Arival: the Path of the Past

Your city lies in ruin, razed by mysterious enemies. Unable to withstand their assault, you lost most of your people during the siege; just before the fall of the city, you managed to gather a group of survivors and flee to the Path of the Past. You must now lead what remains of your people safely to Res, the place where your ancestors came from, while simultaneously preserving the Arival, the Soul of the People.

As the Keeper of the Ari people, you must choose a path that allows at least one of your clans to safely reach Res. You build your path as you go by chaining cards, which represent locations you pass in your flight and show which directions you can move to at each step. The cards and how you connect them determine which obstacles, dangers or opportunities you face on your path, and allow you to move on the map and hopefully trace a route from the siege ruins to the place where Res is supposed to be. Different ways may bring advantages or disadvantages, and you must react to what you encounter in a balancing act between saving your people and the Arival.

Scouting ahead gives you some control over where you may go next, and resting allows you to replenish your food reserves or perform rites to strengthen the Arival. But you must be quick, because the enemy Wolfhounds hunt you from behind: if they ever reach you, some of your people must sacrifice themselves to act as baits and lead the hunters away. And if you run out of cards and get lost, the Wolfhounds are sure to find you...

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Arival is a print-and-play game that uses 40 cards and a player's mat/mini-board; the player must supply 10 euro-cubes or similar objects to be used as markers.

Arival was an entry in the 2012 Solitaire Print and Play Contest.