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Initial card prototypes for the full production version. (Note: not final art and expect some layout tweaks)

Preliminary box image (first version draft, final images may change for full production)

A crystal-clear shot of the GameCrafter prototype's map.

Cards from the "first draft" prototype: printer paper packing-taped to playing cards. The original map (not pictured) included the Shell Room, and did not have the connection between the Giant Room and the Misty Cavern.

Colossal Cave: The Board Game (2013)

Players

3–6

Best: 3

Playing time

60–60 min

Age

12+

5.02

Average rating

Ratings

1.60/5

Weight

#29804

BGG rank

Outside top 5,000

Designer:Arthur O'Dwyer

Artist:Katy Grierson

Publisher:Game Salute

Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).

Game DNA

Strategy5.0

Luck5.0

Interaction5.0

Complexity3.2

Theme7.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

FantasyAdventureVideo Game ThemeHand Management

Overview

Somewhere nearby is Colossal Cave, where it is rumored that others have found fortunes in treasure and gold. Magic, too, is said to work in the cave. But beware! Some who enter are never seen again...

Colossal Cave: The Board Game is an adaptation of the classic text adventure "Colossal Cave Adventure". The basic game mechanism is "draw one, play one"; there is also a game board depicting a simplified map of the cave (14 rooms). Cards represent items, treasures, actions, and "reactions"; you're generally not allowed to play an item or treasure card unless your player token is in a specific room on the map. For example, the Rare Coins are not playable anywhere except in the Hall of the Mountain King. After you play a treasure, you must get it safely back to the surface, where you can deposit it in the Well House.

The winner is the first player to deposit three treasures in the Well House. Depending on the number of players and their willingness to stymie each other from the beginning, a game can last anywhere from 20 to 90 minutes.