What happens when you bring around 40 people, a collection of board games and a newly created game together for one evening?
A lot of playing, thinking, laughing and connecting!
Our Game On Board Games Event at the Valletta Design Cluster brought together people of different ages for a free evening dedicated to discovering and playing board games. New friendships were made, brains were put to the test, snacks were shared, and participants had the chance to try games they had never played before.
But one game was particularly special.
From Prague to Erasmus Unleashed
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of Erasmus Unleashed, a new board game created by the young people who took part in our PlayQuest experience in Prague.
During their visit, the group explored the world of board games first-hand, visiting game-related organisations and businesses and learning more about how games are developed, tested and transformed from an initial idea into something people can actually play.
The challenge afterwards was to put that experience into practice — and create a game of their own.
And so, Erasmus Unleashed was born.
An Erasmus adventure across Europe
The story starts with a simple mystery: your owner has gone away on Erasmus — but you don’t know where they are.
Playing as their pet, you set off across Europe to find them. Luckily, your owner has left some of their belongings behind in different countries, giving you clues to follow along the way.
As players travel across the European map collecting these items, they answer questions and complete challenges covering European culture, geography, history and Erasmus+. Each successfully recovered item brings the pet one step closer to being reunited with its owner.
The result is a playful European adventure that combines strategy and competition with learning about different countries, cultures and Erasmus+.
At our event, the PlayQuest team presented Erasmus Unleashed to the public and shared the idea behind their creation.
More than just playing games
The evening showed exactly what Game On is about.
Board games can bring strangers around the same table, start conversations and challenge us to think differently. They encourage communication, teamwork, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving — while still being, first and foremost, fun.
A big thank you to everyone who joined us, played, shared, laughed and helped make the evening such a success. We are also grateful to EUPA for their continued support throughout the project, particularly Mr Apap, our project officer, who joined us at the event and saw the outcomes of Game On in action.
And for the PlayQuest team, the journey went one step further: from playing games, to discovering how games are made, to creating one themselves.
