Queue/Kolejka Societal Progression Expansion Pack

Original Game Overview

Queue, also known as Kolejka, is a game in which players try to collect all the items on their shopping list. To do this, they line up in front of stores in the hope that there will be item deliveries to the stores they are lining up for.

After the daily deliveries of items to the stores, players play action cards to swap the order of the lines in front of the store so that they can move closer to the front. Since deliveries to stores are limited, players will want to move to the front to guarantee they can claim one of the limited deliveries.

Queue is an appealing game for many reasons:

• The ability to switch the order of the lines creates a competitive game among players, where they may try to move other players to the back of the line.
• It is based on Communist Poland, where citizens had to queue in front of stores for their daily necessities. 
• The action cards represent different scenarios or people. For example, there is an action card that represents a mother and baby, which allows players to move themselves to the front of the line.
  • Cards like this demonstrate the ethics that are embedded in the game. The designers believe that people should prioritize a mother and baby and allow them to move to the front of the line.

However, despite this example of ethics, ethical reflection in relation to caring about others is missing from the game.

• Besides the mother and baby, who else should have priority when lining up for items?
• When should you prioritize the needs of others over your own, especially in a game where you are trying to get the items you need to survive?
• Currently, the game is focused on the individual and their own needs. Players are never encouraged to think about helping others and instead to hinder other players for their own sake.
• As a result, we developed an expansion pack that encourages players to ethically reflect on caring about the other players in the game, who represent other community members.

Expansion Overview

Connections & Illness System

• Each family member now has a distinct name and connection with members of opposite families. (Imagine them as best friends.)
• Family members get ill when they do not have the required item they need by the end of a week.
• After a week of being ill and not having an item, that family member dies, and the person they are connected to gets ill due to the grief of losing someone close to them.
  • These changes are meant to make players care about the well-being of the other players in the game.

New Action Cards

• There are new action cards that can be used to help other players. They can still be used selfishly if wanted.
  • These cards are made to encourage helping other players if players have a mindset where they are reflecting on the needs of others.

Societal Progression System

• An additional delivery will arrive for each player who sacrifices an item each round.
  • This system is designed to have players willingly add more deliveries for themselves and other players.

The following image shows the new character and connection cards that have been added to the game in this expansion pack. For details on how to use and print these cards and the additional new cards, please refer to the downloadable PDF.

Image credits: Note that besides the action cards which use emojis and the icons of the wooden pieces from the game, the images were generated using AI.

For this expansion pack, you will need:

• The base game of Queue/Kolejka
• Red, yellow, blue, orange, and green masking tape 
• The cards from the downloadable Print-and-Play

If you want to get masking tape with all the colors we listed, we found a pack of six on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.ca/Painters-Journals-Labeling-Decorations-Classroom/dp/B08PCV...