Reading Sage: Your Trusted Reading Community: 6TH GRADE MATH GAME Wasteland "Wreckers" WARRIORS

Wasteland "Wreckers" WARRIORS

A Post-Apocalyptic Salvage Racing Board Game

Ages 11+ • 4 Players • 60-90 Minutes

Game Overview

In the year 2505, after the Great Collapse and the Corporate Wars, civilization has crumbled into the Badlands. The remaining survivors eke out a living by scavenging the endless wrecked vehicles scattered across the wasteland. You are the owner-operator of a wrecker truck, racing against three other salvage crews to claim the most valuable crashed cars, trucks, and motorcycles.

Your mission: Navigate the dangerous hexagonal territories of the Badlands, reach crash sites before your competitors, and haul valuable wrecks back to your compound. But survival isn't just about speed – you must manage your precious resources: Gasoline, Water, Food (mostly expired canned goods), and Scrap metal for repairs.

Welcome to the world where Brondo Corporation's "It's Got Electrolytes" energy drink is more valuable than gold, and a can of Spam can mean the difference between life and death.

Game Components

Game Board

1 Large hexagonal game board (61 hexagonal tiles arranged in a larger hex pattern)
Each hex represents different terrain: Wasteland (brown), Rocky Outcrops (gray), Acid Pools (green), Old Highways (black), Settlements (blue)
4 Compound spaces (one in each corner) where players start
Central "Crash Zone" where new wrecks appear

Player Components (4 sets, one per player)

1 Wrecker Truck miniature (different color per player)
1 Player Board (for tracking resources and upgrades)
1 Wrecker Truck Card (customizable stats)
4 Resource Tracker tokens (Gasoline, Water, Food, Scrap)
10 Wooden cubes (for marking controlled territories)

Cards

40 Salvage Cards (different types of wrecked vehicles with math challenges)
30 Event Cards (random events that affect the game)
24 Upgrade Cards (improvements for wrecker trucks)
20 Math Challenge Cards (6th grade level problems)

Tokens and Markers

30 Wreck tokens (placed on crash sites)
4 Compound markers
2 Six-sided dice
1 Round tracker
Resource tokens (Gasoline barrels, Water bottles, Food cans, Scrap metal)

Setup

Place the hexagonal game board in the center of the table.
Each player chooses a color and takes their wrecker truck, player board, and starting resources.
Place each player's wrecker truck on their starting compound (corners of the board).
Shuffle the Salvage, Event, and Upgrade card decks separately. Place them face-down near the board.
Each player starts with: 8 Gasoline, 6 Water, 4 Food, 2 Scrap
Draw 6 Salvage cards and place wreck tokens on the indicated hexes.
Give each player 3 Upgrade cards to choose their starting wrecker configuration.
Randomly determine the first player.

Wrecker Truck Customization

Before the game begins, each player customizes their wrecker truck by selecting upgrades that determine their truck's capabilities:

Base Wrecker Stats

Movement: 4 hexes per turn
Carrying Capacity: 1 wreck
Fuel Efficiency: 1 Gasoline per 2 hexes moved
Armor: 2 (protection from events)

Sample Upgrade Cards

Upgrade	Effect	Cost
Turbo Engine	+2 Movement per turn	3 Scrap
Reinforced Chassis	+2 Armor	2 Scrap
Extended Fuel Tank	Start with +4 Gasoline	1 Scrap
Heavy Duty Winch	+1 Carrying Capacity	4 Scrap
Efficient Engine	Use 1 Gasoline per 3 hexes	2 Scrap

Game Play

The game is played over multiple rounds. Each round consists of four phases:

Phase 1: Event Phase

Draw one Event card and resolve its effects immediately. Events represent the dangers and opportunities of the Badlands.

Sample Event Cards

Brondo Shortage: All players lose 1 Water. The Corporate Council has reduced Brondo production to increase profits.

Raider Attack: Players in Wasteland hexes lose 1 Food unless they have 4+ Armor.

Fuel Discovery: First player to reach hex 23 gains 3 Gasoline. An old gas station still has working pumps!

Phase 2: Movement Phase

Players take turns moving their wrecker trucks across the hexagonal board. Movement costs Gasoline based on your truck's efficiency rating.

Movement Rules:

You can move up to your Movement rating in hexes per turn
Each hex moved costs Gasoline (based on your truck's efficiency)
Different terrain has different effects:

Terrain	Effect
Wasteland	Normal movement
Rocky Outcrops	+1 Gasoline cost per hex
Acid Pools	Causes 1 damage to truck (lose 1 Armor temporarily)
Old Highways	-1 Gasoline cost per hex (minimum 0)
Settlements	Can trade resources with NPCs

Phase 3: Salvage Phase

When your wrecker truck enters a hex containing a wreck token, you may attempt to salvage it. This requires solving a math challenge based on 6th grade standards.

Math Challenge Integration

Each salvage attempt involves solving a real-world math problem related to the salvage operation:

Sample Salvage Math Challenges

Fuel Calculation Problem:

You found a wrecked sedan that still has gasoline in its tank. The tank is 3/8 full and holds 16 gallons when completely full. How much gasoline can you siphon? If you need 2.5 gallons to get back to your compound, how much will you have left over?

Answer: 6 gallons total, 3.5 gallons left over

Area and Perimeter Problem:

You're claiming territory around your compound. If you control a rectangular area that is 8 hexes long and 5 hexes wide, what is the area of your controlled territory? If each hex has a perimeter of 6 units, what is the perimeter of your rectangular territory?

Answer: Area = 40 hexes, Perimeter = 26 hex-units

Ratio and Proportion Problem:

Your wrecker can tow 2 small cars or 1 large truck per trip. If you need to salvage 6 small cars and 3 large trucks, and each trip back to your compound takes 15 minutes, how long will it take to salvage everything?

Answer: 6 trips total (3 for cars, 3 for trucks) = 90 minutes

Salvage Success

If you solve the math problem correctly:

Gain the salvaged vehicle (place it on your truck)
Gain the resources shown on the Salvage card
Place a control token on that hex (you now control that territory)

Salvage Failure

If you answer incorrectly:

Lose 1 Gasoline (wasted time and fuel)
Another player may attempt the same salvage on their turn

Phase 4: Resource Management Phase

At the end of each round, all players must "consume" resources to survive:

Lose 1 Water (desert survival)
Lose 1 Food (daily sustenance)
If you control 5+ territory hexes, gain 1 Scrap (from controlled salvage operations)

Sample Salvage Cards

Vehicle	Resources Gained	Victory Points	Special
Rusted Sedan	2 Gasoline, 1 Scrap	1	Easy salvage
Military Humvee	4 Gasoline, 3 Scrap	4	Requires 3+ Armor to attempt
Food Truck	5 Food, 1 Gasoline	3	+1 Water from melted ice
Brondo Delivery Van	8 Water, 2 Scrap	5	Corporate Premium Salvage
Motorcycle	3 Gasoline	1	Can be carried with other salvage
School Bus	2 Food, 4 Scrap	3	Contains textbooks (gain 1 Math Card)

Winning the Game

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

A player reaches 15 Victory Points
The Salvage card deck runs out
Only one player has enough resources to continue (others are eliminated)

Victory Points are earned from:

Salvaged vehicles (as shown on cards)
Controlled territory (1 point per 3 hexes controlled)
Resource stockpiling (1 point per 5 resources of any type)
Completing upgrade combinations (bonus points for themed builds)

Player Elimination

A player is eliminated if they reach 0 in any two resource categories simultaneously. This represents succumbing to the harsh Badlands environment.

Advanced Rules

Trading

Players in the same hex or adjacent hexes may trade resources at a 2:1 ratio during their turn. Settlement hexes allow 1:1 trading.

Combat

When two wrecker trucks occupy the same hex, they may engage in "Salvage Disputes." Both players roll dice and add their Armor rating. Winner gains priority for any salvage in that hex.

Compound Upgrades

Spend resources to upgrade your compound:

Fuel Depot (6 Gasoline): Start each round with +1 Gasoline
Water Purifier (4 Water): Lose 1 less Water each round
Food Storage (8 Food): Can store unlimited Food
Scrap Yard (10 Scrap): Gain 1 Scrap for every 2 controlled territories

Educational Benefits

Wasteland Wreckers integrates Common Core 6th Grade Mathematics Standards:

Ratios and Proportional Relationships (6.RP)

Resource conversion rates and trading
Fuel efficiency calculations
Territory control ratios

The Number System (6.NS)

Multi-digit arithmetic with resources
Decimal calculations for partial resources
Negative number understanding (resource debt)

Expressions and Equations (6.EE)

Writing expressions for salvage calculations
Solving equations for optimal routes
Understanding variables in upgrade formulas

Geometry (6.G)

Area calculations for territory control
Understanding coordinate systems on hex grid
Perimeter calculations for movement planning

Statistics and Probability (6.SP)

Analyzing dice roll outcomes
Understanding probability in event cards
Data analysis of resource management over time

Thematic Elements

The World of 2505

After the Corporate Wars ended civilization as we know it, mega-corporations like Brondo Corporation and Costco Wholesale have become the de facto governments. The average IQ has dropped significantly, leading to a society where watering crops with Brondo energy drink seems logical because "it's got electrolytes."

Resource Descriptions

Gasoline: Precious fuel for your wrecker truck, found in abandoned gas stations and vehicle tanks
Water: Mostly Brondo energy drink and other corporate beverages, essential for survival
Food: Canned goods past their expiration date: Spam, cat food, dog food, and generic "meat products"
Scrap: Metal salvaged from wrecked vehicles, used for truck upgrades and compound improvements

Flavor Text Examples

"Welcome to Costco, I love you" - Greeting from Settlement traders

"But Brondo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes!" - Water purification system description

"This Spam expired in 2487, but canned meat never really goes bad, right?" - Food resource description

Quick Reference

Turn Order

Event Phase (draw and resolve Event card)
Movement Phase (move wrecker truck, pay Gasoline costs)
Salvage Phase (attempt salvage with math challenge)
Resource Management Phase (consume Water and Food)

Resource Consumption per Round

Water: -1 (survival in desert)
Food: -1 (daily sustenance)
Gasoline: Variable (based on movement)
Scrap: Variable (used for upgrades)

Victory Conditions

15 Victory Points OR
Last player surviving OR
Most points when Salvage deck empties

Designer Notes

Wasteland Wreckers was designed to make 6th grade mathematics engaging through thematic integration and meaningful decision-making. Every math problem relates directly to game mechanics, ensuring that mathematical learning feels purposeful rather than tacked-on.

The post-apocalyptic theme was chosen to appeal to students' interest in survival scenarios while the satirical elements from Idiocracy provide humor and social commentary. The hexagonal board creates interesting spatial relationships and tactical decisions, while resource management teaches real-world planning skills.

The game scales difficulty naturally - early salvage attempts feature simpler math problems, while late-game premium salvage requires more complex calculations involving multiple steps and concepts.

Saturday, July 19, 2025

6TH GRADE MATH GAME Wasteland "Wreckers" WARRIORS