Let's go traveling!
The Backpacker series is a fairly decent set of computerized board games which is well worth a look if you have a wet Sunday afternoon and can't face the thought of playing Monopoly again. This is the original version which set the stage for later entries like Backpacker: Americana and Mediterraneo, and it stands as pretty representative of the franchise as a whole. The idea, as with all the best board games, is fairly simple, and requires players to travel around the world as fast as possible, visiting as many cities as you can or getting certified for the most amount of jobs. In order to travel to the various countries, you need money, and there are two ways this can be done. You can find work or you can call home and ask your parents for help. Finding work requires that you have somewhere to stay, and this involves answering questions about your current location, with the answers coming in handy when you look for work. Getting more questions right nets you more money, which then lets you travel more and get closer to your goal. Backpacker isn't perhaps a classic board game, but when played in company, it actually proves to be quite entertaining. The gameplay mechanics are simple enough to pick up, so it doesn't take long to learn how to play, while the travel aspect of the game is well handled and implemented. The questions aren't overly complex but might test the average player enough to make the game fun, while the visuals and sound add much to the atmosphere. All in all, a good choice for a bad weather day.
