning experience.
02Inside the game
THE MATERIALS

Every piece.
Its purpose.

A blue game board brings three card categories together: yellow Q&A cards, red Danger Zone cards, and green Safe Zone cards. Each category introduces a different way to engage with the game’s food and drink theme.

Illustrated pieces include an apple, a hamburger, water, and soda. Their shapes and colored borders distinguish the food and drink categories.

01 Board, movers & die
One game board, four player pieces, and one die. The game supports a maximum of four players.
02 Three decks · 60 cards
Q&A: 20 question cards. Danger Zone: 20 action cards. Safe Zone: 20 action cards.
03 Food & drink pieces
24 healthy food and drink pieces in total, plus 24 unhealthy food and drink pieces in total, using the prototype’s two categories.
03How to play
RULES & OBJECTIVE

Collect three.
Of each kind.

Complete both missions to win: collect three healthy food pieces and three healthy drink pieces. The board and action cards guide the collection through food, drink, and movement instructions.

The final board includes a START space, directional arrows, question spaces, Safe Zones, and Danger Zones. These are the rules and actions documented in the prototype.

  1. Follow the board actions

    Spaces indicate +2 or +3 steps; −1, −5, or −7 steps; or a return to START. Other spaces add one healthy food piece, remove one healthy food piece, or add one unhealthy food or drink piece.

  2. Explore the Q&A cards

    The yellow deck contains food questions. One example asks which food contains protein, carbohydrates, and fats, with sugar, milk, cereal, and bread as options. The options invite players to consider the nutrients in familiar foods.

  3. Resolve Safe & Danger actions

    Follow each card’s printed action. In the Safe Zone sample scenario, a child drinks water after homework and volleyball: take one healthy drink piece. In the Danger Zone sample scenario, a child drinks eight cans of soda: take one unhealthy drink piece.

04 — 06Q&A · Danger Zone · Safe Zone

Hover, tap, or press Enter to flip a card. Swipe to explore all three →

THE APPROACH

From a habit.To a hands-on idea.

As a child, I often ate sweets before and after exams. A one-time lecture about sugar did not stay with me. I learn best by making and doing, so I wanted to explore a more hands-on way to introduce the subject.

Snack’n Ninja grew from research into sugar consumption and a design question about exam-time habits. I translated those themes into questions, everyday scenarios, and tangible pieces, aiming to give children and parents a starting point for conversations about food and drinks.

Developed over approximately one semester, the project moved from hand-drawn paths through feedback, revised sketches, and physical prototypes to a digital board design. The final concept brings together the board, three card decks, illustrated pieces, a rules leaflet, and a food-inspired logo.

01 VISUAL LANGUAGE

A blue board anchors the system. Yellow marks questions, red cards signal Danger Zone, and green identifies Safe Zone. Familiar food illustrations connect the pieces and identity.

02 LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

Questions, everyday situations, and physical pieces invite young players to participate. The aim is to make a conversation about food choices easier to begin and return to.

03 ITERATION

Feedback informed successive versions of the board, from winding pencil paths to a structured loop. The final objective gives players two clear collection goals.

SNACK’N NINJA BOARD GAME DESIGN / VISUAL IDENTITY / LEARNING THROUGH PLAY 01 — 06