Welcome to Talon’s Tabletop, a happy little boardgame bastion – and definitely not the hub of an air pirate base, no matter what you’ve heard…

Today we’re reviewing Escape the Dark Castle. This one came to us as a free copy from the kind folks at Themeborne so, being fans of new games and finding free to be the finest of the flavours, it was brought to games night and we fired in.

Escape is a one to four player game, and leans minimal on game components. The components you do get though are gorgeous; lovely card stock, custom dice with a great hand feel, a good supply of record sheets and the always awesome bookie’s pencils!

Out of the box the excellent components gave a great impression so we set up our first escape attempt. The aim of the game is to defeat 15 challenges as a group before finally facing a boss. Challenges come on a pool of cards that you form into a game deck and you are aided by items you can earn as you progress. Challenges are broadly divided into tough choices and fights. Fighting brings in the dice as the players work together to roll specific dice results a la Elder Sign. Some challenges also ask you to roll a specific result and alter outcomes depending on your success, otherwise.

Play was quick to learn, although it took us a little while to realise the import of choosing the turn and combat order. We also felt it would have been handy to add the symbol beside the name of the dice result required on challenge cards, to make it easier for new players.

This isn’t a long game. Even then first playthrough, which we won, was accomplished in about an hour and we’ve easily managed 3 games in a night around takeaway and catching up on the week.

This is a plus and a minus and amongst our group the game was a little polarising. If you want a game for the start of the night while people are arriving, or one for a lighter or less experienced group, this is a really good option. If you want a game to see you through five hours of strategy, this probably isn’t the choice.

That leads us to the polarising. This game has a heavy element of luck/randomness and that really isn’t for everyone. It’s also a game that really heavily leans i to the theme and flavour to add to the experience. Whilst our role-player really liked this, our Eurogamer lost interest partway through game one and won’t be back.

Overall, this is a smart and very well-made game, but one that I’d say needs to be played in the right slot with the right folks to get maximum enjoyment.

That’s it for this instalment, so, Mr Hands, a pint of sky grog if you please!

Escape the Dark Castle is available to buy on the Themeborne Online Store.

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