On the Road (Board Game)

On the Road, Board Game, 2023

Personal Thesis Project

On the Road is a 2-4 player competitive board game. Players take on the role of motorcycle riders on a motorcycle tour and compete to see who can have the most spectacular trip.

Player: 2 - 4 | Time: 40 - 60 min | Key Words: Competitive, Collect, Score

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972812373

Players in this game must explore the map, take photos, and visit facilities to get points. The game will be won by the player with the most points after the final settlement!

It is time to embark on your adventure! You must carefully plan your route while doing your best to collect as many points as possible!

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS PROJECT?

Exhibition Design

Paper Prototype

Steam Workshop Publish

A. Rolling the Dice

Illustrator

Procreate

Board Game Design

Arts

Card Design

Playtest and Iteration

MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS

Board Game Design: Spearheaded the design and production of "On the Road," a competitive board game for 2-4 players. Conducted over 30 playtests, leading to 7 major design iterations that refined gameplay and rules in response to player feedback.
Comprehensive Production: reated artwork and design for 150+ game cards using Procreate, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Coordinated the production of the physical game set and launched a digital version on the Steam Workshop via Tabletop Simulator.
Recognition: Recognized with the Outstanding Graduation Thesis award, and featured in the school’s grad exhibition, attracting over 50,000 visitors.

KEY FEATURES

Inspiration

The board game was inspired by a motorcycle tour I took in 2021. With two friends, I rode a motorcycle from Beijing to Inner Mongolia. During this trip, I not only saw the beautiful grassland scenery and took beautiful photos, but I also met many local friends. It was a wonderful memory! So I devised the idea of creating a board game that would allow players to experience the freedom and joy of motorcycle touring.

1 Casino Dice

6 Motocycle Dice

If you don't have a photo from the current area yet, you get a photo with a corresponding score of 1. Otherwise, you take the next number in ascending order.

Each traveler can create only a single photo of each type (Mountain, River, or Forest).

40 Coins

Gameplay

Areas & Facility

14 Inn Cards

11 Achievement Cards

Playtest & Iteration

2 Standard Dice

Travelers immediately score all points earned during the journey.

When you stay in a Road Area, you can use a Film Roll to take a photo of the current area.

You immediately score a number of points equal to the value of the card (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 depending on the photo).

You take a Hot Spring Card from the pile and add it to your collection.

These cards are worth 2 or 3 points.

12 Photos

24 Souvenir Cards

6 Motorcycle Cards

6 Facility Area Blocks

12 Film Roll Cards

12 Hot Spring Cards

8 Traveler Cards

28 Commemorative Tickets

Each player selects a Traveler token and the corresponding color token; Place one of the color tokens next to square 1 of the Scoreboard that records Journey points.

Place the Traveler token on the Hot Spring Block in the center of the map.

Each player then takes 2 Traveler tiles at random, chooses one, and places its face up on the table before him.

Place all unchosen and unused tiles in the box out of play.

Place the other color token on your Traveler card to distinguish players.

Each player receives coins equal to the number in the upper right corner of his chosen tile; this constitutes his bank at the start of the journey.

The map consists of 3 Road Areas (Mountain, River, Forest) and 7 Facility Areas (Hot Spring, Farmhouse, Temple, Inn, Casino, Village, Motorcycle Shop).

At the beginning of the turn, the player must choose only one die to roll.

The number of dice points determines the movement points or the film roll to be gained in this turn.

Each move leaves you in one of the 10 types of areas.

In the descriptions below, a ‘collection’ refers to all of the cards acquired (and placed face up) by a player during a game.

After you finish your move, you need to settle according to the area you are currently in.

A. Road Areas (Mountain, River, Forest)

The game's artwork is the style of a hand-drawn cartoon. Unlike the realistic style, such a design will keep the message effective while creating distinct recognition.

This approach has a better chance of winning the hearts of players of all ages and increasing players' interest in learning about and participating in the game.

Facility Areas

Hot Spring

RULEBOOK

Components

1 Rulebook

1 Map Board

4 Traveler Token

Set-up

8 Color Token

After Choosing a Starting Player…

The move is based on the number of movement points obtained in this turn. Each movement point allows moving to an adjacent area.

The number of areas moved must be the same as the movement points.

You cannot move through the areas that they have already moved in this turn and cannot move through areas where other players are.

Gain Coins

B. Facility Areas

There are 7 facility areas in the game.

When you reach a facility area, all your remaining movement points for the turn will be cleared.

You cannot visit the same facility twice in a row.

B. Making the Move

There is no limit to the number of coins a player can accumulate.

Farmhouse

You get 3 coins from the reserve and add them to your bank.

A traveler who enters the Temple Area must donate at least 1 coin as an offering and cannot donate more than 3 coins.

Temple

You need to donate 1, 2, or 3 coins to the Temple, placing them on the Temple Board in the area corresponding to your color.

You immediately score 1 point for each donated coin.

The first traveler to collect a set of Forest Photos, +3 points.

Victory

Each traveler performs their own turn in order to gain points.

A. Settlement of Temple Board

When a traveler reaches 80 points, the game will end, and enter the final settlement.

The most generous donor scores 10 points.

The second scores 7 points.

The traveler who hasn't donated a single coin to the Temple does not score any points.

You reveal the top card of the Inn pile and apply the effect. These effects are listed below.

Inn

In each area, there can only be one traveler. When another traveler is on, you cannot enter this facility area.

At the beginning of the game, when you arrive at a public facility for the first time, you get a Commemorative Ticket for that facility and add it to your collection.

After carrying out an effect, you add the card to your collection.

To score the maximum number of points, you need to collect Souvenirs of each type.

You can purchase and score for a Souvenir of any type.

Village

The first traveler to collect any five Commemorative Tickets, +10 points.

The second traveler to collect any five Commemorative Tickets, +7 points.

The third traveler to collect any five Commemorative Tickets, +4 points.

The fourth traveler to collect any five Commemorative Tickets, +2 points.

B. Commemorative Ticket Collection Achievement

Travelers receive the Commemorative Ticket Collection Achievement Cards in the order in which they collect 5 Commemorative Tickets. Get the corresponding score and add this card to your collection.

The travelers score additional points depending on their ranking as donors to the Temple.

The third scores 4 points.

The last donors score 2 points.

In the event of a tie, all tied players score points from that rank.

You draw the first 3 Souvenir Cards from the pile and place them face up in front of you.

You can then purchase one or more of these cards by paying the price indicated on each card. Then you place any unpurchased cards face down on the bottom of the pile.

Each Souvenir is different, and each belongs to one of 4 types: foods, porcelains, tea, and handicrafts.

As you purchase Souvenir Cards, group them into sets in front of you; each set can contain only one Souvenir of each type.

The first Souvenir in a set, no matter which type it is, is worth 1 point.
The second Souvenir in a set, which must be of a different type than the first, is worth 3 points.
The third Souvenir in a set, which must be of a different type than the first two, is worth 5 points.
The fourth Souvenir in a set, which must be of a different type than the first three, is worth 7 points.
You can purchase and score for a Souvenir of any type.

Souvenirs cost 1, 2, or 3 coins. They are worth 1, 3, 5, or 7 points depending on the actual Souvenirs in a player’s collection.

If two or more travelers are tied for first for any of the achievements, they each score 3 points.

You earn these points at the time that you add these cards to your collection.

A traveler must have at least 1 coin to enter the Village Area, but he is not required to purchase any Souvenirs.

Photographer

You can spend 6 coins to buy the Motorcycles, each Motorcycle corresponds to a different Dice.

Motocycle Shop

After purchasing a motorcycle, add the Motorcycle Card and its Dice to your collection. starting from your next turn, you can choose to roll with this motorcycle’s dice.

You spend 2 coins to make a bet, roll the Casino Dice, settle, and gain or lose coins according to the multiplier on the dice.

Casino

Achievement Cards

A. Photo Collection Achievement

There are 3 Photo Collection Achievement Cards, which are settled as soon as the traveler reaches the goal, you earn the corresponding points and add this card to your collection.

You will get the points for the settlement immediately.

The first traveler to collect a set of Mountain Photos, +3 points.

The first traveler to collect a set of River Photos, +3 points.

A traveler who enters the Casino Area must spend 2 coins to bet. If you do not have 2 coins, you cannot enter the Casino Area.

You will get the points for the settlement immediately.

Lose Coins

There are 3 types of Achievement Cards (Photo Collection, Commemorative Ticket Collection, and Achievement Settlement) in the game, which are settled at different parts of the game.