On the Road
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
- ROLE
- Personal Undergraduate Thesis Project
- TEAM SIZE
- 1 (Solo)
- ENGINE
- Tabletop · Board Game
- DURATION
- 10 months
Google Drive What I Learned From This Project?
Main Contributions
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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.
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Comprehensive Production： Created 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.
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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.
Arts
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.
Playtest & Iteration
RULEBOOK
Components
Set-up
After Choosing a Starting Player…
A. 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.
B. Place the Traveler token on the Hot Spring Block in the center of the map.
C. Each player then takes 2 Traveler tiles at random, chooses one, and places it face up on the table before him. Place all unchosen and unused tiles in the box out of play.
D. Place the other color token on your Traveler card to distinguish players.
E. 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.
Gameplay
The map consists of 3 Road Areas (Mountain, River, Forest) and 7 Facility Areas (Hot Spring, Farmhouse, Temple, Inn, Casino, Village, Motorcycle Shop).
A. Rolling the Dice
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.
B. Making the Move
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 you have already moved in this turn, and cannot move through areas where other players are.
Areas & Facility
Each move leaves you in one of the 10 types of areas. After you finish your move, you need to settle according to the area you are currently in.
In the descriptions below, a ‘collection’ refers to all of the cards acquired (and placed face up) by a player during a game. Travelers immediately score all points earned during the journey.
A. Road Areas (Mountain, River, Forest)
When you stay in a Road Area, you can use a Film Roll to take a photo of the current area.
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.
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).
Each traveler can create only a single photo of each type (Mountain, River, or Forest).
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.
In each area, there can only be one traveler. When another traveler is on, you cannot enter this facility area. You cannot visit the same facility twice in a row.
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.
Facility Areas
Hot Spring
You take a Hot Spring Card from the pile and add it to your collection.
These cards are worth 2 or 3 points.
Inn
You reveal the top card of the Inn pile and apply the effect.
After carrying out an effect, you add the card to your collection.
Farmhouse
You get 3 coins from the reserve and add them to your bank.
There is no limit to the number of coins a player can accumulate.
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.
A traveler who enters the Temple Area must donate at least 1 coin as an offering and cannot donate more than 3 coins.
Motorcycle Shop
You can spend 6 coins to buy the Motorcycles. Each Motorcycle corresponds to a different Dice.
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.
Village
You draw the first 3 Souvenir Cards from the pile and place them face up. You can then purchase one or more cards by paying the price indicated. Place any unpurchased cards face down on the bottom of the pile.
Each Souvenir belongs to one of 4 types: foods, porcelains, tea, and handicrafts.
A traveler must have at least 1 coin to enter the Village Area, but is not required to purchase any Souvenirs.
Village — Souvenir Scoring
As you purchase Souvenir Cards, group them into sets in front of you; each set can contain only one Souvenir of each type. To score the maximum number of points, you need to collect Souvenirs of every type. You earn these points at the time you add these cards to your collection.
- The first Souvenir in a set, no matter which type, is worth 1 point.
- The second Souvenir, of a different type than the first, is worth 3 points.
- The third Souvenir, of a different type than the first two, is worth 5 points.
- The fourth Souvenir, of a different type than the first three, is worth 7 points.
Casino
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.
Achievement Cards
There are 3 types of Achievement Cards in the game (Photo Collection, Commemorative Ticket Collection, and Achievement Settlement), each settled at different parts of the game.
You will get the points for the settlement immediately. If two or more travelers are tied for first for any of the achievements, they each score 3 points.
A. Photo Collection Achievement
There are 3 Photo Collection Achievement Cards. They are settled as soon as the traveler reaches the goal — you earn the corresponding points and add this card to your collection.
B. Commemorative Ticket Collection Achievement
Travelers receive Commemorative Ticket Collection Achievement Cards in the order they collect 5 Commemorative Tickets.
C. Final Settlement Achievement
These Final Settlement Achievement cards are awarded to travelers at the end of the journey. You will get the points for the settlement immediately.
Victory
Each traveler performs their own turn in order to gain points. When a traveler reaches 80 points, the game will end and enter the final settlement.
A. Settlement of Temple Board
Travelers score additional points depending on their ranking as donors to the Temple.
- The most generous donor scores 10 points.
- The second scores 7 points.
- The third scores 4 points.
- The last donors score 2 points.
B. Settlement of Final Settlement Achievement
(See Achievement Cards · C above.)
C. The Player with the Most Points Wins the Game!
In the event of a tie, the tied travelers with the most Achievement Cards win.
Travelers
The game has the following 8 travelers. Each traveler has his own skills and coins at the beginning. Each player needs to choose a traveler at the beginning of the game.
Believer
Each time she stops at the Temple, Believer can take one coin from the bank and donate it to the Temple, scoring 1 point for this coin.
This is in addition to the 1, 2, or 3 coins she can personally donate to the Temple.
Gallery
