I really want to play this game, and just found it. Missed the purchase by a couple of days and it is what it is. I have looked around on other sites, and the price for this game is crazy! So to those of you who have played it. some questions before I spend a fortune to get all expansions and game.
1. Replay value? 2. How long to play a 2 player game? 3. Do you plan on keeping your or will you give it to me when you finish? (lol) 4. Is the game really worth more than Gloomhaven? (I understand they are different games but Gloom has like 500h of play can this game do that as well?)
Thanks for any information you give?
Why did they not sell more of these games? Are they planning a new game and are sick of making this one?
1. Replay value's surprisingly good. I like it better as a survival game than an exploration game in many ways, and the different curses help prevent it becoming too stale over a few runs.
2. That depends how you define it. You can get a Game Over in 15 minutes or less (if you're an idiot and
go swimming with sharks.
) Most people play for 20-30 hours before they get their first win, but that's usually over 2-4 runs, generally a few 3-10 hour losses and then a 10-15 hour success. An experienced player replaying a curse, or even playing a new curse that takes place in an area they're familiar with, should be able to lift in in less than 5.
3. Keep it for sure. It's such a beautiful object. But if you have any IRL friends who bought a copy, there's no reason you couldn't play theirs when they're done with it. It doesn't have any Legacy mechanics where you put stickers on stuff, unlock envelopes, mark up or destroy cards, etc. There's no permanent changes,
4. It's complicated whether it's worth more than Gloomhaven. I've put more hours into 7C and had more fun, I think, but I love both games. I haven't come even close to finishing 100% of the content in either game after 50+ hours in each, so I don't think that's a very important factor in their relative values -- they're both more than big enough for me. It's hard for me to even estimate which might take longer to 100%. (My guess is 7C if you include expansions, Gloomhaven if you don't. Upcoming Gloomhaven expansions are likely to change this.)
But, nothing really stands up to Gloomhaven in terms of the feeling of value-for-money. Gloomhaven's a great big treasure chest full of thousands of things. It's got a million punchboards and a million decks of cards and 17 character classes and like 50 kinds of monsters and a couple of books and minis and all sorts of other things. When you open it up, it seems crazy that it was only $100-$150. It's pretty much the best value for money in gaming in terms of what's in the box, the only thing that I can think of that might compete is Mechs vs Minions.
The 7th Continent does not have that effect. It is a medium-small box very densely packed with cards. There are a TON of cards but not much else, a couple little punchboards and a few super tiny minis. You open up the box and think "This game was expensive."
They tried to find a publisher for a retail release, but never managed to get it to happen. Something about it being so expensive to print and ship that by the time everybody in the retail chain had gotten a cut the price would have to be so high that nobody would buy it. They moved to a KS-exclusive model after giving up on that, decided to just embrace the thing that brought them their first success I guess.
They pretty much think they've done what they can with The Seventh Continent I think. It's huge at this point, they're probably both running out of ideas for it and sick of it. Their next game will use the same core mechanics, but a new setting. It won't be another sequel or expansion to The Seventh Continent.
1. I'm replaying it now, it's pretty good at keeping things fresh, although I needed a break after playing it about 10 hours once a week for a couple months straight. 2. How are you defining a "game"? A session? A curse? A first curse? 3. Keeping, although if the prices climb high enough it may get tempting. 4. I don't know. I don't know of any objective way to measure the worth of a game. I enjoy this more than Gloomhaven but based on BGG I seem to be in the minority.
Thanks for the info! I am really looking for a solo game to play and I know Mage Knight is the "Best," I was just looking for something different. I guess I have to keep looking.
