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This Week’s Explorable Games
This round of Explorable Favorites is from BoardGaming.com member Artem Safarov. The games selected from his Favorites shelf were:
- Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
Portal Games, Z-Man Games | Published: 2013 - Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower
Fireside Games | Published: 2011
These games will be explorable until next Monday, December 15th.
After you’ve explored these games, let us know what you think about them in the comments below!
My family has played the first three scenarios for Robinson Crusoe and loved it. The first was tough because of the learning curve, but the game seems to go much quicker now that we have the rules under our belts. There are a lot of rules to keep track of, but the round sequence makes sense after playing the game once.
We did have an issue with the rulebook having rules for specific game situations spread throughout its pages. We ended up making side-missions out of hunting the book for them as we played.
It was mentioned before that some of the game pieces seem cheap compared to others, and this is true. Some scenarios use pieces for different jobs, and that gets confusing as well.
Overall, a great game. Worth learning to play and getting a good storyline for hours of fun!
And Castle Panic is a favorite for my nieces, but we haven’t seen the expansion yet. Maybe for Christmas?
Robinson Crusoe looks very intriguing, but I’ll have to find someone experienced with a copy of it to give it a try. It sounds like a bear to retain all the rules for it, and I often try to avoid such games due to my gaming group’s preferences for lighter games. Otherwise, it looks right up my alley.
I own the Wizard’s Tower expansion for Castle Panic and it is definitely a must-have component when playing that game more than a few times. It breathes life back into a game that can sometimes get a bit too familiar.
That’s my favorite part about Pathfinder ACG – shtuffling all the cards! Don’t knock it!
@AD et al. — The only component that strikes me as being of markedly lower quality than the rest are the plastic cubes. You use them for a couple things (marking what level your weapons and shelter are; tracking how many uses of a limited-use item you have left). They’re not something you handle as frequently as, say, food, which is a nice wooden cube.
There’s also one typo that cracks me up every time during setup. There’s an instruction to ‘shtuffle’ a deck. 🙂
I really don’t want to build up Castle Panic: Wizard’s Tower too much, lest it seem like this week’s selections were the result of favoritism (they weren’t – purely random)… but it’s just the best expansion I’ve come across.
I may be in the minority of people who love Castle Panic even without it – once you’re used to the game you will always win, but I kept coming back anyway because it’s just so fun holding off a goblin swarm through pure cooperative play. (There has been some debate on its discussion page about the game not being cooperative – there are actually 3 core modes of the game included in the rulebook: one purely cooperative that is outstanding, a “Master Slayer” variant that is competitive to see who kills the most (much more challenging, but much less fun – this is the one that people who believe the game to be harder to win typically play), and an abysmal DM version where one poor sap controls the monsters – no fun at all for this person.)
But once you get your hands on this expansion, everything changes. It fits in seamlessly – almost as if the expansion was designed with the original game but sandbagged for later. And now you can have the challenge you’re looking for while playing the most fun version – the pure cooperative. It’s been said a dozen times here, but you need The Wizard’s Tower if you’re interested in Castle Panic.
Like many others, I really want to get my hands on, in street parlance, RC:A on the CI. But several of the reviews here – particularly @RevBob’s – make me worried about the component quality. And the pictures do nothing to assuage that worry. Maybe we should be waiting for a re-print? Although @Kassidy seemed OK with the quality…
@Cody — I have not played it solo, but it should be entirely doable by playing it as you would with two players (Two player characters total plus Friday as a shared character) without modifying the rules any further. Unlike, say, Pandemic, which has a hand management element, Robinson Crusoe is about management of actions per turn. By playing singleplayer, you’re just turning it into a game where one player decides on all the actions, rather than discussing options with others.
@cody.raak
mine too. that’s the point. 😉
Every time I explore more games, my wishlist needs to grow by two. Sigh. These both look outstanding. I played Castle Panic about a year ago at a FLGS, and we loved it…until we lost! Even then, the game was highly enjoyable, but I can see how adding a bit more strategy would fill in some of the repetition we experienced.
And Robinson Crusoe has been forever on my ever-growing “To Play” list. Any one have any thoughts on how it plays solitaire?
Nice. Castle Panic is a game I can’t wait to play with my son, who is still only 2 but appears to be growing. 🙂
Robinson Crusoe is fast becoming one of my favorite games! Love the components. My gaming group and I have had a few fun plays lately.
The Wizard’s Tower seems to be a must for Castle Panic. I played the base game and thought it too easy, but the Wizard’s Tower expansion increases the difficulty a bit with some fun new twists. Looking forward to trying this one!
So excited to see a game on here that’s an expansion of something that I’m already interested in playing. Now that I’ve looked into it more, I know to pick up the Castle Panic: Wizard’s Tower expansion when I pick up the original game as well. Sweet!
woohoo new ones
Hey, two games that I already own – first for me! 🙂
Yay for more explorables! This feature is getting downright regular!
My eldest daughter (6) loves Castle Panic. The base game is pretty straightforward. You either win or lose based upon what monsters come up at what point, and what cards you collectively have when that happens.
I have heard many times this expansion changes the game immensely. I really need to check it out. It may not be great for her, but I could see the expansion making it more relevant for the adult set.
Castle Panic was on my wishlist
Robinson Crusoé is on my top 5 solo games
Both excellent games, solid “must have” items for your library.
Oh WOW, thank you, that’s so nice :).
My initial reaction was “hey, look at that, both games I reviewed and really enjoy” and then I see that it’s not quite a coincidence!
I should point out that in my opinion Robinson Crusoe is the absolute best marriage of theme and mechanics I know of, although it can be wonky in details and unforgivingly brutal. Still worth it though, highly recommended to all who are looking for an immersive experience.
Robinson Crusoe – I’ve wanted it since it came out but I don’t know if I’ll find anyone to play it with me.
My gaming group are more with thematic fantasy/sci-fi non-euros.
Thanks @Account for another week’s wiring and congrats @Artem, fellow wearer of The Maple, for being the Sacred Shelf.
RC:A on the CI (as we call it on the streets) has always malingered on The List. Curious, but sometimes Z-man can be a bit ‘heavy cardboard’ in the complicated department. With the cold weather setting in and the new Sunday gig with The Boy of multi-handing co-ops (The Captain is Dead and Darkest Night), RC looks like he’ll be moving up the ladder, if not off the island. Plus the entry on the BGreview for Power Gamer sold me. LOL. That’s the good thing about Explorables – they give you the opportunity to sit down and consider a game you kind have been ‘meh’ fencing with.
Castle Panic and I have been in the same boat. I haven’t delved into the Panics yet. Although I think I’ll be doing that soon with Munchkin Panic, just cause…
Edit: Boo! I thought I was going to be first – or last – depending on what the days hold but @Kassidy snuck in while I was typing.
Curses! That beautiful Zulily coat is back also!
It’s great to see Robinson Crusoe on there! Great timing, too – the girlfriend and I just played again last night. Expect a review soon!