GameChangers resulted in new board-game ideas on both sides of the Malta–Czechia partnership. While the Maltese PlayQuest participants developed Erasmus Unleashed, the Czech Game On team followed its own design path with ErasmusVentures — a strategy game inspired by the choices, opportunities and challenges of an Erasmus+ experience.
The result is a playable prototype that turns an international youth project into something players can explore one decision and one card at a time.
Turning Erasmus into a Game
The idea for ErasmusVentures emerged during PlayQuest.
Rather than creating an entirely abstract educational game, the Czech team wanted to capture some of the situations, opportunities and decisions young people may encounter during an international project.
The starting point was Citadels, whose basic structure provided inspiration for the game’s mechanics. From there, the system was substantially adapted to create a new Erasmus-themed experience.
Players build their own Erasmus-inspired journey, manage resources and make strategic choices as their venture develops.
From an Idea to a Playable Prototype
Development began with the team exploring how familiar game mechanics could be transformed to serve a completely different theme.
The original rules were gradually reworked, new card types were introduced and terminology was adapted around the Erasmus concept.
One important challenge was deciding what the game’s equivalent of districts should represent. Rather than buildings, the cards evolved to represent the experiences, skills, opportunities and connections that can shape an international youth project.
Over the following months, the Czech team refined the mechanics, developed and balanced the cards, prepared the English rules and created the visual identity.
Different members contributed to different stages of the process, from rules and balancing to writing, illustration and graphic preparation.
Keeping the Design Human
Although much of the development process took place digitally, the team deliberately wanted ErasmusVentures to retain a handmade identity.
The card illustrations were drawn by hand using an electronic pen and then prepared digitally. Rather than generating the artwork automatically, the creators kept the final illustrations and visual decisions in their own hands.
Artificial intelligence played only a supporting role, mainly when exploring inspiration and possible names for some cards.
This became part of the creative process itself: considering where digital tools could be useful while deciding which parts of the game the creators wanted to develop themselves.
Learning Through Decisions
ErasmusVentures was designed to make Erasmus+ easier to explore through play rather than through a presentation or list of programme facts.
Players have to plan ahead, manage limited resources and respond to changing circumstances. Different decisions can lead to different outcomes, so there is no single route through the experience.
Through these mechanics, the game introduces ideas connected with strategic thinking, decision-making, adaptability and resource management while giving players a playful introduction to the opportunities and challenges surrounding international youth projects.
For someone who has never participated in Erasmus+, this offers a different way to begin exploring what such an experience might involve.
Learning Through Decisions
ErasmusVentures was designed to make Erasmus+ easier to explore through play rather than through a presentation or list of programme facts.
Players have to plan ahead, manage limited resources and respond to changing circumstances. Different decisions can lead to different outcomes, so there is no single route through the experience.
Through these mechanics, the game introduces ideas connected with strategic thinking, decision-making, adaptability and resource management while giving players a playful introduction to the opportunities and challenges surrounding international youth projects.
For someone who has never participated in Erasmus+, this offers a different way to begin exploring what such an experience might involve.
Taking ErasmusVentures to the Table
The prototype was presented publicly for the first time on 4 July 2026 in Krásná Hora nad Vltavou.
Visitors could play ErasmusVentures with its creators, ask questions about the cards and mechanics and provide feedback based on the actual playing experience.
Testing the prototype outside the development team helped show how the rules and card effects worked with new players and identified areas that could still be refined.
The current result is a fully playable prototype, with its principal mechanics, cards, rules and visual identity in place. At the same time, it remains open to further testing, balancing and improvement.
Two Teams, Two Games, One Creative Journey
ErasmusVentures is one of the tangible creative results to emerge from GameChangers.
In Malta, the PlayQuest experience contributed to the development of Erasmus Unleashed, while in Czechia it inspired a different interpretation of the Erasmus experience through ErasmusVentures.
The two games use different ideas and mechanics, but both demonstrate the same progression at the heart of Game On: moving from playing games and understanding how they work to experimenting, creating and developing something of your own.
