Board Game Geek Avg Player Rating: 8.69
Players: 1 to 4
Published: 2018
Content Notes: Kickstarter Edition Bundle for Escape The Dark Castle by Themeborne Game. Includes Escape the Dark Castle core game, Kickstarter Upgrade Kit, Adventure Pack 1: Cult of the Death Knight, Adventure Pack 2: Scourge of the Undead Queen, Adventure Pack 3: Blight of the Plague Lord, The Collector Box, and all unlocked stretch goals. Please note: unless otherwise stated paid add ons from the Kickstarter Campaign are not included.

Includes:

• Escape the Dark Castle
• Kickstarter Upgrade Kit
• Adventure Pack 1: Cult of the Death Knight
• Adventure Pack 2: Scourge of the Undead Queen
• Adventure Pack 3: Blight of the Plague Lord
• The Collector’s Box

Escape the Dark Castle is a simple, fantasy adventure game with a focus on atmosphere, storytelling and player cooperation – perfect for newcomers to tabletop gaming. It takes 2 minutes to set up, lasts around 30 minutes, and no two games are ever the same.      

Players take the roles of prisoners on a quest to Escape the Dark Castle, and must work together to overcome its many horrors, traps, and challenges – each of which is represented by a large, beautifully illustrated chapter card. 

As these immersive chapter cards are revealed one by one, the game takes on the form of a shared storybook experience, with the players making decisions about what to do each chapter before using a combination of dice and item cards to complete challenges. 

The goal of the game is to complete every chapter in the castle deck, then defeat the final boss. To win, you must keep every member of the team alive – if any player is killed the game ends immediately!

After the first campaign in 2017, Themeborne released Escape the Dark Castle along with the first expansion, Adventure Pack 1: Cult of the Death Knight. Now they’re back with a selection of new expansions and add-ons to further expand and deepen your adventures. 

This game has simple rules so it’s easy to learn. You’ll be able to get started within 5 minutes. Click here for a quick overview, and you can read the full rules here. You can also watch one of the many gameplay videos in our Reviews section below. 

Escape the Dark Castle is a casual, cooperative game of retro-atmospheric adventure.

Players take on the roles of prisoners, wrongfully incarcerated in the depths of The Dark Castle. Whether it’s the Abbot, the Tailor or the Cook, each prisoner is represented by a character card and a custom character dice showing that prisoner’s unique endowment of Might, Cunning and Wisdom – the game’s three traits.

Embarking on a desperate quest to escape, the players must work together to overcome the castle’s many horrors, traps, and challenges – each of which is represented by an over-sized chapter card. 15 of these chapter cards are drawn at random from a larger deck to create a unique castle at the beginning of each game.

Gameplay involves one player revealing a new chapter card each turn, in a motion like turning a page of a storybook. There is no turn order. Instead, players decide as a group who will turn the next chapter card, and there are often grisly consequences for the one that does. When a card is turned, the next chamber or passageway into which the prisoners have stumbled is revealed.

Once revealed, the chapter card will explain the situation facing the group and what must be done to get through it. In the style of choose-your-path adventures, most chapters offer the group a choice about how to proceed. Bribe the drunken guards or attack them? Charge the beast or lure it out? Steal from the kitchen stores or keep moving?

Each chapter is a unique mini-game and a variety of mechanics are required to complete them, from push-your-luck dice rolling to the playing of item cards collected along the way that bolster player’s tactical abilities.

When the players choose to enter (or fail to avoid) combat, all players roll simultaneously to make an attack against the enemy. They need to collectively muster the right combination of Might, Cunning and Wisdom to defeat the foe in question, or risk taking damage.

The goal of the game is for the group to complete every chapter in the castle deck, and then defeat the final boss. To win, they must keep every member of the team alive – if any player is killed the game ends immediately.

So far, the Escape the Dark Castle range includes the following:

• Escape the Dark Castle
• Adventure Pack 1 – Cult of the Death Knight

This Kickstarter campaign is for three new expansions: 

• Adventure Pack 2 – Scourge of the Undead Queen
• Adventure Pack 3 – Blight of the Plague Lord
• The Collector’s Box

Gorging on the castle’s unending supply of tortured souls, the Undead Queen calls to her service the corpses, skeletons, and spirits of the depths. If a prisoner should fall at the hands of her inexhaustible armies, all that awaits is an eternity of agonising undeath…

Contains:  

1 New Boss: The Undead Queen, a foul necromancer bent on enslaving your soul

15 New Chapters: The Undead Queen’s terrifying forces, and new castle locations 

3 Companion Characters: Vital allies to accompany the prisoners and assist in their escape 

3 Companion Trigger Cards: Event cards which signify the arrival of a Companion

3 Companion Dice: Used to carry out Companion actions and special abilities

2 New Items: Each a powerful relic for the prisoners to discover 

1 New Item Dice: Used to apply the powers of a relic

New Mechanic
This Adventure Pack introduces a new mechanic to the system – Companions. These characters can appear during a quest and join-up with the prisoners to assist in their escape. Fans of roleplaying games will know them by the term NPCs (non-player characters). Players will now encounter event cards in the item deck which trigger the arrival of one of the Companions. Each Companion has a unique mixture of traits and a special ability. They are powerful allies but their presence may be fleeting, so prisoners must choose carefully how and when to call on them. 

In the most confined, twisting passageways; in the vaulted eaves of the highest towers; in the fetid air drawn sharply into your panicked lungs – there will you find his creation. For he is the Plague Lord, emanator of an all-encompassing evil. A monstrous mass of weeping pustules, it would be his most perverse pleasure to watch as you slowly succumb to the agonising torment of the Black Death…

Contains:  

1 New Boss: The Plague Lord, only growing stronger the more infected he becomes  

15 New Chapters: The Plague Lord’s deranged followers, and new castle locations  

3 New Characters: Versatile new prisoners ready to join the quest  

3 Character Dice: Representing the new prisoner’s endowment of skills  

5 New Items: Vital new equipment for prisoners to discover in the depths

1 Plague Dice: Used to control the contraction and spread of this vile disease

New Mechanic
This Adventure Pack introduces a new mechanic to the system – Plague. As if the horrors, traps, and challenges of the Dark Castle were not already enough to haunt the prisoner’s every waking thought, there is now a new kind of threat to contend with. As they explore the labyrinthine castle passages, players can now encounter Carriers, plague-infected lunatics bent on spreading the disease. Certain interactions with Carriers can cause prisoners to contract, spread, and even succumb entirely to this rampant atrocity, adding a new dimension and weight to the game’s risk-reward decisions.

An expansion in its own right, the Collector’s Box contains a wealth of new, fan-driven game content for Escape the Dark Castle while also providing stylish and practical storage for your entire collection.

Contains:  

6 New Boss Cards: An array of powerful new foes, each with a unique and devious mechanic

12 Special Ability Cards: Unlock the prisoner’s talents as they reach new heights of heroism

2 New Start Cards: Now you’ll never know exactly how your adventure will begin

2 Epilogue Cards: Whether you escape or not, get complete narrative closure to every quest

4 Health Trackers with Cubes: An optional alternative to the scorepad & pencil system

1 Dice Bag: Store all the game’s beautiful dice in one satisfying pouch

1 “First Player” Card: Used to help keep track of who is taking the lead each chapter

1 Icon Chart: A handy reference to help new players remember what everything means

Storage for your entire collection, now and in the future

With it’s sturdy, matt black box and minimal spot UV detailing, the imposing exterior of the Collector’s Box hides an elegant organiser within. Now you can store every item in your Escape the Dark Castle collection in one box with ease.  

The custom insert lets you arrange your cards by set, type, or however you see fit, simply slipping them into the rows of card dividers – sleeved or unsleeved. Not only is this immensely satisfying, it also cuts down on card handling time during setup – just slide out the desired modules and your tailored game can be set up in moments. 

The larger cavity is molded to securely hold all your rulebooks, scorepads, pencils & cubes, with extra space set aside to store all the great products offered in this Kickstarter (see the Add-ons section further down the page). We’ve even included space for several more expansions, so future releases will fit right in.

–From the publisher

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