standalone game · free · start here
Home Valley: When Something Goes Wrong
The New Footbridge. The brook took the footbridge and split the village in two.
- 1–5 players
- either you all win, or nobody does
- free: the whole world, 5 expeditions
- aimed at families with children from about eight; we are testing it with real families now
- playing time: we will say once we know
No sign-up, no account.
The story
Home Valley is an ordinary valley with one village. In the middle is the village green with an old linden tree and a brook; around it a farm and a mill, and across the brook a school, a timber yard and a chapel on the hill. South of the village runs the river, and along it to the east lie the meadows where the fog settles in autumn, the orchard and the railway halt; at high water you drive from the ford by the farm down the flooded brook to the meadows. West are the pastures, the forester's lodge and the hill cottages, the old cable car over the forest and, beyond it, the mountain pass; north-east, in the rocks, the old mine.
When something goes wrong in the valley, help from outside is a long way off, so nobody waits for it. Four neighbours set out. Betty drives the Badger, an old off-roader with two seats and a back full of tools. Matt fixes whatever is broken. Maggie delivers the post and knows every house and every path. Agnes looks after anyone who needs it. And with five players, Percy the mayor joins in: when he says the village is going to help, the whole village turns out.
For every task you complete, the team gets as many passport stamps ★ as the card shows, in the Valley Passport. An expedition succeeds when the passport holds enough stamps and the whole team is at the meeting point, with the Badger whenever the expedition has it. Then the whole team signs the Village Book, where the village keeps what happened and when: write the date in the expedition's space in the passport.
Everyone at the table plays together: either you all win, or nobody does.
Who sets out
- Bettydriver
- Matthandyman
- Maggiepostwoman
- Agnesdoctor
- Percymayor
A year in the valley
The expeditions run from the first to the last, from ★☆☆ to ★★★. Each one brings one new thing.
- The New Footbridge
The brook took the footbridge and split the village in two.
- High Water
Flood! Only the Badger can drive through the ford.
- Snow on the Pass
Road snowed in. Only the cable car goes up, two at a time.
- Summer Storm
Storm on the western slopes; only a path to the cottages.
- Fog on the Meadows
Thick fog, no fuel. Lost things turn up when you get there.
One space for each expedition. When you succeed, write the date in.
- 1The New Footbridge
- 2High Water
- 3Snow on the PassSnow and Fog
- 4Summer Storm
- 5Fog on the MeadowsSnow and Fog
How it plays
Each day you agree on what to do, spend effort on steps, rides with Badger and cards, and tidy the table. Collect enough stamps from tasks and bring the whole team to the meeting point before the last day ends.
What is in the set
- at most 44 cards per expedition
- 5 pawns and one for Badger
- 13 effort tokens, a marker for the day and one die
- prints on A4, single-sided; each card folds in two
No sign-up, no account.
Questions
Do we need an account?
No. The game opens in the browser and works offline once loaded. The print set is a plain PDF.
Can we play without a tablet?
Yes. Everything the tablet does can be played with the printed cards, a die and a few tokens.
How old do the players need to be?
The game is aimed at families with children from about eight. We are testing it with real families now and will state the age and playing time once we know them.
Is the game really free?
Yes. The whole world is free, all 5 expeditions.
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