Heading Forward

About this board game

Heading Forward is a 30-minute solitaire board game for one player, released in 2022, about rebuilding skills during rehabilitation after a traumatic brain injury.

You take on the role of someone working through recovery. Your goal is to achieve objectives in at least three different areas before the time allotted by your insurance company runs out. If you do not meet that challenge, insurance payments are discontinued and you lose.

Progress comes through thoughtful card management. By rotating and switching out cards, you develop skills in sequence, advancing from weak Level 1 skills to powerful Level 4 skills. Each improvement brings you closer to the larger challenges ahead.

Every decision must account for your available emotional and physical energy, represented by “spoons”, along with other resources. The game asks you to judge when to push forward and how to make the most of limited capacity while your rehabilitation continues.

A trigger card in the deck represents the memory of your trauma, adding another obstacle to your progress. The road begins with simple tasks that can feel impossible, but persistence gradually restores the abilities needed for more demanding goals.

• Players: 1
• Play time: 30 minutes
• Core challenge: Achieve goals in at least three areas before your allotted time expires
• Key mechanics: Rotate and switch cards, upgrade skills, and manage “spoons” and other resources

Based on designer John du Bois’s own recovery, Heading Forward is an expressive example of how a solitaire board game can explore rehabilitation, setbacks, effort, and determination.