Journey Through Europe

Lore & Background

Journey Through Europe is a board game for 2–6 players in which each player draws a home city and seven objective cities. Players roll a six-sided die to move around a map of Europe, discarding city cards when they reach a required city. Multiple players may occupy the same city, and there is no rule preventing movement through another player's home city on the same turn. Telegrams are received upon landing on a specific space or drawing a card, not tied to rolling a six. The first player to visit all their objective cities and return to their home base wins.

The game is part of a series that began in 1884 with Reise um die Erde, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. In 1935, Otto Maier Verlag published Deutschlandreise, a German-focused version. After World War II, a pan-European version was redesigned by Otto Maier Verlag/Ravensburger designers and released as Europareise in 1954. Ravensburger later released English versions as Journey through Europe and Explore Europe, along with versions in other languages.

Versions from the 1960s onward include rules for air and sea travel and a two-sided map (national borders on one side, geographical on the other). Air travel uses a flight plan dividing the map into six zones; flying within a zone costs two movement points, and flying into an adjacent zone costs four. Sea travel allows a player arriving at a port to end their turn there and move to the next port on the next turn without a die roll.

Reader's Guide

Journey Through Europe is a travel-themed board game from the German publisher Otto Maier Verlag, now Ravensburger, which began its series of travel games in 1884 with Reise um die Erde. The European version, released in 1954 as Europareise, was redesigned after World War II by three designers. The game's significance lies in its educational intent: reviewers note it can help children learn European geography. However, critics consistently highlight that victory depends heavily on die rolls rather than strategy. Bernhard Fischer called it 'a pretty well designed game that is ideal for schools and younger children' but questioned its long-term replayability. Vandenbogaerde Fabrice found it so luck-dependent that 'you could just as well roll a die 10 times' to decide the winner. Claudia Schless and Andreas Keirat gave it a poor rating of 3 out of 10, calling it 'rather monotonous.' The game has been published in multiple editions and languages, and a copy is held in the virtual game museum Ludomu. Its legacy is as a simple, geography-focused family game that has remained in print for decades, despite mixed critical reception.

Did You Know?

• The game is part of a series that began with Reise um die Erde in 1884, inspired by Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days.
• Telegrams are received upon landing on a specific space or drawing a card, not tied to rolling a six.
• Versions from the 1960s onward include rules for air and sea travel and a two-sided map.
• Reviewers on the German site Spielphase gave the game a rating of only 3 out of 10, calling it 'rather monotonous.'

Origins & Publication History

The story of Journey Through Europe stretches back to 1884, when Otto Maier Verlag in Ravensburg released their very first board game, Reise um die Erde, or Journey around the World. That initial title was inspired by the enormous popularity of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, which had reached German readers as Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen back in 1873. Decades later, in 1935, the same publisher put out Deutschlandreise, a game crafted by Jochen Zeisse with the specific goal of helping young learners memorize the names and locations of cities across Germany. After the upheaval of World War II, the concept was reimagined on a continental scale. A team comprising Hervert Vladimir Fuka, O. Fairgagnetr, and Francesco Ricciardi redesigned the experience into a pan-European travel game, which hit the market as Europareise in 1954. The publisher, now operating under the Ravensburger name, went on to issue English-language editions titled both Journey through Europe and Explore Europe, alongside translations in a number of other languages, cementing the title as a long-running staple of the family gaming shelf.

Core Gameplay & Mechanics

At its heart, Journey Through Europe is a straightforward race for two to six players around a printed map of the continent. Each participant picks a color, claims a matching token and flag, and draws a city card that becomes their home base. They then pull seven additional city cards, which serve as the destinations they must visit before heading back. Movement is entirely dice-driven: on each turn a player rolls a six-sided die and advances along the map. Landing on one of your objective cities lets you discard that card and cross it off your list. The rules add a few layers of tension. Only one player may occupy a given city at any moment, so rivals must wait their turn if a spot is taken. You also cannot pass through an opponent's home city on the same turn you would normally traverse it; you must stop short and continue the following round. And every third time you roll a six, a telegram appears in your hand, forcing you to follow whatever instruction it contains. The first player to tick off all seven objectives and then make the trip back to their home city claims victory.

Modern Editions & Expanded Travel

Starting with editions published after 1980, Journey Through Europe grew beyond simple overland travel. Ravensburger introduced both air and sea travel mechanics, and the game board itself became two-sided: one face shows national borders while the other presents a purely geographical map. The air-travel system gives each player a flight plan that partitions the map into six distinct zones. Flying between two airports within the same zone costs only two movement points, making it a quick shortcut. Crossing into an adjacent zone—defined strictly as directly east-west or north-south, with diagonal jumps not permitted—requires four movement points. Sea travel works on a different rhythm: when a player arrives at a port, their turn ends immediately. On the following turn, they automatically advance to the next port without needing to roll the die at all. These additions layered a modest degree of route-planning onto what had previously been a purely dice-driven crawl across the board, giving players a few more decisions about how to allocate their limited movement each round.

Critical Reception & Legacy

Despite its long publication history, Journey Through Europe has drawn consistently mixed reviews from hobbyist critics. Bernhard Fischer, writing for the German site Reich der Spiele, praised the newer edition as a well-designed game particularly suited to schools and younger children, yet he flagged that winning hinged more on favorable die rolls than on any meaningful strategy, and he questioned whether the small pool of cities could sustain long-term replayability. Vandenbogaerde Fabrice, reviewing for the Dutch site Spellenclub 13, was even more blunt, suggesting that the outcome could be decided by simply rolling a die ten times. His sole positive note was that the game helps children build geographic familiarity with Europe. Claudia Schless and Andreas Keirat, writing for Spielphase, echoed the dice-dependency complaint and awarded the title a harsh three out of ten, describing the experience as rather monotonous. Even so, the game has earned a place in the virtual game museum Ludomu, acknowledging its role in the broader history of family travel games.

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