With a temple crumbling all around you and very tempting piles of treasure almost everywhere you look, risk and reward can often be a tricky pair to balance. And in Escape - The Curse of the Temple, it's even more difficult... because you're going to have to rely on your friends as much as your own skill!
This is definitely my favourite time of year. The moment September rolls around and the US convention season starts slowing down, the Essen hype machine rolls into action - and it is brilliant. For those new to the board gaming world, think of this: 150,000 people from all over the world descend on a smallish city in Germany for nigh on a week of sausages, beer and splendid games. Over 600 new releases have been announced already for this year's event, with plenty more to come.
Of course, there's always going to be a few that rise to the top in the popularity stakes, and of all the games that came out of Essen 2012, one of the biggest was Queen Games' big box release Escape - Curse of the Temple. By floor space alone you could tell that Queen were putting a lot of effort behind it, and further investigation revealed that it was really rather different to everything else on their catalogue.
A co-operative game for between one and five players, the story - well,what story there is - is equally simple and generic. You guys are adventurers looking to make your fortunes by breaking into a cursed temple that is said to be packed with riches and treasures, as well as a bunch of magic gems. Starting the game with only your wits and a fistful of five dice, you'll need to roll certain combinations in order to activate certain abilities. With only a small area to work within at the beginning of play, you'll need to move into adjacent rooms by rolling the images shown upon each tile and attempt to discover more tiles to increase the play area.
New tiles can be added to the table by getting a couple of Adventurers on your dice, something that is most vital. Expanding the map is also necessary for two more reasons: discovering Gem Rooms and turning up the all-important Exit tile. You see, depending on how many people are playing, there'll be a set amount of magic gems set aside at the start of the game - the more folks around the table, the higher the number. Getting into Gem Rooms will mean you can work together in order to 'discover' these cursed crystals - again done by rolling set amounts of certain symbols as decreed on the tiles - which will slowly deplete the total you begin with.
Why do you have to do this? Well, the Exit is somewhat blocked. You can only escape from the temple by getting to that tile and rolling keys - one more key, in fact, than the amount of gems still sitting to the side of the map. So, the more you discover throughout the course of the game, the easier it will be for you to get out alive at the end. It's a really simple idea that is very well executed, but I can tell what you're thinking... Where's the pressure? What challenge is there? After all, can't you just keep on rolling and rolling until you successfully get what you need, then do it over and over?
Actually, you can. You can roll as much as you like. You just need to be very, very quick because the entire game is over in ten minutes flat. Ten minutes to hurtle around a temple like mad things, chucking dice and sweating and swearing when the right symbols aren't coming up. Roaring when black masks appear, rendering your dice useless until you can trade in a golden mask and free them up again. All the while, a soundtrack (on an included CD!) ticks the precious seconds away in the background, adding to the pressure. Oh,and did I mention that you have to return to the starting tile twice during the game when alarm bells begin to ring? Fail to do so and you'll end up with one less dice for the next section of the game, meaning that the challenge gets even harder - and it's not exactly a cakewalk to begin with.
Yes, Escape is a total bastard, but man... it's a bloody enjoyable one. It wasn't just the short playtime that meant it was one of the most played games at last year's Essen, it's the fact that so many people kept returning for yet another attempt. The games that pull you in enough to warrant that status are few and far between, but Escape is certainly in that group. You'll be that close from pulling off a win and will manage to royally screw it up, snatching defeat from the hastily closing jaws of victory, and you'll demand that the table resets because you just know you'll beat it this time.
It's a truly co-operative game where everyone has to put in an equal effort to win. There's little danger of an alpha type player seizing control of the thing when there's barely enough time to even think .It's hilarious when players are shouting at each other, crying for assistance when they're sitting there in front of a row of locked dice (because you can - and should! - help each other out). Chuck in the two bundled expansions that add Curses and Treasures alongside the countless variants (seriously, the one that states you're not allowed to talk when cursed is bloody hilarious) that are available online and this is one game that will hit your table regularly. And remember, there's always time for One More Go...
What do you reckon the 2013 Essen Hotness will be? Tell us in the comments below!
This is definitely my favourite time of year. The moment September rolls around and the US convention season starts slowing down, the Essen hype machine rolls into action - and it is brilliant. For those new to the board gaming world, think of this: 150,000 people from all over the world descend on a smallish city in Germany for nigh on a week of sausages, beer and splendid games. Over 600 new releases have been announced already for this year's event, with plenty more to come.
Of course, there's always going to be a few that rise to the top in the popularity stakes, and of all the games that came out of Essen 2012, one of the biggest was Queen Games' big box release Escape - Curse of the Temple. By floor space alone you could tell that Queen were putting a lot of effort behind it, and further investigation revealed that it was really rather different to everything else on their catalogue.
A co-operative game for between one and five players, the story - well,what story there is - is equally simple and generic. You guys are adventurers looking to make your fortunes by breaking into a cursed temple that is said to be packed with riches and treasures, as well as a bunch of magic gems. Starting the game with only your wits and a fistful of five dice, you'll need to roll certain combinations in order to activate certain abilities. With only a small area to work within at the beginning of play, you'll need to move into adjacent rooms by rolling the images shown upon each tile and attempt to discover more tiles to increase the play area.
New tiles can be added to the table by getting a couple of Adventurers on your dice, something that is most vital. Expanding the map is also necessary for two more reasons: discovering Gem Rooms and turning up the all-important Exit tile. You see, depending on how many people are playing, there'll be a set amount of magic gems set aside at the start of the game - the more folks around the table, the higher the number. Getting into Gem Rooms will mean you can work together in order to 'discover' these cursed crystals - again done by rolling set amounts of certain symbols as decreed on the tiles - which will slowly deplete the total you begin with.
Why do you have to do this? Well, the Exit is somewhat blocked. You can only escape from the temple by getting to that tile and rolling keys - one more key, in fact, than the amount of gems still sitting to the side of the map. So, the more you discover throughout the course of the game, the easier it will be for you to get out alive at the end. It's a really simple idea that is very well executed, but I can tell what you're thinking... Where's the pressure? What challenge is there? After all, can't you just keep on rolling and rolling until you successfully get what you need, then do it over and over?
Actually, you can. You can roll as much as you like. You just need to be very, very quick because the entire game is over in ten minutes flat. Ten minutes to hurtle around a temple like mad things, chucking dice and sweating and swearing when the right symbols aren't coming up. Roaring when black masks appear, rendering your dice useless until you can trade in a golden mask and free them up again. All the while, a soundtrack (on an included CD!) ticks the precious seconds away in the background, adding to the pressure. Oh,and did I mention that you have to return to the starting tile twice during the game when alarm bells begin to ring? Fail to do so and you'll end up with one less dice for the next section of the game, meaning that the challenge gets even harder - and it's not exactly a cakewalk to begin with.
Yes, Escape is a total bastard, but man... it's a bloody enjoyable one. It wasn't just the short playtime that meant it was one of the most played games at last year's Essen, it's the fact that so many people kept returning for yet another attempt. The games that pull you in enough to warrant that status are few and far between, but Escape is certainly in that group. You'll be that close from pulling off a win and will manage to royally screw it up, snatching defeat from the hastily closing jaws of victory, and you'll demand that the table resets because you just know you'll beat it this time.
It's a truly co-operative game where everyone has to put in an equal effort to win. There's little danger of an alpha type player seizing control of the thing when there's barely enough time to even think .It's hilarious when players are shouting at each other, crying for assistance when they're sitting there in front of a row of locked dice (because you can - and should! - help each other out). Chuck in the two bundled expansions that add Curses and Treasures alongside the countless variants (seriously, the one that states you're not allowed to talk when cursed is bloody hilarious) that are available online and this is one game that will hit your table regularly. And remember, there's always time for One More Go...
What do you reckon the 2013 Essen Hotness will be? Tell us in the comments below!
