Escape the Dark Castle by Themeborne is a little gem of a game. I’ve been having a lot of fun playing it with my wife recently. I decided to do a quick write-up on it to help spread the love. There’s a number of reasons you might want to pick it up yourself.
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First up though, I know it’s cool to say you’ve unearthed this amazing new game by overhearing a drunken dwarf in a tavern mention an obscure podcast that then tips you on to a barely-known Kickstarter, and… etc etc
Well, the reality is a bit less exciting. I found Escape the Dark Castle in Waterstones. I’m really glad I did too, because shortly afterwards, the big ol’ lockdown thing happened.
Artwork & Visuals
What drew me to the game, sitting there on the shelf, was the artwork. The picture on the front looked a bit like a grimdark Castle Duckula (I mean this as a total compliment) and I was intrigued to find out more. The in-game artwork shown on the back of the box turned me into that “You had my curiosity, now you have my attention” meme.
I’m pretty good about not just buying new hobby stuff on impulse, but as this isn’t a miniature game, I saw wouldn’t be adding to my unpainted “pile of shame”. This made it easy for me to part with the £30 and take the game home. I was really excited to try it out.
Who Is Escape the Dark Castle For?
You can play with 1-4 players. It’s a co-op game, so you’re all working together to escape the castle. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up. The rules are simple to pick up, which makes it perfect for playing with kids, or if you have friends round for a few beers (when such things are allowed again!).
Because you can set up and get through a game in about half an hour, the barrier to getting started is really low too. It’ll satisfy your thirst for adventure whilst you’re waiting on your takeaway to arrive, then it can be tidied away as quickly as it was set up.
How Does Escape the Dark Castle Work?
It’s almost like a book. In fact, it reminds me a bit of the old Fighting Fantasy titles of my childhood. In particular, House of Hell. I wonder if that was an inspiration for the game’s creators?
You play the role of a character attempting to escape the castle. These characters are selected from a deck of cards, and each one has their own strengths and weaknesses.
The castle is “built” from a deck of chapter cards. You draw 15 cards to create your castle, so no two adventures are the same.
You turn these cards over like the pages of a book to reveal each chapter. The chapter presents a scenario to you – usually a gristly one. You and your comrades must decide on the best course of action, and will usually end up in a fight to the death with some grotesque undead fiend.
You pick up item cards along the way to aid you on your quest. Combat is a fun and simple dice-based system, with the strength of your opponents weighted, based on how many you have in your party.
If you manage to negotiate your way through all 15 chapters without anyone dying, you’ll then fight a Castle Boss. There’s 3 of them, and you’ll draw 1 at random to wait for you at the end of your journey.
So, Is It Worth Buying?
100% yes. If you’re looking for a game that’s quick to set up, easy to learn, yet still presents you with a challenge and endless variety, then Escape the Dark Castle is well worth your consideration.
I’m really grateful to the creators for putting it together, and a quick Google search shows there’s expansion packs available too. Scourge of the Undead Queen… Blight of the Plague Lord…
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
I backed this on KS and the artwork was the biggest draw. Part of the campaign referenced the fighting fantasy books as well which was an instant green flag for me.
If you haven’t found it, check out the advert they did on YouTube for the campaign, thats what sold it to me after remembering the Heroquest adverts that used to be on!