Board games usually teach players about cooperation, following instructions, and winning and losing.

“Checkpoints and Challenges,” developed locally by Volunteers of America, John P. Craine House and WFYI, is all about role-playing.

Created as a teaching tool for previously incarcerated men and women, the board game introduces offenders to life’s challenges in the “outside” world.

“It teaches them to negotiate barriers in life as they look for jobs, apply for state identification and qualify for community benefits,” said Suzy Pierce, executive director of Craine House, an alternative sentencing program for non-violent females with preschool children.

Craine House offers GED classes, tutoring, health and nutrition and substance abuse programs, as well as employment resources.

“Checkpoints and Challenges” reinforces those goals, said Pierce. “The game is also a good way to introduce volunteers to the struggles these men and women face as they re- enter society.”

The board game was recently redesigned and packaged for mass distribution by PEN Products, a division of the Indiana Department of Corrections. It was developed with funding provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and is $32 at www.voain.org.

Pierce said the learning tool is a good way for church groups, higher-education classrooms and professionals working in psychology, public policy and sociology to learn more about people who are working their way back into the mainstream.