Completely hand-drawn and based on a true adventure by founders Jonny & George, the game has been designed to mix classic tabletop fun with a real opportunity to highlight countries that don’t get the coverage they deserve.
LostVenture Games, an indie UK publisher, launches a travel-based board game set to inspire its players to discover some of the world’s most off-the-beaten destinations. From the mountain ranges of Iran to the deserts of Mongolia, Route East takes players on a Silk Road journey into the unknown in a unique format that engages both older and young players.
Completely hand-drawn and based on a true adventure by founders Jonny & George, the game has been designed to mix classic tabletop fun with a real opportunity to highlight countries that don’t get the coverage they deserve.
“From 5,000 metre high valleys in Tajikistan, to the shimmering mosques of Uzbekistan – this area of the world doesn’t get enough attention. We’ve made a game that is super fun, highly competitive, and a race right up to the last move. But, more than that – we’ve created something that inspires exploration”, says Jonny Hale, one of LostVenture Games’ founders.
In Route East, players race from Istanbul to Shanghai across 16 regions, visiting some of the stunning 30 attractions along the way. The key to winning is to not only choose the quickest route via their assigned attractions, but to also manage their money, resources and deal with unexpected situations they might run into along the way – very much as on a real road trip!
With its core mechanics based on real-life experiences, Route East is designed to give a taste of what a road adventure across the region can be like. George and Jonny experienced 8 flat tyres during the 10,000 mile trip, so only a very few lucky players will avoid similar mishaps.
“Borders always proved difficult when it came to paperwork, and Route East is no exception. Some players will cross with a hefty $50 fee, others won’t pass at all, and some may even squeeze through with a biscuit based bribe”, said Jonny, who’s only actually managed to win the game 6 times out of 60+ playtests so far.
LostVenture Games is part of the board game industry that has doubled in the last 5 years, to what is now a $8.12 billion dollar industry. That, coupled with COVID restrictions, has left us all pining for adventure, whilst many will be counting the days to their Costa del sol beach break, others are planning their next journey further off the beaten track.
“There are board games popping up all the time, but they tend to be a step away from reality and don’t leave players much to think about after. Route East has been hand-drawn – even to the level of detail of specific landscape contours and geographical features. 30 attractions and world heritage sites have also been lovingly hand illustrated. This combined with some really fun yet frustrating competitive game mechanics, have made it something special – and more than just a board game”.
Route East will be launching on Kickstarter on March 8th, and hopes to hit a £10,500 funding goal to kickstart the project.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
