Each giant chapter card is slightly larger then the page of a paperback book and you get a real feeling that the random 15 card deck is trying to simulate the feeling of flipping through a Fighting Fantasy or Choose Your Own Adventure game book. Rounds have a free form turn structure where the players decide as a group who is going to “take point” and flip the next chapter card. Along the way you’ll gather random items, roll the dice for skill checks, and fight nifty little dice driven battles. You make your way through 15 random chapter cards and then face off against one of 5 or 6 random bosses. So lets see if the game is any good!Įscape’s mechanical bones are dead simple.
Something though about the art and emphasis on story hooked me. Simplified implementation of the beloved Fighting Fantasy books. When I first stumbled upon Escape’s kickstarter page last year, it sent up plenty of red flags. Add in an item deck, some nifty custom dice, and obscenely large cards that you’ll never find sleeves for and you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this first title from Themeborne, an indy publisher out of England. Imagine taking the best part of Eldritch Horror (the encounter cards) and making an entire game out of them.
What’s New Is old Again – An Escape the Dark Castle ReviewĬontrary to what the title may suggest, Escape the Dark Castle is NOT the latest card based escape room styled game.
