About
Highways & Byways is a casual family game for 2-4 players. 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!
It takes only 10 minutes to learn, yet there are multiple paths to victory. Don’t let the simplicity fool you – it’s also very replayable!
You can read the full rules here, but let's cover the basics on the campaign page.
The main mechanics are Point-to-Point Movement, Hand Management, Variable Player Powers, and a family-friendly version of Card Drafting.
The objective of Highways & Byways is to be the first player to drive all their Byways and circle back to their Home Space.
To set up the game, each player chooses a Vehicle. Each one has a special ability. For example, some move a little faster and some are immune to negative Events.
Each player chooses a Start Space and draws five Event Cards.
To start the game, players take turns choosing Byway Cards. To do this, the first player draws two Byways, keeps one and passes the other. The next player draws a new card, chooses one from the two, and so on.
Each time you take a Byway Card, place a Travel Marker to visually plan your route.
Each player chooses cards until they have 2 Red and 10 Blue Byways. Then each player removes either 1 Red Byway or 2 Blue Byways that they don't want to travel. What's left is the route you will travel throughout the game.
After everybody plans their routes, flip over a Construction Card at the start of every round. Players can't drive on spaces with that card's letter on them!
Next, the opponent clockwise of you picks an Event Card from your hand - whatever is on it happens to you.
Once you resolve that, move up to six spaces. You may then discard one Event Card for every space you choose not to move. Then draw a new Event Card and the next player's turn begins!
Be careful not to hold onto too many good cards! Every five turns, you will pass your Event Cards clockwise.
I've been working on Highways & Byways since about this time last year. James Masino, the artist, has created all of the wonderful art that you see. The game is done. The art is done.
There are two things left to do: print this game and ship it to you. I intend to print with Shuffled Ink. I intend to ship with Fulfillrite for US-bound rewards and Games Quest for international rewards. I've gotten quotes from all these companies and I've crunched the numbers.
You sure can! All you need is Tabletop Simulator, a $20 Steam game where you can play all sorts of board and card games online. Here is the Highways & Byways game on Tabletop Simulator.
To get a feel for what playing the demo is like, I've included a recorded live stream of the game I did with Happy Fun Time LIVE.
If the campaign raises significantly more than the goal, additional funds will be spent on stretch goals that benefit all Highways & Byways players!
Shipping is free to backers in the USA. Backers in Canada, the European Union, and Australia will all enjoy customs-free shipping.
If you live outside of these areas, that's okay! We deliver anywhere the USPS can reach. Shipping is $15.00 per game. You may incur customs costs.
Shipping for Group/Retail pledges works as follows:
- USA: Free
- Canada: $10
- European Union: $10
- Australia: $20
- Everywhere Else: $30
If the campaign fully funds, there are several stretch goals we can pursue with additional funding, including stretch goals not listed yet. All stretch goals have been cleared with the printing company and costs have been determined based on their quotes.
You can also get free wallpapers and avatars on my site. You don't have to back me to download them. They're my gift to you!
Risks and challenges
Risk 1: Poor printing quality
Poor printing quality is the only issue I can think of that would lead to the worst case scenario I can think of: cash spent and nothing to show for it. To mitigate this, I've chosen Shuffled Ink for printing. Their communication over the last several months has been excellent and they have sent me an extremely promising sample kit. I have also contacted a few prior customers, who have had nothing but praise for the company.
Risk 2: Printing delays
Shipping by sea is a complex process that can be prone to unexpected delays and price changes. To account for this, I have included some slack in the timelines so backers have realistic expectations of delivery time.
Risk 3: Poor fulfillment quality
It is possible that our fulfillment companies could deliver packages in a substandard manner, damaging the games in the process or delaying the shipments. Fulfillrite has a sterling reputation and I have worked with Games Quest in the past. I expect no difficulties, but still wish to disclose this risk here in the interest of transparency.
Risk 4: Massive overfunding of Kickstarter campaign
It is possible that this Kickstarter campaign will massively overfund. I think we can all agree this is the most awesome of all possible risks! I have a scalable business model that can handle massive overfunding up to and exceeding $500,000.
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (25 days)