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Mind the Gap (2020) Trivia Game: Rules for How to Play

Mind the Gap (2020) Trivia Game: Rules for How to Play

Looking for a specific Mind the Gap rule?: | Set Up | Playing the Game | Challenge Cards | Winning the Game | Variant Rules | FAQ | Components |

Objective

The objective of Mind the Gap is to correctly answer questions gauged towards different generations in order to be the first team to make it completely around the game board.

Set Up

  • The players should divide into teams. Each team should have approximately the same number of players. You can divide the players however you want but the game recommends either creating teams where there is one player from each generation or creating teams for each generation.
  • Place the game board in the middle of the table. Place each card box on top of the corresponding spot on the game board.
  • One of the players will place the challenge cards face down in the middle of the board.
  • Each team takes one of the playing pieces. You will place your piece on the start space that matches the color of your playing piece.
  • Choose which team will start the game. The players can use whatever criteria they want to pick the starting team.
Setting up the board

How to Play Mind the Gap

When you start your turn you will look at the space that your playing piece is currently on. This determines what trivia question your team will be asked.

The five categories of questions in Mind the Gap are:

  • TV/Film
  • Pop Culture
  • Music
  • Headlines
  • Slang/Slogans

If you are on a color space, you will have to play a trivia card corresponding to the generation space that you are on. This includes the start of the game. You can choose any of the five categories to play.

Choose the category due to being on a color space
The blue player is on the blue corner space. The blue team chooses one of the five categories and has to try and answer the corresponding question.

If you are on a space that has an icon on it, you will get a question corresponding to the space that you landed on. You will draw a card from the generation whose space is on the corner to the right of your current location. Your team will be asked the question corresponding to the icon your playing piece is currently on.

Answering a question
The red team landed on a pop culture space on the Gen X side of the board. They will have to try and answer the question “Long before Mario, there was Pong which had to be played on this classic home console, released in 1975.”

Should your playing piece be on a space with a star on it, you will draw a challenge card. See the Challenge Card section below for more details.

Challenge space
This team is on a challenge space. They will have to draw a challenge card and try to complete it in order to move forward on the board.

Answering the Question

A player on one of the other teams will read the question out loud. The players on the current team have to decide on a single answer for the question. If the current team is wrong, nothing happens. Their turn ends and they will have to answer a question from the same category on their next turn.

If the team provides the correct answer though, they will roll the die. The number they roll determines how many spaces they will move their playing piece. You will move clockwise around the board. Your turn then ends. On your next turn you will try to answer a question from the space that your playing piece is currently on.

Moving after providing the correct answer
The green team correctly answered their question. They rolled a five on the die. They will move their playing piece forward to the TV and Film space.

The game does not specify if turn order moves clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Challenge Cards

When your team starts its turn on a space with a star on it, you need to choose one player from your team to draw a challenge card. They will read the card and follow its instructions. These cards will make a player dance, hum, act, ect whatever is printed on the bottom of the card. They are trying to get their teammates to guess what is printed on the bottom of the card within 60 seconds. One of the players not on the team trying to guess keeps track of the time using a phone or some sort of timer.

Challenge card in Mind the Gap
The player that drew this challenge card has to try and act like Mr. Rogers. They will try to get their teammates to guess Mr. Rogers before time runs out.

After reading the card the player can choose if they want to accept the challenge. If they choose to accept they will have 60 seconds to try and get their team the guess what is on the bottom of the card.

Should they successfully get their teammates to guess what is printed on the card, they will roll the die and move the corresponding number of spaces. If they fail the challenge, the team stays on their current space and has to wait for their next turn to try another challenge.

Moving after completing a challenge
The player was able to get their teammates to guess Mr. Rogers. They roll the die and will move their piece forward four spaces to the Pop Culture space.

Passing the Challenge Card

If the chosen player doesn’t think they can get their teammates to guess what is printed on the card, they can pass the challenge onto a player on one of the other teams. The player the challenge is passed to then tries to get their teammates to guess within 60 seconds.

If the player that the challenge was passed succeeds, their team rolls the die and moves forward the corresponding number of spaces. If they fail at the challenge, the current team rolls the die and moves forward the corresponding number of spaces.

Winning the Game

The goal of Mind the Gap is to move around the entire board and make it back to your start space. The first team to make it back to their start space wins the game. You do not have to land on your start space by exact count to win the game. Moving past your start space also wins you the game.

Winning Mind the Gap
The blue player correctly answered their last question. They ended up rolling a three which would put them past their own start space. The blue team has won the game.

Variant Rules

There are a few variant rules that you can choose to use while playing Mind the Gap.

If none of the players are from one of the generations, you can choose to ignore that generation. If all of the players agree, you will skip the corresponding section of the board.

Should all of the players be from the same generation, you could choose to only use the cards from that generation.

Mind the Gap FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components for Mind the Gap

Components

  • Game Board
  • 4 Playing Pieces
  • 80 Challenge Cards
  • 80 Boomer Cards
  • 80 Gen X Cards
  • 80 Millennial Cards
  • 80 Gen Z Cards
  • 1 Die
  • Instructions

Year: 2020 | Publisher: Solid Roots | Designer: Chris Armstrong, Jen Armstrong | Artist: Chris Armstrong, Jen Armstrong

Genres: Family, Party, Trivia

Ages: 10+ | Number of Players: 2+ | Length of Game: 20-60 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate


For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.