Portal GamesRobinson Crusoe Adventures on the Cursed Island Board Game

Brilliant, deep, insanely thematic, and TOTALLY BRUTAL game! Robinson Crusoe just might be one of the most thematic and immersive board game experiences you'll ever have! It's right up there with the greats of the genre (Twilight Imperium 3, Pandemic Legacy, Arkham Horror, etc.).But be warned: the game in NEAR IMPOSSIBLE to beat! If you don't like insanely difficult challenges, or you frustrate easily, AVOID this game. But, for the strong, brave, and even fool-hardy, much great adventure awaits!!Robinson Crusoe really does make you feel like you're on a desert island fighting for survival! You will feel the isolation! You will feel the mind-numbing wet chill as you are soaked by hurricanes and tropical storms! You will feel the lack of warmth take hold if you cannot build a fire! You will feel the hunger pains as you slowly starve to death because you can't find enough food to survive!. You will feel the pain of gangrene, or some other disease ravaging your body as you slowly die do to lack of medicine. You will feel the terror of facing a very large, and very angry tiger who sees you as food!!! You will smell the blood of your first kill as gnawing hunger drives you to hunt to survive! You will feel the intensity of ruthless combat as you fight tooth and nail for your life against savage, head hunting cannibals! Your nerves will have your entire body shaking as you explore the lost and forbidden temples looking for great treasures that could mean the difference between survival and death!!!....and you will be stunned when you face the greatest terror the world has ever seen-THE MIGHT KONG!! (Yes, King Kong is in this game! I kid you not!!)All these experiences await you in Robinson Crusoe the board game!

I'll keep this brief. The game is AMAZING. The theme is solid, believable, and deep. While it might seem complex at the get go (I'm a very inexperienced board gamer), it's actually fairly simple to play with each stage being clearly illustrated and indicated on the board and the cards. And you have a TON of choices, from building shelters and tools, to hunting, to exploring, to gathering.However, the game hates you. The game wants you to die, and die quickly. It throws at you every form of misery and disaster that an exotic island in the 1700s could come up with. My wife and I have played two games together, and I've played a few more on my own, and we NEVER win. To make the game more fun, we've begun modifying the rules. The campaigns create mounting tension by means of addition hazards, addition goals, and a time limit (usually like 12 turns). To have fun, we have had to do away with most of the additional hazards, and especially the time limit; we're just not able to see how anyone could get so much done in such a few actions (even with Friday AND the dog). Hopefully we'll get better at the game by playing it, but I just wanted new players to know that it's okay to change some of the rules, if it will help you to enjoy the adventure and keep coming back for more! Or, maybe you just enjoy cooperative dying.If the theme appeals to you, and you can stomach learning a bunch of very intelligent and sensible rules, you will love this game.

So far I've only played this as a solo game but I am a huge fan. I've run through a couple of the scenarios and have played as a few of the characters. What I've found is that the deep decks and random dice rolls make for a wildly different experience each time. I'm sure there are mechanical steps to follow for better chances of success in each scenario but no plan is foolproof on this unforgiving island. I found myself literally laughing out loud as my (as I perceived it) excellent planning fell apart before my eyes in multiple run throughs. I've won once so far and it was quite gratifying.The board and the story development from the cards you turn over in game lend themselves very well to a cool thematic story and it is easy to get into the narrative that develops through each play.I think that this game is less well suited to younger kids (it says ages 8 up) - there are a decent number of rules/options to consider each turn and it is truly difficult to win. If the kids are less concerned with winning the game and more interested in a story of struggle/survival then no problem but I feel like some will get discouraged before ever experiencing the joy of success. It would be best for you to have a facilitator to help and almost narrate for the kids if you are playing with ones on the younger side.As a co-op, I've heard this game is particularly hard to run through when one person has more experience than the other players - I think my biggest advice for those players is that its probably best to take a back seat and let your companions fall flat a few times as they learn what to be concerned about.Bottom Line - I'm a huge fan of the theme, and the gameplay, but this is not a game for those who want to win more than they lose.

This game is really good once you learn the mechanisms (we're on module 4 now!). It takes a bit of time to figure everything out. Very giftable to a board gamer. Pieces and cards are good quality

So, we've bought this game because we were looking a game for two people, which lasts for 1.5 hrs and more. This one exactly matches the requirements.The game is rather fun, by this time we won 3 scenarios out of 7 or so, and keeping replaying them to try different characters and different luck.Pros:- Good balance and much fun for two people- Replaying capabilities are huge, a lot of things depend on Holy Random- Nevertheless, Strategy is really important, can't win the game simply doing your chores, need to plan a lot.- You win like 1 in 5 times for each scenarioCons:- You win like 1 in 5 times for each scenario- Balance (in terms of food and resources) can be rather hard (if not broken) for more than two people- You always feel like you are about to win this set, but you lose in the last round.