The Da Vinci Game is a board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

 inspired by Dan Brown

Dan Brown

Dan Brown is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories...

's novel The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...

. Players solve puzzles, riddles, logic problems, and conundrums in a race against the clock, and the other players. It can be played with three to six players or teams. The game was created by Martin Woods and Allison Carmichael and developed and designed by Games Talk. It is being distributed by Fun and Games.

Symbolism and codes in the game

The Da Vinci Game uses symbolism on the board and for the playing pieces, much of it referring to the Virgin Mary and linking to Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code is a 2003 mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu as they investigate a murder in Paris's Louvre Museum and discover a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to...

. The board itself is in the shape of a pentacle

Pentacle

A pentacle is an amulet used in magical evocation, generally made of parchment, paper or metal , on which the symbol of a spirit or energy being evoked is drawn. It is often worn around the neck, or placed within the triangle of evocation...

; an ancient symbol representing peace, harmony, and cosmic order.

Cards are represented by four types of symbols, also used on the board:

• The codex
  Codex
  A codex is a book in the format used for modern books, with multiple quires or gatherings typically bound together and given a cover.Developed by the Romans from wooden writing tablets, its gradual replacement...
  
  , a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages, is a symbol for secret messages because it corrodes easily. The symbol is used in the game for riddles that reveal secret words. It is claimed that Leonardo Da Vinci
  Leonardo da Vinci
  Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
  
   used codes from the codex for added secrecy.
• The key denotes power over whatever the key unlocks and in the game is used as the symbol for the logic clues, where logic is needed to unlock a numeric answer.
• Rose
  Rose
  A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
  
  s have different meanings depending on their colour - the white rose is symbolic of innocence and the feminine; the red rose of true love and the masculine. The Da Vinci Game uses a pink dog rose to signify a graceful merging of both. It is used to denote geographical locations on our planet, many of them, but not all, reflecting the beauty of the rose.
• The Vitruvian Man
  Vitruvian Man
  The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci circa 1487. It is accompanied by notes based on the work of the famed architect, Vitruvius. The drawing, which is in pen and ink on paper, depicts a male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and...
  
   shows the perfect human dimensions and is indicative of the divine number Phi. In The Da Vinci Game; the Vitruvian Man represents creative genius, art, music, film, and literature and the amazing people who created them, their names, and creations hidden within anagrams.

The game pieces represent goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 or feminine symbols and are:

• An Owl
  Owl
  Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...
  
  . For the Greeks, the owl was associated with the goddess Athena
  Athena
  In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
  
  , who was a goddess of wisdom. She was considered to be the embodiment of spirituality and wisdom.
• A Chalice
  Chalice (cup)
  A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
  
  , an ancient symbol completely female in its symbolism long before it became the symbol of the Holy Grail
  Holy Grail
  The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
  
  .
• A Cat
  Cat
  The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
  
  . In ancient Egypt
  Ancient Egypt
  Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
  
  , the cat had her own goddess, Bastet. The symbol is also seen as sacred to witches and wise women.
• A Bell
  Bell (instrument)
  A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
  
  . Bells are used in rituals to focus the mind, summon spirits, and cleanse an area of negative energy. Their shape also signals femininity.
• A Shell, or Ammonite
  Ammonite
  Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
  
  . It resembles the ram-like horns of Ammon
  Amun
  Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
  
  , the Egyptian deity of life and reproduction.
• A Dolphin
  Dolphin
  Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
  
  . This symbols represents a joyful and playful animal of the sea and has always symbolized fun, harmony, playfulness, and joy.

External links

• The Da Vinci Game
• Board game's page on Allison Carmichael, one of the creator's website.