Wonder Trails: imagine your way to treasure

Two players. One shared adventure.

Choose one starting point and four different obstacles. Lay them out from left to right, with the treasure after the final obstacle. You might begin at Base Camp, high on a Treetop Platform, or somewhere quite unexpected.

The first leg uses one action. Distance strips set how many actions you need for the later legs. Spread all thirty Action Cards face up so both players can see the shared supplies.

Take turns leading a leg of the journey. Pick exactly the number of unused Action Cards shown, place them in order, and explain how they help your team get past the next obstacle. Your teammate can suggest ideas too.

Used cards stay on the trail. If you use the rope to get through the cave, you will need another idea later. Each choice becomes part of the story you are building together.

What would you do with a boat, a torch and a friendly robot?

The picture cards bring everyday objects and imaginary possibilities into the same adventure. A boat can cross a river. Wings might take you down from a treetop and over the water. A picnic could be part of a plan to get past a sleeping giant.

The useful question is “How does that help?” Every card needs a job, and the players need to agree that the plan makes sense. Explain it, point to the pictures or act it out. There can be more than one way through.

A longer gap invites a little sequence: prepare something, build something, then use it. The guide offers a map to choose a crossing, planks to make a raft, rope to tie it together and wind to send it across. Your team can come up with another plan.

A first trail to try

The guide includes a prepared route so you can learn together before choosing a random journey:

1. Base Camp to the wide river: launch a boat and paddle across.
2. Through tangled vines: use shears to cut the vines, then super strength to pull the branches aside.
3. Past a giant boulder: make a firm base with wooden planks, position a lever and ask a friendly robot to push.
4. Through the dark cave: light the way with a torch and follow a rope together.

Those eight different actions take the team past all four obstacles. They are examples to get you started; other ideas can work too.

Print, cut and make it your own

The complete game has 59 playing pieces: eight starting points, twelve obstacles, thirty Action Cards, eight distance strips and one treasure finish. Colour and print-friendly editions provide two ways to prepare the game; the outline pictures can be coloured in.

Use the same print scale on every sheet: A4 at 100% / Actual Size, or US Letter at 94%. Print single-sided, auto-rotate landscape sheets, and test one Action Card against a strip before cutting the whole pack.

A grown-up cuts around the outer dashed lines. Keep the long distance strips whole—the spaces inside them are where the cards go. Sort the pieces by type, and your next adventure is ready to set out.

Keep the wonder, lose the pressure

If a plan gets tricky, offer a hint or swap the current obstacle. You can point, gesture or tell the story aloud. There is no penalty, countdown timer or contest to win an argument.

Let the player leading the leg explain their idea before suggesting a change. If you still disagree, reset that leg and try another approach. The aim is a plan you can enjoy together.

All the actions are pretend. Flying, climbing, moving boulders and using tools happen in the story; seated gestures or finger actions are enough. When you reach the chest, invent what is inside. The treasure is another chance to wonder.

The adventure can grow

Beyond the Map: bring a bigger team

Have three or four adventurers ready to play? Wonder Trails: Beyond the Map expands the original game with longer journeys, new places to explore and more ways to solve each problem. It is for ages 5+ and needs the original Wonder Trails pack.

The expansion adds 37 new pieces: eight obstacles, fifteen Action Cards, four starting points, six optional surprise cards and four distance strips. Imagine your way through a Mirror Maze or across a Frozen Lake, with possibilities such as a bubble wand, a giant leaf and a beaver helper.

Mix the new pieces into your original game. Choose six obstacles for three players or eight for four players, and take turns leading so everyone leads two legs. Optional surprises add a twist for one leg, such as becoming tiny explorers or carrying a precious parcel. They do not add extra action spaces, and you can leave them out.

Both the Colour and Ink Friendly editions include a group-play guide and two illustrated prepared journeys to help your team get started. Print at the same scale as the original pack so the Action Cards fit the spaces.

Beyond the Map is free to download for now. Find both 13-page editions beside the original game on our printables page.

Explore the Beyond the Map expansion →