Draft:Exploration (game)

Exploration

Designers	James C. Spiring
Publishers	Spiring Enterprises Waddingtons
Players	2 to 4
Setup time	5 minutes
Playing time	45 minutes
Chance	High (dice rolling)
Age range	10 and up

Exploration is an adventure themed board game designed by James C. Spiring and originally published by Spiring Enterprises Ltd in 1967, and subsequently produced and marketed by Waddingtons of Leeds, United Kingdom from 1970.

The game consists of two phases (preparation and expedition), where the players first gain personnel and equipment for their adventures, and then traverse either land or sea seeking objectives and treasures, before returning to base in order to complete, and be rewarded for, their exploration. Finishing first does not necessarily result in victory, as it is the player amassing the most money that wins the game.

Equipment

Exploration (game) Playing Pieces

Exploration (game) Cards & Money

Exploration (game) Dice

Exploration (game) Rules

The following were included in the game box:

• One 2-phase game board of thin cardboard with a single fold, measuring 49 by 49 centimetres (19 by 19 in) overall and depicting colour illustrations of four adventure themes (Mountaineering, Diving, Sailing, Archeology), overlaid by a 20x21 grid forming squares for ‘phase-2’ movement, surrounded by an outer track of 26 rectangular spaces for ‘phase-1’ play
• Four plastic coloured (green, yellow, red, blue) pawn playing pieces
• Four plastic white adventure (tent, ship, boat, van) playing pieces
• Sixteen green-backed ‘personnel’ playing cards, containing colour illustrations of 3 team members per adventure theme, plus 1 ‘shop’ card for the equipment of each adventure.
• Sixteen red-backed ‘equipment’ playing cards, containing colour illustrations of 4 equipment items per adventure theme
• Fourteen pink-coloured ‘exploration club’ (chance) cards
• Two dice; one standard phase-1 d6 (six-sided die) and one phase-2 special 'Diradice'
• Ninety notes of paper play money; 30 of each denomination of £50 (green), £100 (purple), £500 (orange)
• Six-page ‘Rules of Play’ booklet (2 copies)

Play

===Standard Rules===

To commence phase-1 of the game, each player is given £1500, dealt a hand of personnel cards (3 for a 4-player game, or 4 for 2 or 3 players) and selects a pawn piece and places it on the grey corner ‘start’ space. Turn order is decided by each player rolling the standard d6.

On their turn, a player rolls the d6 and moves their pawn along the edge track the appropriate number of spaces. Rolling a 6 entitles the player to move any number of spaces between 1-6. Then the player acts according to the type of space they have landed on:

• grey corner space - takes a ‘personnel’ card from the deck, then discard it or another from their hand
• coloured space - may choose to buy an ‘equipment’ card for the named expedition, but only if holding a personnel card of the same type. The payment goes to the holder of the corresponding ‘shop’ card or to the 'Prize Fund' if not held by any player; no payment is made if the purchaser holds the shop.
• pink space - takes an ‘exploration club’ card. These chance type cards are played or kept depending on the instructions, and typically provide opportunities to earn extra revenue for the adventure

Play continues in this fashion until players decide to commence their expedition, by moving by non-exact dice throw into the ‘base’ space located adjacent to the start. The first player to do this is required to hold two personnel (one of which must be a ‘main objective’) and two equipment cards matching the chosen expedition, though they may hold more (subsequent players may hold less). At this point, all other cards they hold are returned to the bank, apart from shops and exploration club cards. Once all players start their expeditions, phase-1 is at an end.

A player commences phase-2 by removing their pawn and replacing it with the adventure piece matching their chosen expedition:

• Tent - Mountaineering (land)
• Ship - Diving (sea)
• Boat - Sailing (sea)
• Van - Archeology (land)

Players phase-2 movement is restricted to either land or sea squares appropriate to their expedition, though some objectives are common and these spaces can be reached by all. They may start their phase-2 movement immediately, without waiting for others to complete phase-1. On their turn they now roll the 'Diradice'. This special six-sided die has symbols instead of numbers:

• Star - move 1 space in any direction
• Cross - move 1 or 2 spaces diagonally
• Small Straight - move 1 space forwards, backwards or sideways
• Large Straight - move 1 or 2 spaces forwards, backwards or sideways
• Symbol (appears on two sides) - move one space straight and one diagonally (as per the knight_(chess) move)

Phase-2 movement is further complicated by many spaces containing a symbol matching an equipment type. These can only be entered or passed over if the player has purchased the appropriate equipment card in phase-1, otherwise they must find an alternative route. Often this can result in the player 'wasting' their die roll, unable to make a satisfactory move.

In order to complete their expedition, players must at least visit their main objective, though they may wish to visit any or all others specified on their personnel or club cards. Some minor objectives are open to more than one expedition, and players may need to be the first to visit in order to claim the cash reward.

Once a player has decided to finish, they must return to the base space. The first player to do so is rewarded with £1000 and the 'Prize Fund' (comprising the costs from purchases and any fines collected from club cards). Second and third place finishing players gain £500 and £200 respectively.

Once the last-but-one player has finished, the game ends, and the money each player has is totalled, with the player with the most being declared the winner.

Variations

• Short Game for Beginners - Included in the standard rules is an alternative whereby Phase-1 is effectively removed. Instead of seeking personnel, the players choose which expedition to go on, deciding who has first choice by standard die rolls. Each player takes all three team member cards of their expedition, along with the top three corresponding equipment cards. The shop cards are then dealt to each player, and payment for the equipment is made to the shop owner (or to the Prize Fund if there is no owner); nothing is paid if it is held by the same person. Play commences with the players in reverse order rolling the Diradice, following the same rules as per phase-2 of the standard game.
• 5-player game - The rules for the original Spiring Enterprise 1967 published edition stated that a 5-player game could be played, and the set included an additional black-coloured pawn. It was specified that only two personnel cards are initially dealt to each player. The game rules are otherwise as per the standard 2-4 player game. It is assumed though not clearly described that the 5th player drops out of the game at the end of phase-1, given that there are still only 4 expeditions.
• Revised location of rapids - An alternative German printing of the game board locates the 'rapids' that the Sailing expedition must navigate to the right-hand side of the island.

Strategy

Strategy primarily involves:

• making a choice of adventure, if one or more 'main objective' have been dealt or favouring an expedition if a 'shop' card is held to minimise costs
• evaluating the 'trade off' between rewards for objectives, ease of phase-2 movement, preparation time and purchase costs by seeking to hold the minimum or maximum 'personnel' and 'equipment'
• timing the start of an expedition to either gain a head start or try to catch up another player
• 'blocking' other players by hanging onto main objectives or by purchasing equipment from their likely expedition and then offering to trade
• deciding whether and in which order to visit minor objectives
• planning the most efficient route and a speedy return to base, aiming to be first to return and scoop the maximum reward and prize fund

Recognition

An original copy of the game is held by the Museum of Games and Gaming. The museum describes the game by saying "In Exploration you play an explorer organising and then embarking on your next big expedition. It has some very striking box art with two Arctic explorers"

Critical reviews by board-game enthusiasts and special-interest sites include:

In the game of Exploration the player who has the most profitable expedition wins the game! The first half of the game you are attempting to establish which expedition you will be completing and the 2nd half you are exploring to your main objective and possibly more if you think you need more $$$ to become the winner!

— Board Game Man,

It’s a very particular art style – very much an embodiment of the idea of manly men going exploring or a Boy’s Own adventure. There’s a lot that’s problematic in the world view it invokes – it’s very much a Western perspective and involves going to these far away places and just… taking things you find there or jamming a flag in it. It’s also a very male perspective. This game is not about ladies heading off into the wilds. It’s the sort of thing you’d say was “of its time” to allow for the context in which it was created but it’s reasonable to cringe at what that time produced.

— Philippa Warr,

The trouble seems to be that someone has started with the idea of the theme (exploration) and laboured mightily to turn it into a game, instead of thinking of a new type of game and then finding an appropriate theme to fit it. In short, a pot boiler.

— Dave Parlett,

The game continued to be bought and sold online in 2024.

Reviews

• Board Game Man @boardgameman6298 [1] Exploration - Waddingtons (1970)
• Philippa Warr Shut Up and Sit Down [2] An Exploration of Exploration
• David Parlett Games & Puzzles [3] Exploration Travel Game
• Eàmon Bloomfield Board Game Geek [4] My review from 1974, when the game was new
• Ben Smartie Board Game Geek [5] Exploration - a 70s classic providing more than just ‘roll and move’

External links

Category:Board games introduced in 1967 Category:Waddingtons games Category:British board games