A fun looking family friendly travel game is currently up for funding on Kickstarter for Pangea Games. In Highways & Byways, two to four players will each traverse the U.S.A. in cars my friends and I would normally refer to as “beaters.” The game is for ages 10+ and plays in around 45-60 minutes. The Kickstarter has just recently launched and its about 20% to its funding goal. You can reserve a copy of the core game and stretch goals at a $49 pledge level through April 20. If funded, the game should arrive in August.
About the project:
Highways & Byways is a casual family game – great for board gaming couples and families! Race across the United States in your first used car. You’re on a mission to explore all places beautiful and forgotten before your vacation is over.
Start the game by picking a Start Space and a Vehicle. Each Vehicle gives you different abilities, such as moving a little faster under certain conditions or immunity to negative events. Plan your route by choosing byways. Then travel across the country a little bit every day, planning around highway construction, moody weather, and your car’s pesky tendency to break down!
The first player to travel all their Byways and circle back to their Start Space is the winner. Each player’s route is determined by Byway Cards, which are drafted at the beginning of the game. After routes are chosen, players receive a hand of five Event Cards, one of which is drawn by the clockwise player right before the player can move. Whatever is written on that Event Card – good or bad – happens to the player who is about to move. Players can then travel up to six spaces per turn, trading in each unmoved space for the ability to discard an unwanted Event Card and draw a replacement.
Each time the game comes back around to player 1, a new Construction Card is flipped. Construction Cards block off some of the fastest roads in the game. After five Construction Cards are drawn, players pass their Event Cards.