Prototype | Jakarta Traffic
Designer: Simon Schmieder
Artist: Windy Anandiha
Publisher: Spiel the Game
Story behind the scenes
In Jakarta Traffic, you take on the role of a rookie driver in Jakarta, Indonesia. Your mission is to establish yourself as the fastest and most skilled driver. Navigate through the infamous traffic, complete orders, and make accurate deliveries, all while racing against other players. With 6 additional modules, there is a lot to explore in this pick-up and delivery game. Get ready to dive into the traffic and become an urban legend because your adventure awaits!
Prototype thoughts
If you're unfamiliar with the real-life traffic in Jakarta, you'll get a taste of it while playing Jakarta Traffic. It features a modular board of 25 street tiles, providing a random setup at the beginning of each game and ensuring that every path changes from one game to the next.
But that's not all… During your turn, you may rotate existing tiles, which may drastically alter the paths right before your next move. The term chaotic certainly describes this path-changing dynamic, much like the real-life traffic in Jakarta!
However, describing it as chaotic is not a criticism, but quite the opposite. The ever-changing board adds an extra layer of challenge to picking up and delivering people and orders to their respective locations. It's demanding, but also incredibly entertaining.
In addition to the constantly changing modular board, another positive feature is the inclusion of six additional modules. These introduce new variable factors during gameplay and add variety to the regular mode of play.
The game benefits from having more players, which creates an enhanced state of chaos during gameplay. However, despite not having tried it, we believe it's a plus to include a solo mode for a calmer, individual experience.
We first encountered Jakarta Traffic at Spiel Essen and were immediately intrigued by it at the demo tables. The premise and mechanisms, being right up our alley, created a highly enjoyable game experience. That's why we seek to include its final version in our collection.
Prototype ratings
Global rating: 8.15/10
Gameplay & Mechanisms: 8.75/10
Quality & Components: 8.25/10
Rules & Rulebook: 8/10
Art & Illustrations: 8.25/10
Theme & Story: 7.5/10
Final notes
A special thanks to Spiel the Game for providing us with a prototype copy of Jakarta Traffic.
If you don't want to miss their crowdfunding campaign, you can follow their page on Kickstarter. The campaign is set to launch on March 4th 2024.
