Discover: Lands Unknown | 5 in Five Review

Mike explores Fantasy Flight's "unique" survival game.
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[@arcubal]

I own all three of these 'type' of games and while, yes, I agree with everything Mike said, I find that if Discover is given a chance, it can change from being a shallow first play experience to an awesome long-term campaign experience. Sure, Robinson Crusoe comes with 6-7 scenarios straight out of the box and yes, 7th Continent has a higher density discovery quota, but Discover offers that raw and more realistic survival experience that the other games don't whilst being easier to get into. The real drawback is the corporate plan around it, where FFG insisted on making this a 'Unique Game' and banking on the goodwill of players to support a meager initial buy in anticipation of expansions...which now may not come due to the lukewarm reception of the gaming community.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I agree with you 100%. This could and SHOULD have been a powerhouse release with a bright future, but they shoved in a gimmick and essentially ruined it.

[@melodycross3309]

I just bought this at Ollie’s for $7 and am watching game reviews to decide if I should grab some more up as Christmas presents

[@OneStopCoopShop]

For that price, sure, grab a couple more :) As long as you don't have to ship them, cause then you'll ruin the whole value ratio!

[@unholycheeseburger]

Thanks. Just bought a copy at Princess Auto here in Prince George, BC, Canada for $15 Canadian! They have about 30 copies left!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Great price! Still amazed how many copies FFG printed of this. They definitely overestimated 😅😅😂

[@puddincupp]

Well, it's on sale at MM for $18, so I guess it's now a good price for the game. Thanks for the review

[@OneStopCoopShop]

puddincupp Oh heck yeah, it’s a steal at these low online prices lately. I wish I had paid that much...

[@ookamitsk8104]

Watched this review and picked this up for $13 bucks, so very much worth it! Thanks for the review!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

That’s a great deal!

[@bogwitchburke]

Several years later, my city has at least 3 copies of this at every Half Price Books for the price you mentioned. Just bought one to either keep or mine for parts Frankenstein style!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

FFG must have printed a ton! They never seem to stop showing up 😅

[@smellyelevator7709]

I didn’t realize how lucky I was to get this game for only $8!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Mike of the pat weeps for his misspent money 😜

[@keithhammons2605]

Robinson Crusoe is still my go to adventure game of this type.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Definitely a great game. I still adore the events that come back later.

[@daviddidomenico171]

I found a complete, unpunched copy at the thrift store for $6. Can’t wait to try it out! Obviously the previous owner was not interested and donated it.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Nice! As cheap as this tends to be in general these days, that's maybe the best price I've heard!

[@ianmiller3501]

I picked this game up for $4. Planning on giving it a try soon. Thanks for the great info! Glad I didn't spend $60 on it!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Should be great at that price 😅

[@b.c.eckhoff3495]

I totally agree. I enjoyed it and think it had huge potential, but it really hurt itself with the “unique” aspect. If they would have included more terrain types (which they could have since they produced them) and told a stronger narrative I think it would have been a huge hit. Plus now it would be difficult to make any sort of expansion as well.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I fully expect Fantasy Flight to drop the entire game; it'll probably be $15 on their holiday sale at the end of the year. And that's a bummer, since many of the mechanics are excellent. But hopefully it'll convince them to keep the "unique" idea confined to card games like Keyforge.

[@Shenaldrac]

"But don't have 50 hours to spend on 7th Continent?" Having just looked it up, I think a more pressing concern would be "but don't have $200 to spend on 7th Continent?" Seriously, that game looks expensive!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I think the core game (once the reprint is available) is more like $90 or $100. Still a lot, but you get so much content for the price.

[@Shenaldrac]

@@OneStopCoopShop Ah, okay. Being out of print is awful x.x

[@OneStopCoopShop]

True. But shouldn’t be too much longer, I think...maybe a few months, based on the KS updates I’ve received.

[@manaash4316]

I got this game at a liquidation store for $9 cdn. While I'm kinda sad that it means that the game didn't do as well overall as they'd hoped, I'm glad I got it at a good value.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Great deal!

[@adamthemute]

Bianca's in Winnipeg? I came here looking to see if the game is worth the $9 haha. Would you say so 2 months later that it is?

[@manaash4316]

@@adamthemute Bianca's in Edmonton 😆 I would say absolutely. I've only played it solo so far, and it's a neat setup.

[@rkcpek]

Somehow I imagine that this game was a conceptual trial run for another I.P. That FF already owns. Perhaps Runebound 4th edition? Swap out artwork and conflict mechanisms and voila, a new game.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

I liked a lot of the mechanics, so I kind of wished they did this.

[@mattlowder]

LESS THAN $20 RIGHT NOW ON AMAZON

[@OneStopCoopShop]

matthlowder I saw! It’s definitely worth buying at that price.

[@itiswho2]

Just picked this up at Ollie's for 7.99.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Great price!

[@Diabolik771]

7.99 at Ollies

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Pretty good price for what you get!

[@KinuGrove]

Got it $14 so not a bad deal

[@OneStopCoopShop]

TOTALLY worth it at that price. Hope you have fun!

[@blueoutside3394]

Found for 7.99. Lol. Would it be worth it to get another one?

[@OneStopCoopShop]

@@blueoutside3394 I dunno, play the first set and see how you like it. But that's a great price!

[@greyhawke115]

I think it's evident that this game was not designed with the "unique" aspect in mind from the beginning. I could be wrong, but it very much feels like an FFG producer went to 4 different game development teams and said "which one of you can incorporate this "unique" game element into your game and have it ready for release around the same time as Keyforge. Keyforge works because the unique elements of the game were baked in from the start. It feels completely developed and I feel like I have a complete game. Discover feels like they had a complete game designed, then somebody took 60% of it away and hid it behind a randomizer. I can think of half a dozen game ideas that have lots of potential with the unique printing elements, but they all have to be approached with that design element in mind at the core. Discover also put all of the wrong elements behind the unique mechanic. They took away core aspects of the game, and aspects that were already limited in number. If there were 20 different terrains and each game had included a unique combination of 12 of them, then I might feel more like I had a complete game. The name of the game is Discover, but I don't feel like I have much to uncover. As it is, I feel like I have chapter 1, and yet no opportunity to successfully purchase chapter 2. I think good unique games are possible, and I hope this particular one doesn't discourage someone from trying again with intent and passion.

[@OneStopCoopShop]

Couldn’t agree more with all you said!

[@vaspiou]

Meh, I'll pass for sure. I will stick with my 7th Continent!

[@OneStopCoopShop]

That's definitely the game I prefer! But there's a place for Discover in a more casual crowd, as long as you can get it cheap ;)

[@vaspiou]

this Unique game thing, as far as i can see, worked very well for keyforge. alot of money for asmodee. the discover : lands wont go far. keep up the good work! vassilis from Greece