KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Thousands of sets of a board game that challenges players to escape a plague-ravaged city have been sold during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bristol 1350 was launched in spring this year and it had since raised almost US$1 million (RM4.16 million), exceeding its initial target of US$30,000 (RM124,725).

Game developer Travis Hancock told BBC that the initial proposal date to release the game was way before Covid-19.

"We were sensitive to the timings, although the initial proposal dates back way before Covid,” Hancock reportedly said.

"In the end we didn’t get a single negative response.”

He and his fellow game designer wife, Holly Hancock, were about to launch a fundraising campaign when the global pandemic struck.

"It did make us wonder whether we should pause our plans,” Travis said.

After some research, the couple, who live in Columbus, Ohio, United States decided Bristol made the perfect setting.

"We had amazing feedback from our past backers and decided to go for it and we’ve been able to donate some of the funds to people in our local community who have suffered from Covid.”

"There are just no major games with Bristol in the title and after some research it seemed like the perfect place to base our story of the Black Death.”

According to History.com, the Black Death was a devastating global epidemic of bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s.