Do you like to travel? What about with a bit of adventure thrown in? I think everybody does to some degree. Now you can get both from the comfort of your own home with the globe-trotting adventure board game Race Across the World, based on the BBC television series of the same name.
In case you haven’t heard of it, or watched it, Race Across the World is a television show that sees teams of players having to complete to make different checkpoints in various town, cities and countries. But it is not that easy. Travellers are in pairs, and they must race across the world, from the same starting point, and all finishing in the same final destination. They can use any route that they like, whilst stopping at specific checkpoints along the way, but there is a catch – they cannot take any flights, it is travel by road, rail or boat, and they have no use of a smartphone (or any other electronic devices), no use of their bankcards, no Google Maps and only have enough cash that equals the price of the airfare to their final destination (this has to cover food, accommodation, travel and any other expenses), extra cash can be earned by taking on optional local jobs as they go (but obviously this eats in to their speed of travel). I really enjoyed watching the show and was looking forward to playing the board game version.
Enough about the show itself. Race Across the World, the family board game, is a globe-trotting adventure game for 2-6 players, aged 8+. As with the television show, the aim of the game is to be the first player to reach their final destination to win the game. Players, along with a travel companion, must race from one destination to another without the aid of flights, electronic devices and a limited amount of cash.
In the box:
- Double-sided gameboard
- Pack of money: 50x £10, 50x £20, 50x £50 and 50x £100
- 4x 6-sided dice
- 62x Chance Cards
- 18x Job Cards
- 20x Accommodation Cards
- 9x Travel Companion Cards
- 6x Playing Pawns
- Instructions
There are two ways to play Race Across the World, the short or the long way. The board game features a double-sided game board so you can play the game from London to Singapore (the long game), as in series one of the TV show, or from Mexico City to Ushuaia, Argentina (the short game), as in series two of the TV show. Both are equally as fun, although I do prefer the longer version of the game.
To set up the game, place the game board in the centre of the table. Each player choses a coloured playing pawn and receives £900 in cash: 5x £100, 5x £50, 5x £20 and 5x £10. Players randomly select a travel companion from the travel companion cards. Place the Accommodation, Chance, and Job cards onto the allotted spaces on the gameboard. With this complete, you are ready to race across the world!
In this game, the youngest player doesn’t get to start. The person whose birthday is next gets to be the starting player. A much fairer way of deciding the stating player than always being the youngest player (especially when playing with kids).
To start playing, each player selects the route they want to travel and pays the appropriate fare (this will also occur at each checkpoint along the route). Players then roll the corresponding-coloured dice for the selected mode of transportation to determine how far they travel. If you land on Chance, pick up a Chance card and follow the instructions. Land on an Accommodation space, remember to pick up an accommodation card. If you are running out of cash, go to a Job space to earn some more cash (if you run out of money you must go backwards to the nearest Job space to earn some more). You need to work your way around the board, stopping at the checkpoints and try to make it to your final destination before the other players.
Overall, Race Across the World is a really fun game for family and friends, perfect for game nights. It is a game of luck, logic and strategy. As players have a travel companion, they don’t just rely on their own skills, they must take into account the positives and negatives of their companion (they are outlined on the companion card) as they can help or hinder your progress on your travels across the board, which makes it more interesting to play.
This is a game that is lots of fun to play and with easy to understand rules. You travel through and across different countries using various modes of transport (boat, bus, train or foot). Travelling costs money but you do have the chance to earn more cash along the way to supplement your initial £900 starting money – if you run out of money you have to go back and earn some, delaying your race across the world (which can hinder you but help in the long run).
It is a fun competitive game where strategy plays a bit part. Players must pick the best route across the board wisely, the quickest way (and more expensive way) isn’t always the best way, but the cheapest way can be slow but not necessarily the worst option, and a mix of the two just might see you victorious (especially if you spend your money wisely on accommodation). You do get chances to earn money along your route by getting jobs to pay for travel (and you will need to) and there are plenty of obstacles in the way to slow down your progress.
Race Across the World is an enjoyable globe-trotting strategy adventure family game that we all enjoyed and had fun with. There is lots of strategic thinking involved, not just with the best routes to take but weighing up spending options, job opportunities and the strengths and weakness of your travel companion – you do have to be planning and thinking two steps ahead where you can. We really like the idea of the double-sided board for short or longer games, this makes the game much more interesting and playable.
Race Across the World from the comfort of your game night table in this fantastic TV show based board game.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £24.99
For more information, visit www.johnadams.co.uk. Available to buy from Amazon here.
