Once upon a time, there was a kind king and queen that ruled over a peaceful kingdom. All of the people of the kingdom were happy, all except the king and queen. As the years wore on, the king and queen grew sadder as they had not been blessed with a child of their own.
There were rumors of a garden belonging to a witch that was hidden somewhere in the kingdom. It was said that anyone that ate a cabbage from this garden would soon have a child. The king and queen tried to hide their unhappiness from each other but they both knew how the other longed for a child.
When the king could no longer bear his wife’s sadness, he set out in search of the garden. After many weeks of searching, the king finally found the witches garden and snuck in through a gate in the middle of the night to steal a cabbage.
As he picked the cabbage, the evil witch appeared and told the king that the punishment for stealing from her garden was death. In a desperate plea for his life, the king explained why he wanted the cabbage. When she learned that the man before her was a king, the evil witch granted him his life but told him that one day she would come to ask the king and queen for something and they would have to give it to her.
Nine months later, the queen gave birth to a daughter. The king and queen were overjoyed and the kingdom had never been happier. The king had forgotten about his promise to the witch until the eve of the princess’ first birthday when the witch appeared before the king and queen and demanded the princess in payment of the debt owed.
Heartbroken, the poor king and queen sobbed and pleaded with the witch, asking her to choose anything other than their beloved daughter. The witch’s dark heart was not moved by their anguish and she scooped the baby up and disappeared into the night.
The people of the kingdom searched desperately for the beloved princess but weeks turned in to months and months turned in to years. While the search continued in vain, the royal child remained hidden away at the top of a tall tower that had no doors and only a single window near the top.
As soon as the child was old enough, the witch put her (or him) to work keeping the tower room tidy. There was a surprising amount of work to do to keep the little tower room clean (tidying, sweeping, mopping, making the bed, laundry, etc.) but the child had grown up with a sense of responsibility and determination and kept the tower room spick and span.
Number of Players: 1+
How to:
Players pretend to be the princess (or prince) captured by the witch. The room that needs to be cleaned is the tower room that they must clean before the witch returns. Decide on a time limit before the game starts and set a timer. This is the amount of time that players have to get the room clean before the witch returns. Hurry and clean before time is up!