Return to Dark Tower | Board Game Review

[@Silversmith70]

I had the original when I was a kid. I used to just play with the tower by myself and honestly that was enough to ignite my imagination.

[@ndowroccus4168]

Omg, didn’t it hsve a single player mode? Or is my memory fuzzy? I used to play solo too

[@bataille23]

I had the original as a kid too. Sadly the parents sold it long ago. I remember it being so fun and unique that I also kickstarted the Return to Dark Tower. I love it as well. Very fun. Even recently bought an used original Dark Tower board game. The components were mostly complete and it stated the tower worked but ended up not working. I have had the App on my phone for a number of year and it’s way more reliable and even included the sound the machine makes when spinning around, which is great. Excellent review!

[@captcorajus]

yeah, I love the authentic sound of the machine spinning with appropriate pauses!

[@theyawningowlbear6758]

Finally, I got the boys together yesterday and gave this a go. For the 400 I spent, it was worth the price. Rules were quick and easy to learn, which was surprising how massive the game setup is at first glance. It was intimidating to look at at first. The game is really fun but also grim at the challenge it provides. We lost two games to corruption from the toll the game takes from losing warriors. Pro tip AVOID fighting the dragon 😂. All was well until I decided 30 warriors were enough to face off, and boy, was that a reality check. Tower can have a few rotation snags from time to time. I recommend taking the seals off on first linking and calibrating.

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

I had a friend who owned the original…we played this CONSTANTLY. I wish I could afford this update!!!

[@ZekeMM25]

I still have mine and it still works!

[@ArkTangentStudios]

Hey Capt! I just got the Goodman Games Re-Imagined Dark Tower from Judge's Guild. I searched for a Dark Tower Old-School Review on your channel and didn't see one for this classic module! Would love to see one in the future! Thanks!

[@captcorajus]

Its in the cue

[@leondus2000]

I hated being poor in the 80s 😢

[@apathyguy8338]

$70 in 1981 is equal to $240 today. So it's actually discounted if you think of it that way

[@captcorajus]

My thinking exactly!

[@johnnyo3535]

Thank you my liege. I used to love playing this when I was a kid!

[@KabukiKid]

Regarding the app staying in circulation... I think they said something to the effect that if they ever went under as a company, they promised a process to release the source code online to allow the game to continue the ability to be played.

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

Promises are nice, but if they did that now it would carry more weight. Many app driven promise similar and fail to deliver.

[@ktg8030]

This is the best god damn RPG channel on the web.

[@captcorajus]

Wow! Well thank you!

[@sumdude4281]

This is one of the best board games of ALL TIME!

[@derekstein6193]

Unrelated to the video, but I noticed something and I wonder if anybody else noticed. Captcorajus sounds like Dr. Demento. I swear they sound practically the same. I was listening on YT Music to some Weird Al tracks, and I ran across a couple where Dr. Demento on his show introduced Al. It really threw me off.

[@captcorajus]

Ove the years I've been doing this channel many viewers have commented that I sound like him. lol

[@ButcherSevenActual]

I always wanted the original and a buddy received it for Xmas that year. We played it all the time, it was great fun. I was interested in getting one of these, but after watching this review, I've changed my mind. The beauty of the original was in its simplicity, this seems needlessly complicated and I don't like the need for an app.

[@theyawningowlbear6758]

Me and two of my friends did board game night yesterday instead of usual rpg dice tossing. Classic Dune was the choice. I like it not so much into the franchise, yet, but the game was fun. Got me to wanting to do another board night and decided on this. Buddy... Just spent a 400gps investment on this...ouch my belt pouch. Base game, horde, alliance, and covenant expansions. Not counting accessories which im passing for now. They surely dont want much for this stuff lmao. Hopefully, when it gets here, it will pay off in the end. Seeing Wells do the commercial made me want to look into this even more. I have a drive for social interaction again, which video games only give so much of anymore.

[@captcorajus]

Wow, please check back and let us know how you liked it!

[@theyawningowlbear6758]

​@captcorajus Have a special request. Can you do a future video going into slightly more detail on how to play? I underestimated the SIZE of all four boxes. These finally arrived Monday lol.

[@simonacerton3478]

That is cool. Played the original version once back in the day. It was fun.

[@Acmegamer]

So, in today's dollars the original would have cost around $240.00. Woah. I think the new version if you enjoy it would be indeed worth the current price.

[@kevinbrennan-ji1so]

I like your recised rating scale. May I make a further suggestion - drop a new slot of ‘Great’ for 54-56 and leave 57/58 for Amazing.

[@captcorajus]

Great idea! I like it!!

[@matthewludivico1714]

Fun to see a television ad with Orson Welles

[@originaluddite]

I wonder what Orson Welles _really_ thought.

[@jamessmyth]

Thanks for telling us where to pick one up; the Amazon price is $100 more than their own store.

[@captcorajus]

Yes, I saw that! Crazy!

[@ndowroccus4168]

Omfg I loved this game…the noises from the tower!

[@dereklong801]

I wanted this so bad as a kid. Never got it, never knew anyone who had it!

[@bobkarstenson1792]

great review, thank you for the work....

[@BlackburnBigdragon]

I had the original when I was younger. It was one of my all time favorite games. Sadly, when I went to college, my dad moved and had a tag sale and sold it for a buck or two. I tried this new game and... I didn't really care for it. It's just... not the same.

[@captcorajus]

Awww Man, that sucks. The good news you can get the app for free. It took me a few months of careful ebay buying but I got all the components piece by piece and then made my own tower for my phone!

[@Neruomir]

I play board games for the IRL social aspect and that it's a surefire backup entertainment option regardless of power and internet access and that i can grab it off the shelf in 10+years and it's still playable. App dev's pull their support way to early in most cases and mobile software backwards compatibility sucks at the best of times so in short you replace an expensive broken electronic game by reinventing it as an expensive broken digital game. So a hard pass for me on that game.

[@captcorajus]

Which is WHY I waited so long to do this review. To be sure the app would be around awhile.

[@cpmf2112]

I loved the original, never had a chance to play Return though

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

Appreciate your take on this! As an app game, this is an extremely hard pass. Once an app is no longer updated regularly they delist. Phones dont last as long. Making this a prohibitively expensive product and one hell of an ask. I had the privilege to play this, once. It was a frustrating and tedious setup, and while the gameplay was fun by the time we all understood how to play we were screwed. It is an unforgiving game that requires little room for error. Interestingly someone released an RPG supplement. It is something fans would want though its an overpriced hardcover with little meat on the bones. Pages are largely whitespace, large font, etc.

[@Cameroo]

IT IS OK! I HAVE SLAIN THE GORVIL! *chokes*

[@larrygarms7230]

You’re about 2 years late with this review! Haha! RtDT is a fun game. Falls a bit short in scope …and the new tower is just okay. Still, good attempt at filling some VERY big shoes.

[@captcorajus]

Am I? At this point, we know the game is a success and is going to be around awhile. A good thing to be sure of when spending this much money for an app powered game.

[@jacobhope6164]

No frickin' way! I always wanted one of those!

[@richdenver8460]

Playing this on Saturday!

[@captcorajus]

Let us know how it goes!

[@VioletDeliriums]

i used to love this game when i was in school in the 80s.... thank you for telling us its back!!!!! woooooooh! :D ... PS...I like your table! however, you still need to work on your pronunciation of english words such as "homage" and "scion."

[@captcorajus]

No.. no I don't. But thanks anyway!

[@VioletDeliriums]

@@captcorajus hmm...that's not a typical response from you...are you ok?

[@ryanellis8784]

Please do a Retro Review of the I3-5 Desert of Desolation series of modules!

[@philmckay9973]

omg i remember that commercial

[@XDviper45]

I am interested in this game, but that near $200 price tag is hard to swallow.

[@TiagoHackbarth]

As much as I appreciate the effort of sating the nostalgia of the original players, my eyes glazed over when the setup of the ta table was being explained, even before getting to the rules. And the fact that it depends of a proprietary software being run on a smartphone just means that it will cease to function much earlier than the original towers.

[@captcorajus]

Nope. They have already said if the company ever ceased the software would be made public. So its really not an issue. Sorry about glazing your eyes though.

[@willieloomis5958]

I never played the original or remake. I thought about backing the first Kickstarter, but I watched The Dice Tower playthrough and it didn't look fun to me.

[@LB-yg2br]

10:14 thats not how you say scion. Its not sky-on, its like Psy-on

[@dbretton]

Way too complicated for my taste. I had hoped the remake would retain the simplicity of the original so as to provide something accessible for my kids. Alas.

[@beargameschannel]

I agree that it is a good game. Its not AMAZING, but it is good. My issue is that the tower, which is the focus of the original game and is LITERALLY in the title, is really superfluous to the game. It does nothing that could not have easily have been added to the app. I find it to be an AWFUL homage to the original for this reason! The game itself has nothing in common with the original except for some trappings that seem to have been deliberately added to keep it connected to the original property, much like using it's name. On its own it is a fine game; passable but not really offering much that's new. As an homage to the original, Return to Dark Paperweight fails in my opinion.

[@captcorajus]

I pretty much disagree with everything you're saying. Everyone I've played this with has had an absolute blast. The original tower game could be done with app and has been.. you don't even need the board or the pieces, its all done in app.... because that's the technology. Any board game can be done... in app now.... Risk, Monopoly, etc... so that doesn't seem to be a very useful objection. Finally, the original game, while fun was repetitive and basic. The number of options to Return means it has near endless replayability. A pretty important feature for any game, but especially one as pricey as this one. Sorry you didn't have a great time.

[@beargameschannel]

@@captcorajus I'm not sure you actually read my comment. You seem to be so quick to defend the game that you are perhaps only hearing what you expect to hear. I never said it was a bad game. In fact I say that it is a good game repeatedly. So if you do indeed "pretty much disagree with everything [I am] saying" then it is YOU who are actually saying it is a bad game. The only real negative critique I gave about the game was the use of the tower itself...which you curiously did not even address in your hot-headed response to my comment. The tower does a few VERY minor things. It lights up and plays a whooshing sound and it drops skulls onto the board meant to hamper the heroes in a minor and unnecessary way (a mechanic that is pretty much the same as their previously remade Fireball Island, so its not even original!) All of these effects could have been simulated thru the app. The sad fact is that you could lose the tower and remarket the game with some generic fantasy name like Darkforce Rising or something and you would still have exactly the same game! The tower, which is in the effing title, has no real point in this game. And yes, I am aware that it has a mode that lets you simulate the original game (an afterthought, I am sure). But why would I pay $200 just to play a game I already own?

[@jonhowland73]

The next remake by WoTC....