Heading Forward

Designed by John Du Bois

A car crash. A sports injury. A workplace accident. Any one of these could have brought you where you are today – a traumatic brain injury. But Heading Forward isn't about how you got here. It's about what happens next.

In this unusual solitaire game, you will take on the role of someone going through rehabilitation. To win, you must relearn and develop skills, achieving goals in at least three different areas in the time you've been allotted by your insurance company. Fail to do so, and they will discontinue payment, resulting in your loss.

Skills are developed by rotating and switching out cards, upgrading in sequence from weak Level 1 skills to powerful Level 4 skills. To do so, you'll need to carefully manage your emotional and physical energy ("spoons") as well as other resources. But lurking in the deck is the memory of your trauma – the trigger card. It's a hard road ahead of you – even the simplest things feel so impossible at first. But as you stubbornly push forward, you'll slowly regain the skills you'll need to take on the bigger challenges ahead of you.

Based on designer John du Bois's own recovery, Heading Forward is a stunning and expressive example of what board games can do and can be.

1 canvas game board

17 counters

4-page rulebook

36 cards

Game design: John du Bois

Hex number: 67

Duration: 30 minutes

Players: 1

Solitaire Suitability: High