Dirty Filthy Bikepacking: Lost in the Woods with a Wooden Spoon
It’s not every day that we get to extend our love for bikepacking all the way to the dinner table. But Dirty Filthy Bikepacking does exactly that! If the weather outside isn’t to your liking, grab a couple of friends, a few snacks, and spend an evening on this imaginary adventure where, just like in real life, reaching the finish line doesn’t really feel like the main goal.
Made by Jody Barton, Dirty Filthy Bikepacking drops you into a familiar bikepacking trip, with everything that comes with it. Riding alongside friends of wildly different skills and personalities, you’ll end up in uncanny situations, hopefully find your way out of them, flex your latest (and slightly lame) gear acquisition, and occasionally carve a wooden spoon or two.
But in this whimsical and extremely weird magical forest, filled with crazy creatures, edgy experiments, and things you probably never would’ve imagined in your wildest dreams, your will (and some of your friendships) will be tested between every camp spot… all the way to the finish line.
You could describe Dirty Filthy Bikepacking as having two main mechanics.
The first is making it to each checkpoint and eventually the finish line while helping your friends do the same. Every situation card will put you in a pickle, and most of the time you’ll need a buddy to get out of it… especially if, like us, you chose your character multiple times purely based on looks rather than actual traits.
Helping someone else also has its advantages: you’ll be able to collect the points from their situation card for yourself.
Points? Yes, that’s the second mechanic. You’ll have to keep score. Arriving first at a checkpoint grants you 20 points, and it gets even better if you’ve picked up some Story cards along the way to tell around the fire pit or if you’ve bravely solved situations on your own. All of these add to your total.
But be careful: carry a “cringe item,” and you’ll have to subtract 15 painfully earned points.
Situations range from a simple puncture to braving the harshest climbs, being painfully thirsty, or even having your medical supplies stolen by a mystical elf.
What we learned very quickly is that having a variety of characters with different skill sets like the “mood lifter,” “healer,” “mechanic,” or even the “boat packer” will solve most of your problems without leaving you stranded for several turns, hoping to draw the right resource… or just sitting around carving your wooden spoon while you wait.
Overall, Dirty Filthy Bikepacking is a really good time. But if you plan to play a full game with every checkpoint, set aside a few hours for your first run, as we definitely scratched our heads a couple of times around the table before finding the right groove.
Some situations will instantly remind you of real experiences, sparking brand-new conversations about what you could’ve done better on previous trips… and all the terrible things you’ll probably do wrong again on future ones.
In any case, we had a great time, and we’ll most likely run it a few more times this winter until we can finally sleep under a sky full of stars again.
We could relate way too much sometimes to some of these cards!
🎲: Dirty Filthy Bikepacking
💾: Fuji X-Pro1
📍: Diego’s living room
