«Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island» review

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island was published by the Polish company Portal Games and released by Z-Man Games.

The game was designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek, famous for Stronghold.

The illustrations for Robinson Crusoe were done by Tomasz Bentkowski, Mateusz Bielski, Jerzy Ferdyn, Mateusz Kopacz, Mateusz Lenart, Maciej Mutwil, Zhao Run Quan, Rafał Szyma, Piotr Słaby, Ignacy Trzewiczek, and Michał J. Zieliński.

Game Components

• 90 Adventure cards, 30 each for Building, Gather Resources, and Exploration action;
• 73 Event cards;
• 52 Mystery cards (26 Treasures; 13 Monsters; 13 Traps);
• 3 Wreckage cards;
• 1 Friday and 1 Dog card;
• 12 custom dice;
• 6 different scenarios;
• 4 Characters;
• 16 Beast Cards;
• 8 Starting Items;
• 30 Invention cards;
• 1 card “Arranging the Camp”;
• Various wooden and plastic cubes.

Gameplay

In Robinson Crusoe Adventures on the Cursed Island Board Game, a game inspired by the novels of Daniel Defoe and Jules Verne, you are one of the one survivors after a shipwreck on an island. You can be a cook, an explorer, a soldier, or a carpenter.

Robinson Crusoe is a gem of cooperative gaming, for you will all have to work towards the same goal – survival. Discuss your plans with your peers, coordinate your efforts and actions, support each other, build a settlement where you will live. If one of you loses, the game will end for everyone.

Prepare to explore, fight wild beasts, domesticate animals, search for food, construct weapons, and build your own home.

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island includes 6 possible scenarios for you to choose from.

Rules

You begin by choosing one of the six scenarios. A scenario includes the number of rounds, weather conditions, and the main objective of the game.

The task is to survive long enough to complete the objective. Every round has 6 phases:

Event Phase

You draw a card from the Event deck and resolve the Event Effect on the card.

Morale Phase

You have to keep an eye on the Morale level in the game. Depending on it, the first player may lose or gain Determination tokens.

Production Phase

Players take the resources that they see drawn on the tile of the camp. These resources can be used.

Action Phase

Place your pawn on the space of the action you want to perform. There are 7 actions for you to choose from:

Threat Action

Avoid the effect of the threat. Gain a benefit.

Hunting

Compare the strength of the beast you are fighting to the strength of your weapon and calculate damage.

Building

You need to protect yourself from the elements of the island. Build weapons, shelters, palisades, or roofs.

Gathering resources

Get a resource (food or wood) for future use.

Exploration

Place your pawn in an empty tile. You may get new resources, or find a new shelter.

Arranging the camp

Clean the territory of the camp and raise the group Morale.

Rest

Have some rest if you need to heal you wounds.

Weather Phase

If your scenario tells you so, roll the dice to find out what is waiting for you: rainy clouds or snowy clouds. Then suffer from the weather effects: if you are not prepared, you may lose resources and receive wounds. You may also encounter hungry animals and storms.

Night Phase

At night, 5 things happen:

• Everyone consumes 1 food. If you do not do this, you suffer 2 wounds.
• If you do not have a shelter, you sleep outside and get 1 wound.
• You may choose to move your camp to an adjacent tile.
• All perishable food rots.
• The round marker is moved on the scenario card, and the player to the left becomes the new first player.

The key to survival is coordination. If you plan all the actions together carefully, you can avoid negative consequences brought by the elements and beasts of the island.

There are 9 dice in the game: 3 brown dice for building, 3 blue dice for gathering, and 3 green dice for exploring. When you are trying to take one of the actions, roll all the 3 dice of the corresponding color. In each color, you have a Success die, a Wound die, and an Adventure die. According to what you get on the dice, your action succeeds or not. The variety of possible combinations can destroy all your planning.

If your group manages to get to the goal before the game ends, everybody wins. Otherwise, everyone loses. If during the game one of the players dies from wounds, the game automatically ends, and you all lose.

Design

With Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, you get durable cards, thick tokens, and bright colors. The art and the graphics in the game are beautifully done by a team of Polish illustrators.

Similar Games

Some of the game that you might try if you like Robinson Crusoe:

Forbidden Island

This is another cooperative game where you must work as a team to save your island from sinking while collecting treasures.

Forbidden Desert

In the sequel to Forbidden Island, you are on an adventure to dig up a flying machine buried in the sand under an ancient city. The gameboard is always changing while you are trying to find the missing parts of the machine.

Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

In this classic adventure, you are evacuating from a sinking island. Each of the players is responsible for 10 people they must save from the gameboard that is slowly disappearing under the water.

Friday

This is a solo deck-building game. You are playing for Friday and helping Robinson Crusoe to get away from the island and fight pirate ships.

Expansions

Beach Card Mini Expansion

This expansion brings you 9 special Beach cards.

Beast Cards

You get 7 new Beast cards.

Dreadful Adventure on the King Kong Island

This expansion contains a new promo scenario.

Gamer Character

You can take a new survivor on the island with you.

Hunting Dog

If you go hunting with the Hunting Dog, you get + 1 to weapon level and you are allowed to ignore one wound.

Sailor Character

A new character on the island.

Secret Trait Cards

9 cards to make your surviving on the island even more challenging.

Spyglass of Illusory Hope

If you break the spyglass, you can get 5 Determination tokens.

Tracing Doctor Livingstone

Rescue a famous scientist who got lost in the middle of Africa.

Trait Cards

At the beginning of the game, each player gets to choose a trait if they want to. Each trait gives you an advantage, but also a disadvantage. With Trait Cards I, you can choose from Gimp, Pessimist, Drunk, The Bull, and The Kid. With Trait Cards II, you choose from Loss of Time, Pirate, Leader, Lazy, and Cold-Blooded.

Tresure Island Junior

A scenario designed specifically to be played with your children.

Voyage of the Beagle

In this expansion, you get a series of linked scenarios.

Discovery Tokens

7 new Discovery tokens.

FAQ

Q: In the “Castaways” scenario, can you build the Mast more than once? Or is this a one-time use item?

A: It is a one-time use item. You play it and then put it on the pile.

Q: If I want to use the pot, I have to give 1 food during the night. Is it different than the 1 food that I eat?

A: Yes, it has to be an extra food resource that you spend if you want to use the pot. Also, note that you can use it only once per night.

Q: Can I use 2 candles for different builds on the same night? Or do I have to use them on different turns?

A: You can use different candles for different builds during one night.

Q: Can the game be played solo?

A: Yes, it can. There is a solo mode, and it also supports different scenarios.

Youtube

Conclusion

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island will take you on an adventure. You will feel that you are trapped with your friends on an island you cannot escape from.

Brilliant design enriches your gaming experience with this exploration adventure. Finally, you will be working as a team with your fellows, not against them. You will win or lose together. Make sure to take your time and work out a perfect plan to come to a common victory.

Buy your copy of Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island on Amazon here.