An Expedition begins before the first step ...
Expedition is an adventure racing board game involving strategy and expedition skills. Map reading, route planning, equipment choice and dealing with chance events, including the weather, are all elements in the game. Expedition blends adventure, teamwork, competition and practical knowledge - ideal for Scouts, Girl Guides, Duke of Edinburgh Award participants, schools, board game enthusiasts and anyone who likes the great outdoors.
There are several ways of playing Expedition making it suitable for a wide range of ages and skill levels. All modes involve choosing the best route to reach peaks and points of interest, camping and returning to a basecamp ahead of other players. The board is a map of a mountainous area containing a variety of terrain which you will have to navigate such as paths, marsh, lakes, forest, scree, cliffs, streams, steep and less steep land.
The full game includes equipment choice: The less you take the faster you travel, the more you take the safer you will be against chance events.
The game also allows for different levels of interactivity between players, from carrying out your expedition as a race completely separate to other players; or being able to affect other players route choice by collecting peak flags before them; through to being able to steal other players flags and ruining their expedition!
All modes include camp and hike cards which may bring good or bad news to your expedition.
Based on many years experience ...
Our Story
The Expedition story began 34 years ago when I was teaching geography, running two Duke of Edinburgh Award groups, wild camping and playing board games. Why not use a board game to teach some expedition skills and knowledge? Basic map reading and route planning were obviously important, as was equipment choice, but what I was really keen to include was how the weight of what you carried and the terrain you walked over would affect how fast you travelled. Thus the 'movement formula' was invented along with board spaces of different sizes linked to the steepness of the land. And because not everything goes to plan on an expedition, 'camp cards' were brought in, giving players the chance to experience the sort of good and bad events which could happen on any expedition. The first prototype was made in 1992 and I surprised my friends with it whilst camping by Small Water in the Lake District. They liked it (or were polite), but over the next 25 years it was moved between various lofts in an old leather suitcase while I got on with life...
The original 1992 hand-drawn board
The 2020 prototype
Hand-made flags and tents in the 2020 prototype
Although I sometimes thought about developing the game further, it wasn't until 27 years later, in the summer of 2019, that I got the dusty suitcase down from the loft and recommenced work on Expedition. By the summer of 2020 I had redesigned the board and stuck it on top of an old Risk board and completed version 2 of the rule booklet. Over the next 6 years I worked on every aspect of the game; the board artwork went digital in 2022, all the camp cards were revised and extended and in 2024 I had the first professionally made board, box and cards. In 2025 I started 3D printing the plastic components. Throughout this period I sought feedback from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, the Outward Bound Trust and especially the Scouts, all of who have given me positive and encouraging feedback. The Scouts plan on stocking the game in 2027. I am now on v.27 of the rules.
The first professionally made prototype 2024
The prototype camping version (with waterproof tube and roll- up board)
The latest 2026 game
It may have taken 34 years to get Expedition 1 into production, but I am planning on the next couple of years seeing several more developments.
I already have a prototype card game version of Expedition. No board and much more compact, I intend on working on that for 2028.
The next stage however is Expedition 2 - the Lake District edition. There is already a prototype board for this. The game will include some differences to the original version: basecamps will be within the board, not at the edge, challenge cards will include peak recognition and players will have a 'fast travel' option. It is also likely that the board will be double-sided, with a simple board on one side and a much more advanced map on the other. I am aiming for this to be in production in late 2027.
We are in an early stage in our game journey, so I am especially keen to hear from you - the interested player. The rule book in the original game includes a feedback sheet. The Expedition email address (below) is another way you can contact me. I welcome feedback on the current game and ideas on possible future games. For example, how popular might a tube-based camping version of Expedition be? Would you like to see the app developed further so it can be used to automatically add up peaks and points of interest to score your journey? Which places would you most like to see turned into an Expedition board?
I look forward to your ideas and comments.
Nick Bull