Is 40 Years of Time & Inflation Worth the Wait? Return to Dark Tower Review (production Version)

I show you the ropes of Return to Dark Tower which is the new and improved version of the 1980's cult classic Dark Tower. Restoration Games did a great job making a new, gamer enthusiasts game inspired by the original!
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0:00 - Introduction
0:28 - 1 Minute Overview
1:47 - 1 Minute Final Thoughts
304 - Full Introduction
3:38 - Full Game Overview
14:39 - Full Final Thoughts
23:54 - Saxophone Serenade
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[@MistPassiert]

Very awesome! Waiting for my all in pledge to be delivered! The original game ran into legal trouble because the original designer pitched the game to Milton Bradley and they turned him down and then published it without his permission. He sued (naturally) and won, so production was halted after a very short period of time. That's what has made the original game so valuable to collectors. Pretty interesting background, if you ask me!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Oh wow I didn’t know that!

[@evilgeniusentertainment]

Still waiting on mine.... just played the original over the X-mas break, what a great game. If this new game captures even a little of the original's old magic, it should be a hit. Thanks for the review!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Oh it crushed the magic of the original in my opinion!

[@evilgeniusentertainment]

That's awesome news! Now if I could only get my hands on it.....

[@BassForever]

I have no nostalgia for the original, it was just one of those games like Fireball Island I always wanted but never owned. RG has my full trust so I went all in on DT. Happy to hear it turned out great.

[@Timereaver]

Excellent overview thanks!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Glad you enjoyed it Daryl!

[@TarotMage]

Thank you for such an informative overview!! Loving the Relic Hunter's look so he'll be my first character to play. I went all-in (I mean, REALLY all-in) so it will be a while before I receive my pledge. Thanks to this, I won't be totally lost when I get it. (insert original Dark Tower "Lost" graphic and music here) :D

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Awesome! Glad my video will help you when it arrives!

[@MrFless]

Thanks for the review about this amazing game...still have to wait here in Germany some more month...

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

You're welcome Mr. Fless! The wait will be worth it!

[@MechaJoezilla]

I can’t wait to get my Kickstarter!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

It will be fun!

[@kenfrmcape2355]

Same, went Azkol's Fourtine and the mat as well.

[@JhoffDJ.]

Thanks for letting us know!!

[@briansimmons1382]

I appreciate the thorough review. I had this game as a kid and loved it. I had zero interest in D&D and something like Dark Tower was cool and accessible for everyone. When they announced a sequel I assumed that wide appeal would carry over. If I"m understanding correctly, it sounds like the new one is really only geared towards hard core game people. If so, that's a shame. I'll still give it a shot when it arrives, but it sounds way too complex. And the tower seems nothing like the original - more like a well constructed skull dropper, glyph revealer. The original tower was the center of your attention. It doesn't sound like that's the case with this- it's more prosthetic. But again, I'll give it a shot.

[@nihlify]

I've seen people whose kids have played enjoyed it, I doubt it is only for hardcore gamers

[@steelbeard151]

I was worried about the complexity, but I backed it anyhow and I'm glad I did. Having played it now, I can say it isn't really any more complex than Pandemic. It does have a bit more of a learning curve, but that's actually because there are so many scenario options to choose from-- the adversaries all have different mechanics and there are different companions and different foes also. When you change these, each game will feel very different. But there are also a lot of things that do not change (player powers, gear cards, etc.) that you quickly learn to use so it's not as daunting as I first thought. I'm having a blast with it. My only criticism (and I still own and play my working copy from 1981) of this new version is that they removed a lot of the exploration feel from the original. In this one, you don't know which quests will come out, for example, but once the app reveals them, they are completely known-- you know what the reward is and what the penalty will be (if any) if you don't complete it. So it's more of a gamer decision about whether to pursue it. There is no "move here and explore this tomb and who knows what you will find?" sort of vibe as the original had. The dungeons have a little of that feel, since you can find loot in them, but again these have to be revealed by the app and so you might play a whole game and never see a dungeon, whereas the original had a tomb to explore in every kingdom. Still, they have limitless possibilities for expanding the content through the app alone, let alone with physical components too, and that's a big win that the original didn't have. I was worried I wouldn't like this because the tower didn't seem to have a central role, but I shouldn't have. The app doesn't dominate the game and the tower is suitably menacing and it is fun seeing what it will do next.

[@browe]

Like you, I owned and loved the original as a kid. Actually, I sold it through my local game shop to fund my Kickstarter copy. Your video + Rodney's have been just the thing I needed to bolster my patience while RG navigates the hurdles and headwinds of today's logistics uncertainties. Very nicely done video!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

Thanks Brian! Abs I think Restoration has done an amazing job with those logistical hurdles for such a big physically heavy game.

[@browe]

@@TheGameBoyGeeks Agreed! Their communication has also been stellar throughout. I know our friends in the UK + EU are champing at the bit to get their copies, too, but overall Restoration has put so much work into keeping people informed of the fulfillment progress.

[@Tydorstus]

Looking foward to mine as well

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

It will be worth the wait!

[@kimklisiak6421]

Great Video! I played the original a ton as a kid (and still have my copy), but like you I went back and played it when the kickstarter was going on and realized how bad the original game is by todays standards. Can't wait for my all in pledge to show up!!!!!

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

I’m sure you’ll enjoy it Kim!

[@HappyMOGS]

Great review, but I thought the dunking on the original was unnecessary. To each their own, but to call the OG Dark Tower a bad game is a bit much. It's a fun game, especially for its time, and modern games sometimes spend too much attention on coop versus competition.

[@JM-db8ez]

You can do both, so there you go. And the original one was fun--for it's time. It's dated now. This version is much more fun, overall. I played the original back in the early 80s and I've recently played the new version. The new version has more "game" to it, more diversity, more replayability--it's just mechanically better if not entirely innovative. However the mechanics used keeps the game moving quickly and creates a nice experience with the tower. I enjoyed it and will play more.

[@4strength]

Im a backer... only worry I have is the tower not functioning over time.

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

If they were ever to go under (which I never see happening) they mentioned they would put the source code in open source.

[@Braz__]

To be clear on that: The new game of the dark tower has nothing......nothing...to do with the old competitive Dark Tower, beside the fact that it shares a similar tower and shape of board. I really like the old Dark Tower and I don`t think at all that it`s awefull. It´s just another game. The old version was/is a competitive family game whereas the new version seems to target another player group. So tb honest: You canot compare the 2 games at all! There are just to different games.

[@bernan1]

The tower lights up...and spits out skulls. That's it? I really don't get people celebrating it. While the gameplay with the app might be awesome, the tower is just a big overpriced pez dispenser. Would've been better to have a cardboard tower and have the app do all the rest. Price would've dropped $100

[@Dinosaurprince]

Wow, they really bought you off. This game is a mess. It plays nothing like the original. Of course you have to bash the original to get you fake points across. It’s all app based. Great, that might still be working in a years time. There is no point to having the tower in this game, outside of spitting skulls? LOL. This isn’t the crappy old TMNT board game. This is sad. Where is the dragon? Where is the beast?

[@TheGameBoyGeeks]

The original is all random and only good as far as nostalgia will take you. If you watched the whole review I also said it’s nothing like the original as well. But that’s a good thing. The dragon and the beast are on the app where it can be handled in a much more intelligent way. Its to disagree and not like the new version but not on to assume I was bought off. Take your hater mentality elsewhere.

[@SiegeHearts]

Fellow viewer here, I just finished playing a 3 player game last night for the first time. I have never played the original so I cannot comment on that aspect. However, I will say that the game was exactly the standard of a modern board game I'd hope. The app aspect coupled by the tower made the game absurdly easy to teach and streamline. Does the tower just spit skulls? No, it reveals glyphs that change how you should think about your turn, it also rotates and changes where the gylphs and maybe skulls drop. The tower also reacts to what happens and easily alerts you with cues when a new foe appears or an event through lights and sound. As a graphic designer my biggest plus for this game was usability. From the character board to the cards, everything maintains consistency and informs you how a card or a turn works. Everything was taken into consideration when they made this, they even have a sheet that tells you exactly how to put things back into the box and what order to maximize the space! The game does have dragons and beasts, we actually fought a few last night... As GameBoyGeek said I am glad they went this route rather than a carbon copy of the original. I would be unhappy to pay for a "modern boardgame" that ran with game design and usability from the 80s. Based on your comments I can tell you have never played the new version and are making claims based on assumptions. This game is no where near a mess, actually the opposite, its really well polished.