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Xeni

Rebekah Weatherspoon

7.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

She just wanted to claim her inheritance. What she got was a husband… Xeni Everly-Wilkins has...

The Italian Teacher

Tom Rachman

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Rome, 1955 The artists are gathering together for a photograph. In one of Rome's historic villas,...

Paul Kellett (118 KP) rated Secrets of the Lost Tomb in Tabletop Games

May 1, 2019

Secrets of the Lost Tomb

2015 | Adventure, Exploration, Horror

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Tabletop Game Rating

Great stories (2 more)

Exciting gameplay

Great solo game with 1 hero

Rules are a little clunky in places (1 more)

Lots of little tokens to track everything

An Indiana Jones style adventure

Have you ever wanted to be Indiana Jones? Well now you can. Secrets of the Lost Tomb is an epic action adventure game in the style of 1930's pulp fiction.

Almost like a cross between Descent and Betrayal at the House on the Hill, you build the dungeon one tile at a time (from a large stack of room tiles) as you explore 3 levels trying to get to and defeat the boss and retrieve the quest item before the time track runs out.

All the creatures and events are automated making this a fully co-op game and action points are distributed evenly between the adventurers. There is also a special solo only character with a bunch of companions so you can play without having to take control of multiple characters if you wish.

I have now played through all the scenarios several times and this game is still on the top of My dungeon crawl list, it really does everything I wanted. With the base game and 7 expansions, there is a HUGE amount of content as well as rules to combine everything into a full campaign with character progression.

The scenarios are much more varied and interesting than other dungeon crawls. One mission you could be trying to stop a long dead pharaoh from coming back and spreading his evil in the world while the next mission might see you trying to stop Russian commandos from stealing Captain Nemo's submarine, The Nautilus. Each scenario has a 1930s pulp fiction feel to it and, despite the occasional typo, are very well written and thought out.

The scenarios have an introduction which sets the scene, a setup guide that tells you what tiles, creatures and items are specific to the story and need to be set aside and the win/lose conditions. There then follows a series of numbered sections which serve as chapters in the story. These are triggered by various events, normally by discovering room tiles with specific icons on them or by the comet track (which is the game's timer) hitting a certain point. This is a great feature and is easy to follow. I much prefer this to the way the quests are laid out in Descent 2e.

The scenarios are long and so far have taken nearly twice the specified amount of time as listed. That said, you are so immersed in the story and exploring the tomb, the game never feels like it is dragging or outstaying it's welcome. You just need to budget for 3-4 hours of play time per story although this does come down once you are familiar with the rules.

Yes, there are a lot of tokens and stats to keep track of, but I wouldn't say it detracts from the game or the feeling of immersion, especially after the first game or two and the fact that each player takes one action at a time going round the table until all actions have been taken means that there is less downtime than other games.

The AI is very well done with creatures moving and attacking the player with the most soul tokens (gained by killing creatures) so the most dangerous character will be the main focus of the enemy and you can plan your turn to have the right people positioned where they will be best protected/best used.

This is by far the best and most immersive dungeon crawl I've played and really has knocked Descent off as My go-to game of this genre.

Find out more about Secrets of the Lost Tomb and more at Everything Epic Games

Kudos

Blood on the Page

Thomas Harding

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

'Meticulous and gripping' Philippe Sands, author of East West Street A groundbreaking examination of...

Roxanne (13 KP) rated Farm Animals in Books

Nov 14, 2018

These books are so well made and full of different types of textures for your baby to touch. My baby girl is just over 3 months old and she loves this book! She hasn't long learned how to touch and grab but she holds onto this book for dear life! It's a really nice compact book so it doesn't take up much room if you need to take it with you for your little one. The corners are nice and smooth and so there are no concerns when your baby is waving her hands around at it. One of my favourite textures is the sticky mud puddle...when first going through the book I was so surprised it was so sticky! Very clever!
Your baby can learn about all different types of farm animals, like woolly sheep and soft, fluffy sheep dogs. I enjoy reading this to my baby and it keeps her interest for ages, I'd recommend this for all little bubbas who love books.