Sierra Leone makes you purchase and play a board game before you're able to get a driver's license

In the West African nation of Sierra Leone, getting a driver’s license is a bit more complicated than you think.

For most people around the world, earning a driver’s license involves white-knuckled parallel parking and memorizing a booklet of dense highway codes.

But that’s about it.

Not in Sierra Leone, where they have a much… weirder requirement.

This is what you have to do to get a driver’s license in Sierra Leone

Should you ever move to Sierra Leone and need a local license for whatever reason, then get ready to buy and master a custom board game.

Yep, you read that right.

Introduced by the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), the mandatory initiative requires all would-be drivers to purchase a game called ‘The Driver’s Way’.

Conceived by Morie Lengor, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, the game was developed as a last-resort attempt to solve a problem: so many people were causing accidents because they don’t know traffic signs and road laws.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Sierra Leone suffers from roughly 33 road traffic deaths per 100,000 people annually.

That is four times higher than that of Europe, making the West African nation the 13th worst in the world out of 180 tracked countries.

The West African nation ‘gamified’ the highway code and created the new study tool back in 2013.

This simple $14 game can help you get you a driver’s license

When it was introduced, the Driver’s Way cost around $14 and saw up to six players compete.

Players roll specialized dice themed around traffic light colors to navigate tokens shaped like classic cars around a colorful grid.

As players move along the track, they encounter simulated real-world scenarios.

This is how you test knowledge on right-of-way rules, road signs, safe driving etiquette, and so on.

There are also random vehicle checkpoints and, if a player answers incorrectly, they face simulated fines.

But, and this is crucial, buying the game is only the first part of the test.

Then there are two more.

Things get a bit more standard after that

After buying the game, applicants will have to face standard examinations.

This is where things get a lot more normal and predictable.

Each applicant will need to undergo mandatory physical screenings to test their vision and also their overall physical fitness to ensure they can safely operate a vehicle.

Finally, applicants must take a physical driving test alongside an SLRSA examiner.

The game was launched when there were fewer drivers and vehicles on the road.

Now, in 2026, there are a lot more drivers in Sierra Leone but the fatality rate has stayed roughly the same.

While there’s no way of knowing whether there would have been more fatalities without the implementation of this rule, it’s a creative way of getting people to learn the rules.