Michaël Boutriaux is not the kind of guy who can now sit back and watch the world play his board game, the Belgian Beers Race, which he and his partners launched on the market after five years in the making.
Back then, he woke up after a night on the town, and miraculously remembered an idea he had had during the night to combine his passion for beer with his love of playing games.
In an interview with the the Beer Idiots during Belgium Beer Week (see video above), Boutriaux talked about the next steps for BYR Games, the company he set up with Cédric Gheenens and Stéphane Hemberg to develop a smaller, dice version of the game.
He is also in talks to develop the game in other countries, such as in selected regions of the US, France and other places. He is also talking with another developer to launch one featuring Scottish whisky makers.
“The future is open,” he said. “We are going to keep on working.”
Billing itself as a “crazy race through Belgium and its breweries”, the Belgian Beers Race features 40 independent and craft breweries in Belgium. The aim on the board is to visit as many as you can by bike, public transport or by hiking and to buy and drink as many beers as you can, along the way racking up the consequences of your choices in points.
The game comes with a booklet featuring each of the brewers and their stories, along with a section where you can receive a stamp or a signature from each if you actually visit them. One person at the table with us had actually completed this real-life quest over the past three weeks and displayed his booklet with a sense of pride.
Last year, the team raised over €81,000 in a crowdfunding drive on Kickstarter.
