German sisters’ coronavirus game survives lockdown, goes commercial

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Dec 24, 2020 06:00 am

GERMANY At a loose end during Germany's first lockdown, the four Schwaderlapp sisters decided to put their long hours indoors to good use - by inventing a coronavirus board game that is selling by the thousands.

The game, Corona, can be played by up to four players, who compete to buy all the groceries on a shopping list for an elderly neighbour who is shielding against the virus.

Hurdles along the way include encountering the virus, which sends you into quarantine, or finding that hoarders have already snapped up all the pasta or toilet rolls.

"The basic principle is one of solidarity," 20-year-old Sarah said from the family home in the western city of Wiesbaden.

Impressed with his daughters' efforts, father Benedikt Schwaderlapp decided to commercialise the game by hiring an artist to design the cards, board and box.

So far, he has sold 2,000 copies and signed up a toy store as a secondary distributor.- REUTERS