Pass & Score

Skaters maneuver their players and puck on board to an advantageous shooting position, the best being one of the 18 circled spaces in front of the goal.

For a board game involving pawns and a board of circles, Pass and Score is remarkably faithful to good hockey play. Each player gets three moves in sequence, which can be a combination of moving a pawn one space, passing the puck from one pawn to another along any clear line, and of course shooting on goal. Passes must not violate standard offside rules.

Any given pawn can only move two spaces in a turn, but the board includes "slide" lines that allow bursts of speed on offence or defence. One player takes the puck away from the other by moving a pawn onto the same space as the puck carrier (the pawns have a peg to hold them on top of the puck), "checking" his opponent into an adjacent circle.

Most challenging of all for all players: a penalty is called when either team fails to complete its three-element move within 15 seconds! Going over the limit means you lose one of your pawns for the next three turns.

While intended to be played for fun, it includes a significant teaching component, including dotted lines on the board showing the areas of responsibility for different positions, and a set of 18 Hockey Tips listed inside the box.