Expedition: Northwest Passage

In 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin led a British Royal Navy expedition to survey and traverse the final link of the Northwest Passage. The Royal Navy spared no expense; Franklin was given command of two sturdy, iron-reinforced ships (the Terror and Erebus), three year's worth of provisions, scientific equipment, one thousand books, and a crew of 148 men. They left England in May and in August met with whalers off the western coast of Greenland while waiting for favorable conditions to cross into Lancaster Sound. From there, they set sail into the unknown.

They were never heard from again.

The disappearance provoked widespread public concern, and led to numerous British and American expeditions. As leaders of such expeditions, the players must venture into the inhospitable Arctic Ocean, attempt to discover the fate of Franklin’s men, and succeed where he did not.

Northwest Passage is played over a number of exploration seasons, with each season comprised of several rounds. Every round, the players receive an allocation of crew points with which they will endeavor to direct their ships and, as a last resort, their sledding parties, through the maze of islands and ice in the Arctic Archipelago. At the end of the final exploration season, players score prestige points by moving their men, by reaching the westmost points, by finding evidence of Franklin, and of course by returning first safely to Canada.