The 7th Citadel - Better than 7th Continent (Review)

[@Scotch5ailor]

The content is rolling in for Dungeon Dive and I'm loving it. Great video!

[@Sacred_Art_of_Gaming]

This reminds me that a 50 lb 7th continent box with all the kickstarter stuff is just sitting in my basement virtually untouched. I was so confident my group would love this game and I was wronggggg

[@COOPFORTWO]

I love 7th Citadel, and agree with the problems it fixed from 7th Continent that you point out (the punishing need to hunt, etc.). I also agree with some of your comments about the nature of passing tests and combat even more so, about it being a bit too much work and it feels like a micro-optimization puzzle that i understand why some people like, but for me it goes on too long and I just want to get back to exploration. What's interesting to me is that your suggestion to make the tests more of skill test dice rolls, would make it much worse from my standpoint. What I'd really like to see is someone figure out how to make the combat and skill tests of the EXPLORATION games feel more like quick interesting non-dice-rolling, non-drawn out grindy experiences. I want something where the "combat" and skill tests feel compatible with the feeling of strange exploration. Would love to discuss how one could do such a thing -- I don't have any great ideas but it feels to me like a missing piece of the puzzle i these kinds of games. -jesse

[@brykhousegames2189]

I'm working on a design that is much different take than anything I've seen in the BG Campaign RPG space. The main difference is I want a difficult game, that has an open world feel, a Character Roster system (not always playing the same character), and as part of that the ability for characters to die, not feel bad, and not have either "fail forward" or repeating any "mission". The main inspirations I have are from Diablo series (more specifically Diablo 2), and the Might and Magic RPG series (Not Heroes). Oddly enough I've watched both of your two's videos covering 7th Citadel and just started playing it last week. One thing in particular I'm interesting in seeing is the town developing mechanic.

[@Vequeth]

Like others here my copy is still in a box - just too daunting to get it out. Thanks for the review!

[@erikpeters7072]

Love this game probably my game of the year along with agemonia. So much fun to play and find it very simple to play and enjoy the tests and combat

[@samsmithmix]

Perfect timing on this vid. I just picked it up on ebay at a pretty reasonable price, but was still having buyers remorse... being a bit unsure about whether it was for me. But this vid has stoked some renewed excitement to play. So going to start on it this week. Nice one Daniel. Great work as ever!

[@new-dk6vk]

Your take on the massive card hoard was spot on, I tapped out of 7th Continent for exactly that reason. Should have been a video game.

[@TheDungeonDive]

I would LOVE this as a video game.

[@Darthus]

Agree 100%, this game is a bit of a slow burn and it takes a while to get used to its unique systems, but I as a gamer LOVE exploring a detailed world and lore, this nails that. Tip Daniel, get little sticky tabs that keep the cards together, they're reusable and reduce bumping the cards issue. i aslo got quite good at re-organizing the cards over time an didn't see it as an issue. I agree the stars system is a little wonky, but the fact that they can use the same system for so many different htematic checks AND combat is pretty amazing.

[@TheDungeonDive]

It’s the organization but the nearly constant manipulation of things. The game is constantly being paused.

[@pedrowayne4675]

Nice video… I haven’t played these but it looks like some of the card play may not be necessary… when you have aa certain card it tells you the next number to pull out … so the map is predetermined.. do you think you could accomplish this with a map book and a stories guide that would speak to map entries?

[@TheDungeonDive]

For what they wanted, cards really are the only way. As I mentioned, there are multiple versions of the same card so things change depending on the scenario and what the players have done. There might be like 10 different versions of the same 119 card.

[@blainroman7317]

Quite interesting. The game mechanics are unique and original. So much to discover but it looks to be cohesive, focused and fun. I hope the upcoming Story of Many which I backed will be like the 7th Citadel. I agree with you on most points you make. Where I differ is card play especially here where the cards are sorted is exciting wondering what you find. The physical aspect of finding, removing and returning cards makes no difference to me. The somewhat bookkeeping aspect of managing a town is what turns me off. Otherwise, looks good to me! Thanks for the video!

[@WilliamWilsonGrigory]

Great analysis, thank you! I have a quick question: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How should I go about transferring them to Binance?

[@fy8798]

It's pretty interesting. I like 7th Citadel but... I found it overall to be a side or downgrade to continent. Sure, the survival/hunting/crafting bit itself I don't miss that much, but what I absolutely miss is the navigation - 7th Citadel is a LOT more guided, and I think too much so. They listened too much to people who failed to read hints and think about navigation. So while it was a fun trip to the citadel, it was more like a guided tour, not a real adventure. Removing the survival aspects essentially meant it's just too easy to bumble over the place in the first place, you almost always have way more HP than you will ever, ever need and navigation itself being so easy (with the game very clearly telegraphing where you should go, and only a few instances of "go off the obvious path").

[@TheDungeonDive]

Yeah. I like easy games. I’m not good at games and don’t need to flex my gaming chops. Give me simple and easy and full of adventure every time.

[@the_Mike_d]

Great to see this. I love the 7th Continent - mainly how it feels like you're kind of playing a heavily modified version of a Fighting Fantasy game book, but I agree with so many of your criticisms - including the basic card play to resolve things. I suspect it's card based on not die rolling (like you suggest) because of its Euro-game design roots. I'm sure if a domestic publisher came up with a 7th Citadel clone, it would absolutely involve chucking D6s to resolve things. For me, both games are enjoyable because of the story - exploring and seeing new things. I never enjoyed the survival elements so having them out of 7th Citadel is definitely an improvement for me.

[@A.E.Konietzky]

I always had 7th Continent on my BGG Wishlist but never got around to snagging it. It looks way more interesting than Continent.

[@mikedunn9395]

I own 7th Continent and never got far with it. That makes me sad. I need to try again, I spent a lot of money on it.

[@ten_oclock_scholar4690]

I bounced off of this game, sadly. The push-your-luck card play is not interesting enough to sustain my attention, and the exploration is very much on rails. I found myself having to traverse the same paths over and over again to complete an objective or make it back to the Citadel at the end of the "day." In an exploration game, that's a big miss for me.

[@jonathana6298]

My all-in copy is still sealed… it’s on the pile of other games I impulse backed. 😅