Welcome to 2010 and to the first blog carnival of the new year. Unsurprisingly, in this month’s carnival we’ll be tackling the topic of travel from two perspectives, which will hopefully mean everyone will have something to say on the subject.

Travel in Games

Thinking of pseudo-medieval fantasy roleplaying games, travel is something that happens fairly often but that is given rarely the proper attention. Think about it: adventurers go from cities and towns across uncivilized wilderness, impassable mountains and dense forests to reach long-abandoned ruins in search of the unknown. That sounds almost like my trip to Europe! Yes, there are encounters along the way, but travel is almost an effect; how about if it was the cause instead, the focus?

In modern/futuristic games, travel is more present, but also even more so matter-of-fact. Characters zip from New York to Tokyo in a sentence, from Earth to the edge of the galaxy in a couple of Piloting dice rolls. Movement is far more common, yet even more invisible than in the fantasy genre.

What if we were to change this?

Tell me stories of how travel affected your games. Maybe you have an anecdote of an adventure where travel was the focus (Call of Cthulhu’s Horror on the Orient Express, anyone?), or rules to address travel in your games? Maybe a review of a travel-oriented game, be it roleplaying (Ribbon Drive!) or board game. Surprise me, and surprise yourself.

Gamers Traveling

If you are a gamer, and you have traveled, then you are a gamer traveler. Gamers cannot help but look at the world through the gaming lens, storing all that inspiration for a future game: the Eiffel Tower becomes an eldritch antenna transmiting ectoplasmic waves into the netherworld; the Arch of Titus becomes a cursed gate that floods the minds of those that pass through with the horror of the sack of Jerusalem; Mt Rushmore becomes the resting place of four gargantuan stone golems built to protect the US from the inevitable alien invasion. See what I mean?

Or perhaps in one of your travels you encountered a new game, one that speaks of a culture other than your own. Maybe you played some games with folks wherever you were visiting. And I know for a fact there’s quite a few gamers out there with respectable air mileage totals just from visiting conventions all over the country.

Tell me your stories.

To My Fellow Travel Bloggers

Don’t think that because you aren’t gamers you’re off the hook! Games are universal fun across all cultures, so even if you are not hardcore into them, chances are you have a story about games and travel to tell. Share it with us!

The Details

• The Games & Travel Blog Carnival runs through the month of January, with a final roundup showing up within the first 15 days of February.
• Any and all bloggers are welcomed to participate.
• Leave a link to your blog post in the comments section.
• Any questions, ask them in the comments.
• If you’d like a graphic for your post, you can use one of the two below:

RPG Blog Carnival

Games & Travel Blog Carnival

Have fun!