Hi Everyone!
Benj here, the lead developer and designer of Travel Pack! I hope you’ve had a chance to relax, catch up with friends and find a little time for yourself at the end of the year. It’s been a cold winter January, but we’re gearing up for a great year ahead. As part of Steam’s Board Game Fest 2026, I thought I’d share some of the design decisions and progress behind the project, as well as some updates about the future, and how you can get involved.
Travel Pack! Design Insight
A game about travel, board games and our own personal journeys.
The original concept came from wanting to design a game that felt like it could be physical, and like it belonged within a world’s culture and history. We wanted a game that seemed like everyone in that community knew the rules and always had a set nearby, the same way we might be able to teach friends a game or two with a deck of cards! If you’re familiar with board games, you might know about ancient games like Hnefatafl, or perhaps Mancala. Both of these are a family of games that have many variations across the world, as different people added their own spin or rules, as it moved from place to place. These were a real inspiration for us and well worth playing some of them yourself!
Travel seemed the perfect theme to combine with this type of game. We imagined a community of people playing games to pass the time as they wait at crossroads or bus stations. The perfect time to make friends and share stories. We loved the idea of these characters telling personal stories through their own house rules and variations of the game. If you were a plucky explorer you’d want to tell stories about all the new places you’ve been, but if you were a long distance runner you’d show off how far you’ve been or how fast you got there.
We’re hoping to make a game that feels easy to get into and play, but gives moments of challenge and excitement as you meet new characters and learn more about the world we’re creating.
We’re in the throes of game design at the moment but hope that gives some insight into the direction we’re going. We’re really excited to share more later this year. Below are some photos of our paper prototypes, and what my desk often looks like.
[An early prototype I made. Hand cut card and hand painted icons! It took a while to make but was really exciting to play with a physical set.]
[Dice and Tiles at the ready for design! I laser cut some of my tile designs to help do some more gameplay prototyping. Here it's a mixture of hardboard, card, paper, scribbles and play pieces from various board games already in the house!]
[We released our announcement trailer in December, however some of you may have seen us at Gamescom, showing off the very first version of the game. It was an exhausting week but so nice to hear everyone's kind words and feedback.]
Get Involved
Hear About Future Playtests.
We’ll be running a closed playtest in the Spring, and would love to get board games fans involved. If it’s something you’d be interested in, you can sign up to our newsletter here:
https://tr.ee/TravelPackNewsletter
We’ll be posting news and updates here on Steam as well, so you can of course Wishlist us too! We’re a small indie team so your support is really appreciated.
Let us know what you think!
Let us know if you have any questions or things you’d like to see, we'd love your input and feedback!
Safe Travels,
Benj