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‘Battle of the Beiguan Societies’ — Taiwan’s first Beiguan board game

  • Date:2020-02-25
‘Battle of the Beiguan Societies’ — Taiwan’s first Beiguan board game

The National Center for Traditional Arts aims to promote traditional art through innovative and interactive experience by developing Taiwan's first Beiguan culture-themed children’s board game named "Battle of the Beiguan Societies (子弟團爭霸戰)." The board game will integrate elements of history, society, music, and crafts within Beiguan culture, giving players a chance to understand this unique Taiwanese heritage through a riveting gaming process.

The family-friendly board game is suitable for elementary school children from grades four or above and comes in basic and advanced versions. Through the use of cards and a tabletop board map, the game creates a sense of participation and enhances interpersonal interactivity, while also implementing strategic thinking skills and raising interest in Beiguan culture and traditions.

In the game, players become the directors of their own Beiguan societies and need to recruit and train members, collect musical instruments, complete performance quests, and attend activities like festivals, rituals, and weddings to generate victory points that will increase the overall strength of their societies. They then battle each other at the annual performance contest to please the deities and win the game.

Beiguan is a traditional music genre in Taiwan that is used in a wide variety of scenarios, from performances for deities, festivals, and rituals to big family events like weddings and funerals, making it an encapsulation of the life philosophy and aesthetic tastes of the Taiwanese people. With this concept in mind, the National Center for Traditional Arts integrated elements of performance societies, musical instruments, and temple array battles to develop this entertaining and educational board game.

The "Battle of the Beiguan Societies" board game is now available for purchase on the National Center for Traditional Arts' website and at multiple bookstores across Taiwan. To further promote the game, NCFTA is offering discounts, especially for school teachers for art education-related courses. More information here.