Escape from Colditz: Difference between revisions
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{{about|the board game|the book|Pat Reid#Publications}} |
{{about|the board game|the book|Pat Reid#Publications}} |
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{{short description|Board game published in 1973}} |
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{{italic title}} |
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{{Infobox game |
{{Infobox game |
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| name = ''Escape from Colditz'' |
| name = ''Escape from Colditz'' |
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| image = File:Cover_of_1st_edition_Escape_from_Colditz_Gibson_1973.png |
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| image = Escape_from_Colditz_Box.jpg |
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| caption = |
| caption = Gibsons Games 1st edition box cover, 1973 |
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| years = 44 |
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| genre = Strategy |
| genre = Strategy |
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| players = 2–6 |
| players = 2–6 |
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| skills = Strategic Planning |
| skills = Strategic Planning |
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}} |
}} |
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'''''Escape from Colditz''''' is a |
'''''Escape from Colditz''''' is a [[board game]] produced by [[Gibsons Games]] of London in 1973 that simulates attempted escapes by Allied prisoners-of-war (POWs) from [[Oflag IV-C]] (better known as [[Colditz Castle]]) during [[World War II]]. Designed in part by a former POW who escaped from Colditz, the game was released during the first run of the popular television series ''[[Colditz]]'', and the game likewise proved popular. Licensed editions were published by [[Parker Brothers]] and a number of other companies. The game proved especially popular in Spain, and resulted in a Spanish-language sequel. |
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[[File:Escape_from_Colditz_Gibson_second_edition.png|thumb|right|Gibsons Games 2nd edition. The swastika has been replaced by an eagle]] |
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==Description== |
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From two to six players may take part in the game, one of which must always be the Germans; the others choose to be one of five nationalities ([[Allies of World War II|Allies]]) represented by different coloured playing pieces. Each Allied player has a number of prisoners under their control. |
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''Escape from Colditz'' is a board game for 2–6 players in which one player takes on the role of the German security officer at Colditz, and the other players represent the various nationalities of POWs being held there who are trying to find the means to escape.<ref name=gp29 /> |
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===Components=== |
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Historically, during the war, the guards were always outnumbered by the prisoners, and there were no American POWs until very late in the war. The order of movement begins with the player to the German player's left and proceeds clockwise about the table. The Germans always move last in the sequence. Once one round is over, play repeats at the German player's left and continues until the game is over. |
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The game box contains:<ref name=mbg /> |
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* The game board, covered with a grid of linked circles, is a pictorial plan of Colditz Castle showing the inner and outer courtyards, various rooms, safe areas, cells, and barracks. |
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* Five sets of eight tokens representing five nationalities of POWs. |
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* One set of sixteen black tokens representing the German guards. |
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* Five "Personal Escape Kit" cards |
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* Five "Do or Die" cards |
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* 27 "Escape Equipment" cards |
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* 43 "Escape Opportunity" cards |
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* 14 "Security Opportunity" cards |
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* rules sheet |
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* two six-sided dice |
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* historical account of the castle's role as a POW camp during World War II |
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===Set up=== |
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The playing pieces are moved by the score on the throw of two dice. Doubles allow the player an additional throw. No player is required to use any or all moves and the movement allowance can be split between two or more of his pieces. They cannot be saved for later turns or transferred to other players. |
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* One player agrees to be the German Security Officer, and places some of the black tokens on designated spots on the board, and the rest in the barracks. The other players are Escape Officers; each chooses one of the nationalities of POWs and places their tokens on indicated spots on the Parade Ground in the inner courtyard. (The number of guards and POWs will vary according to the number of players.)<ref name=mbg /> |
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* A "Do or Die" card is dealt facedown to each Escape Officer. This card remains facedown and unknown to all until played.<ref name=mbg /> |
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* A time limit is agreed to by all players, as well as the number of successful escapes required for victory.<ref name=mbg /> |
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In order to escape, each prisoner must first obtain an "escape kit", composed of food, disguise, compass and forged papers by visiting various rooms in the castle or by using "Opportunity Cards". Once collected, this kit is not lost or expended. |
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The first active player is the the one sitting to the left of the German Security Officer. Play continues around the table to the left, with the Security Officer always moving last.<ref name=mbg /> |
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====Movement==== |
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Other equipment or materials must also be obtained in order for a player to make a successful escape attempt: wire cutters; lengths of rope; forged passes; and keys. These are gained, like the escape kit, by visiting rooms or using Opportunity Cards. Unlike the escape kit, these cards can be confiscated at certain times by the German player and once used are expended and placed back in the pile. |
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The active player rolls two dice and can move any or all of their POws, the total movement of the POWs equalling the total on the dice. If the player rolls doubles, they can roll again and add the second roll to their movement total. If the player rolls a 3, 7 or 11, the player takes an "Escape Opportunity" card (Escape Officer) or "Security Opportunity" card (Security Officer).<ref name=mbg /> |
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====Obtain personal escape kit==== |
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First, Escape Officers must obtain the four elements that make up a Personal Escape Kit: food, disguises, maps, and a compass. Symbols representing these are scattered around the castle in various rooms. An Escape Officer must maneuver POWs so that they are simultaneously in four rooms containing the four different symbols. Once this is accomplished, the Escape Officer receives a "personal Escape Kit" card.<ref name=mbg /> The guards at this point do not have the power of arrest, so can only block doorways in an attempt to slow down the POWs.<ref name=gp29 /> |
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====Obtain escape equipment==== |
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Opportunity cards (taken from a shuffled pile) are gained on a roll of 3, 7 or 11 (not counting rerolls due to double throws). These present the player with additional opportunities for escape. Some cards allow "free" equipment to be gained (without visiting the rooms required). Additional cards allow players to use one of the three tunnels shown on the map, hide escape equipment to avoid confiscation, steal the Staff Car, move to safe hideaways, escape solitary or avoid being shot during an escape attempt. Players may keep their opportunity cards secret or secretly show each other their hands in order to assist each other's escapes. |
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Each different escape route requires specific pieces of escape equipment. Once an Escape Officer has a Personal Escape Kit, and has decided on a route, they must attempt to pick up the required pieces of equipment, by either moving two POWs into a room with the symbol of the desired piece of equipment, or moving two POWs into two different rooms containing the same symbol. Escape Officers can also obtain desired equipment by trading Equipment cards with other Escape Officers. If a guard sees a POW entering or exiting a forbidden room, a guard can arrest the POW by moving a guard into the same circle as the POW. Likewise, a POW can voluntarily offer themselves up for arrest. The POW is sent to the cells for solitary confinement, while the guard immediately returns to the barracks. If the arrest happens in the outer courtyard, the Escape Officer must forfeit an Equipment card. The POW in the cells is released if the Escape Officer rolls doublkes, or plays an appropriate Opportunity card.<ref name=mbg /> |
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[[File:Escape_from_Colditz_Dutch_edition.png|thumb|right|Cover of Dutch edition, titled ''Colditz'']] |
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On the German player's turn, a 3, 7, or 11 results in that player taking a 'Security Card' rather than an Opportunity Card. These allow the German player to undertake counter-escape actions, such as "Shoot to Kill", "Detect Tunnel", call an "Appell" (a counting parade forcing all pieces back to starting positions), or perform searches. Once used, Security and Opportunity Cards are discarded. |
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====Attempted escape==== |
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Once the Escape officer has obtained the proper equipment, one of their POWs can attempt to escape. As each piece of equipment is used in the attempt, the Equipment card is returned to the deck. Once the POW has made it past the castle wall, the POW attempts to get to one of the target areas on the edge of the board as quickly as possible. If the POW successfully reaches a target area without being arrested or shot, the POW is deemed to have escaped.<ref name=mbg /> |
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====Do or die==== |
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Playing pieces caught while escaping, in possession of equipment or found in unauthorized parts of the castle can be put in solitary (a series of rooms on the board) for a few turns to temporarily reduce the number of pieces available to the player. Pieces shot while attempting to escape are removed permanently. |
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As a last resort, an Escape Officer may elect to use the "Do or Die" card, which allows for one escape attempt without the need for any Equipment. Turning over the "Do or Die" card reveals a number between 3 and 7. This is how many dice rolls the player is allowed to make in attempting to move one chosen POW towards a target area. The player rolls the dice the number of times indicated (rolling again if doubles are rolled). If the total of all rolls equals or exceeds the amount of movement the chosen POW needs to reach a target area, the POW successfully escapes. If the amount of movement generated is not enough for the POW to reach a target area, the escape attempt fails and that player is out of the game.<ref name=mbg /> |
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=== |
===Victory conditions=== |
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If any player reaches the agreed-to number of successful escapes, the game is over and that player is the winner. If the time limit is reached before any player has made the required number of escapes, the German Security Officer player is the winner.<ref name=mbg /> |
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Once players have decided upon an escape route and obtained the necessary cards, they proceed along routes about the castle expending equipment and cards to reach the edge of the map before being caught by a German piece. The German player meanwhile moves his guards about the board, attempting to deduce the meaning of players movements and then react once an escape is underway. False preparations can be used to confuse the German player (say by assembling many pieces in a tunnel room as if about to use the tunnel) while other pieces make the real attempt elsewhere. Alternatively, players may conspire to agree to start all their escapes on the same turn in widely separate sections of the board to overwhelm the German ability to catch them all. |
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==Tactics== |
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Escapes, their planning and execution, tend to be a dynamic process. As many cards are obtained by randomly selected Opportunity cards, plans can change quickly when "choice" cards are obtained. Likewise, long-prepared escapes can be ruined before begun when the German player suddenly calls an Appell or performs a search, confiscating vital hoarded equipment and placing the piece(s) in solitary. Poorly cooperating players can ruin each other's attempts as well. |
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In the book ''The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games'', John Humphries suggests that since the German Security Officer wins if the POWs run out of time, it is important to try to delay the POW escape plans by deploying the guards effciently, watching doors to prevent POWs from entering rooms to gain equipment, especially those doors that gain access to more than one room. Arresting as many prisoners as possible after they have filched equipment puts them in solitary confinement for a period of time, reducing the POWs available to the Escape Officers. Humphries also suggests keeping a written tally of the equipment owned by each Escape Officer to try to analyze which escape route is being contemplated.<ref name=mbg /> |
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For the Escape Officers, Humphries suggests that obtaining their Personal Escape Kit card as soon as possible is essential. He also suggests collecting more escape equipment than is necessary, rather than trying to make do with just enough equipment. Avoiding guards (and subsequent arrest) is essential, but sometimes sending a POW to deliberately get arrested is necessary, since the guard is returned to the barracks after taking the prisoner to the cells, potentially leaving a door unguarded for a second POW to move through. Finally, Hunphries suggests that the Escape Officer design several phony escapes as diversions to occupy the guards before unveiling the actual escape plan. Humphries's concluding words of advice are, "first, keep on the move and second, plan escape attempts carefully."<ref name=mbg /> |
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===Ending the game=== |
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The game is given a time limit or a target of escaped prisoners (usually the first to two) with the objective of the player operating the guards being to limit or stop the escape attempts. |
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[[File:Cover_of_Fuga_de_Colditz_board_game.png|thumb|right|Spanish edition ''Fuga de Colditz'']] |
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A final option (used normally as the time limit approaches) is to perform a "Do or Die". A special card is taken which details how many die rolls are used (from three to seven 2-dice throws). These throws are made and summed (doubles again allow rerolls, no opportunity cards are taken) and if the result is enough to reach an escape target in a single bound (no escape equipment needed), then the escape is successful. If not, the ''entire'' team is removed from play. |
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==Publication history== |
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In 1972, [[BBC]] produced ''Colditz'', a television series about Allied POWs imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle and their many attempts to escape. The TV series proved popular in the UK, and former Colditz POW and escapee [[Pat Reid|Major Pat Reid]], who had written several books about his wartime experiences, co-designed a board game with Bob Brechin and Brian Degas as an official licensed tie-in to the TV series. The game, ''Escape from Colditz'', was published in the UK by Gibsons Games in 1973. It was also published in North America by Parker Brothers the same year. The original box of both these editions featured a [[swastika]]; in later editions, this was replaced by an ''[[Reichsadler]]'' (Imperial eagle). The game proved to be very popular. |
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A Spanish edition, ''Fuga de Colditz'', sold very well in Spain, and Major Reid designed a sequel, ''Después de Colditz'' (''After Colditz''), in which the POWs who escaped from Colditz try to make their way to Switzerland, Spain, Sweden or England.<ref name=achtung /> |
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==Adaptations== |
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The original board game featured a German [[swastika]] on the box. Later editions replaced it with an [[Reichsadler|Imperial eagle]]. |
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An [[Amiga]] computer game titled ''Escape from Colditz'' was created in 1990 by [[Digital Magic]]. Based on the board game, it required the player to help four prisoners escape by exploring the castle, finding equipment, solving puzzles and digging a tunnel.<ref>{{cite magazine| last = Lassen| first = Nils| title = Escape from Colditz: Digital Magic genåbner fange-lejr| magazine= Amiga Magasinet| issue = 1| pages = 35| date = July 1991| language = Swedish }}</ref> |
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A [[computer game]] was also produced, based on the board game. It was a graphical [[Action game|Action]] and [[Adventure game]] released in 1991, by [[Digital Magic]], for the [[Amiga]] platform. It is played with a combination of joystick and keyboard, whereby the player controls the four prisoners, one at a time, switching between them freely using the F1-F4 keys. Guards patrol most zones of the prison day and night. There are curfews and there are calls for recounting the prisoners in the courtyard. Violating them would mean getting arrested into solitary cells; resisting would mean getting killed by the guards, who are quite skilled with guns. |
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''Colditz Escape!'', an [[Open Source]] [[game engine recreation]], was created by Aperture Software in 2009. The engine is available for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Linux]], [[MacOS]] and [[PlayStation Portable]]. |
''Colditz Escape!'', an [[Open Source]] [[game engine recreation]], was created by Aperture Software in 2009. The engine is available for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[Linux]], [[MacOS]] and [[PlayStation Portable]]. |
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A new edition of the game, with new artwork and updated rules, was released in October 2016 by [[Osprey Games]]. |
A new edition of the board game, with new artwork and updated rules, was released in October 2016 by [[Osprey Games]]. |
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In 1972, [[Invicta Plastics]] published an unrelated board game designed by 18-year-old Adrian Wild titled ''Escape from Colditz Castle''. Although that game proved popular, selling 130,000 copies, it was quickly forgotten once ''Escape from Colditz'' was released by Gibsons Games the following year. |
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== |
==Reception== |
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In Issue 29 of ''Games & Puzzles'', John Hunmphries thought the board was "well designed". He noted that "as the game progresses and escape plans near fruition, it can become quite tense for the players concerned, hoping that they will not be caught at the last minute." However, Humphries found that "the rules are atrociously compiled, full of errors, omissions and anomalies." Despite this, he gave the game a rating of 4 out of 6, saying, "''Escape from Colditz'' should provide many hours of enjoyment for most members of the family."<ref name="gp29">{{Cite magazine |last=Humphries|first=John |date=October 1974 |title=Games View |magazine=Games and Puzzles |issue=29|pages=14}}</ref> |
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*''Games and Puzzles''<ref>https://archive.org/details/sim_games-and-puzzles_1974-10_29/page/14/mode/2up</ref> |
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In the book ''Achtung Schweinhund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat'', journalist [[Harry Pearson (journalist)|Harry Pearson]] noted the one problem he had with the game: "''Escape from Colditz'' was hugely popular, but it had one major defect — someone had to be the Germans. While the Allied players got to run around the castle hoping to nick the stall car, collecting skeleton keys and wire cutters and hoarding Red Cross cigarettes with which to bribe the guards, the German player just marched around with his dogs hoping to fall into a tunnel."<ref name=achtung>{{cite book| last = Pearson | first = Harry| author-link = Harry Pearson (journalist)| title = Achtung Schweinhund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat| publisher = Little, Brown| date = 2007| location = London| pages = 192}}</ref> |
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In ''The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games'', John Humphries said the game "should be played for fun and in fact can be very amusing as well as frustrating and tense at times. Tension can certainly be created when an escape attempt is 'on', and hunter and hunted are both in full cry." He concluded, "The game does not and could not recreate the sense of hopelessness and deprivation exprienced by most prisoners of war, but in fairness does not claim to be a true simulation of the actual period, emphasising rather the spirit of co-operation between prisoners."<ref name=mbg>{{cite book| last = Humphries | first = John| contribution= Escape from Colditz| editor-last = Pritchard| editor-first = David| title = The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games| publisher = William Lascombe| date = 1975| location = London| pages = 140–144}}</ref> |
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==Other reviews and commentary== |
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*''The Gamer'' #2 (September-October 12981) |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[Category:Amiga games]] |
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[[Category:Colditz Castle]] |
[[Category:Colditz Castle]] |
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[[Category:Linux games]] |
[[Category:Linux games]] |
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[[Category:MacOS games]] |
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[[Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom]] |
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[[Category:Works set in castles]] |
[[Category:Works set in castles]] |
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Revision as of 08:21, 10 January 2023
 Gibsons Games 1st edition box cover, 1973 | |
| Genres | Strategy |
|---|---|
| Players | 2–6 |
| Setup time | 10 minutes |
| Playing time | 90 mins to three hours |
| Chance | Dice rolls |
| Skills | Strategic Planning |
Escape from Colditz is a board game produced by Gibsons Games of London in 1973 that simulates attempted escapes by Allied prisoners-of-war (POWs) from Oflag IV-C (better known as Colditz Castle) during World War II. Designed in part by a former POW who escaped from Colditz, the game was released during the first run of the popular television series Colditz, and the game likewise proved popular. Licensed editions were published by Parker Brothers and a number of other companies. The game proved especially popular in Spain, and resulted in a Spanish-language sequel.
Description
Escape from Colditz is a board game for 2–6 players in which one player takes on the role of the German security officer at Colditz, and the other players represent the various nationalities of POWs being held there who are trying to find the means to escape.[1]
Components
The game box contains:[2]
- The game board, covered with a grid of linked circles, is a pictorial plan of Colditz Castle showing the inner and outer courtyards, various rooms, safe areas, cells, and barracks.
- Five sets of eight tokens representing five nationalities of POWs.
- One set of sixteen black tokens representing the German guards.
- Five "Personal Escape Kit" cards
- Five "Do or Die" cards
- 27 "Escape Equipment" cards
- 43 "Escape Opportunity" cards
- 14 "Security Opportunity" cards
- rules sheet
- two six-sided dice
- historical account of the castle's role as a POW camp during World War II
Set up
- One player agrees to be the German Security Officer, and places some of the black tokens on designated spots on the board, and the rest in the barracks. The other players are Escape Officers; each chooses one of the nationalities of POWs and places their tokens on indicated spots on the Parade Ground in the inner courtyard. (The number of guards and POWs will vary according to the number of players.)[2]
- A "Do or Die" card is dealt facedown to each Escape Officer. This card remains facedown and unknown to all until played.[2]
- A time limit is agreed to by all players, as well as the number of successful escapes required for victory.[2]
Gameplay
The first active player is the the one sitting to the left of the German Security Officer. Play continues around the table to the left, with the Security Officer always moving last.[2]
Movement
The active player rolls two dice and can move any or all of their POws, the total movement of the POWs equalling the total on the dice. If the player rolls doubles, they can roll again and add the second roll to their movement total. If the player rolls a 3, 7 or 11, the player takes an "Escape Opportunity" card (Escape Officer) or "Security Opportunity" card (Security Officer).[2]
Obtain personal escape kit
First, Escape Officers must obtain the four elements that make up a Personal Escape Kit: food, disguises, maps, and a compass. Symbols representing these are scattered around the castle in various rooms. An Escape Officer must maneuver POWs so that they are simultaneously in four rooms containing the four different symbols. Once this is accomplished, the Escape Officer receives a "personal Escape Kit" card.[2] The guards at this point do not have the power of arrest, so can only block doorways in an attempt to slow down the POWs.[1]
Obtain escape equipment
Each different escape route requires specific pieces of escape equipment. Once an Escape Officer has a Personal Escape Kit, and has decided on a route, they must attempt to pick up the required pieces of equipment, by either moving two POWs into a room with the symbol of the desired piece of equipment, or moving two POWs into two different rooms containing the same symbol. Escape Officers can also obtain desired equipment by trading Equipment cards with other Escape Officers. If a guard sees a POW entering or exiting a forbidden room, a guard can arrest the POW by moving a guard into the same circle as the POW. Likewise, a POW can voluntarily offer themselves up for arrest. The POW is sent to the cells for solitary confinement, while the guard immediately returns to the barracks. If the arrest happens in the outer courtyard, the Escape Officer must forfeit an Equipment card. The POW in the cells is released if the Escape Officer rolls doublkes, or plays an appropriate Opportunity card.[2]
Attempted escape
Once the Escape officer has obtained the proper equipment, one of their POWs can attempt to escape. As each piece of equipment is used in the attempt, the Equipment card is returned to the deck. Once the POW has made it past the castle wall, the POW attempts to get to one of the target areas on the edge of the board as quickly as possible. If the POW successfully reaches a target area without being arrested or shot, the POW is deemed to have escaped.[2]
Do or die
As a last resort, an Escape Officer may elect to use the "Do or Die" card, which allows for one escape attempt without the need for any Equipment. Turning over the "Do or Die" card reveals a number between 3 and 7. This is how many dice rolls the player is allowed to make in attempting to move one chosen POW towards a target area. The player rolls the dice the number of times indicated (rolling again if doubles are rolled). If the total of all rolls equals or exceeds the amount of movement the chosen POW needs to reach a target area, the POW successfully escapes. If the amount of movement generated is not enough for the POW to reach a target area, the escape attempt fails and that player is out of the game.[2]
Victory conditions
If any player reaches the agreed-to number of successful escapes, the game is over and that player is the winner. If the time limit is reached before any player has made the required number of escapes, the German Security Officer player is the winner.[2]
Tactics
In the book The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games, John Humphries suggests that since the German Security Officer wins if the POWs run out of time, it is important to try to delay the POW escape plans by deploying the guards effciently, watching doors to prevent POWs from entering rooms to gain equipment, especially those doors that gain access to more than one room. Arresting as many prisoners as possible after they have filched equipment puts them in solitary confinement for a period of time, reducing the POWs available to the Escape Officers. Humphries also suggests keeping a written tally of the equipment owned by each Escape Officer to try to analyze which escape route is being contemplated.[2]
For the Escape Officers, Humphries suggests that obtaining their Personal Escape Kit card as soon as possible is essential. He also suggests collecting more escape equipment than is necessary, rather than trying to make do with just enough equipment. Avoiding guards (and subsequent arrest) is essential, but sometimes sending a POW to deliberately get arrested is necessary, since the guard is returned to the barracks after taking the prisoner to the cells, potentially leaving a door unguarded for a second POW to move through. Finally, Hunphries suggests that the Escape Officer design several phony escapes as diversions to occupy the guards before unveiling the actual escape plan. Humphries's concluding words of advice are, "first, keep on the move and second, plan escape attempts carefully."[2]
Publication history
In 1972, BBC produced Colditz, a television series about Allied POWs imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle and their many attempts to escape. The TV series proved popular in the UK, and former Colditz POW and escapee Major Pat Reid, who had written several books about his wartime experiences, co-designed a board game with Bob Brechin and Brian Degas as an official licensed tie-in to the TV series. The game, Escape from Colditz, was published in the UK by Gibsons Games in 1973. It was also published in North America by Parker Brothers the same year. The original box of both these editions featured a swastika; in later editions, this was replaced by an Reichsadler (Imperial eagle). The game proved to be very popular.
A Spanish edition, Fuga de Colditz, sold very well in Spain, and Major Reid designed a sequel, Después de Colditz (After Colditz), in which the POWs who escaped from Colditz try to make their way to Switzerland, Spain, Sweden or England.[3]
An Amiga computer game titled Escape from Colditz was created in 1990 by Digital Magic. Based on the board game, it required the player to help four prisoners escape by exploring the castle, finding equipment, solving puzzles and digging a tunnel.[4]
Colditz Escape!, an
A new edition of the board game, with new artwork and updated rules, was released in October 2016 by Osprey Games.
In 1972, Invicta Plastics published an unrelated board game designed by 18-year-old Adrian Wild titled Escape from Colditz Castle. Although that game proved popular, selling 130,000 copies, it was quickly forgotten once Escape from Colditz was released by Gibsons Games the following year.
Reception
In Issue 29 of Games & Puzzles, John Hunmphries thought the board was "well designed". He noted that "as the game progresses and escape plans near fruition, it can become quite tense for the players concerned, hoping that they will not be caught at the last minute." However, Humphries found that "the rules are atrociously compiled, full of errors, omissions and anomalies." Despite this, he gave the game a rating of 4 out of 6, saying, "Escape from Colditz should provide many hours of enjoyment for most members of the family."[1]
In the book Achtung Schweinhund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat, journalist Harry Pearson noted the one problem he had with the game: "Escape from Colditz was hugely popular, but it had one major defect — someone had to be the Germans. While the Allied players got to run around the castle hoping to nick the stall car, collecting skeleton keys and wire cutters and hoarding Red Cross cigarettes with which to bribe the guards, the German player just marched around with his dogs hoping to fall into a tunnel."[3]
In The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games, John Humphries said the game "should be played for fun and in fact can be very amusing as well as frustrating and tense at times. Tension can certainly be created when an escape attempt is 'on', and hunter and hunted are both in full cry." He concluded, "The game does not and could not recreate the sense of hopelessness and deprivation exprienced by most prisoners of war, but in fairness does not claim to be a true simulation of the actual period, emphasising rather the spirit of co-operation between prisoners."[2]
Other reviews and commentary
- The Gamer #2 (September-October 12981)
References
- ^ a b c Humphries, John (October 1974). "Games View". Games and Puzzles. No. 29. p. 14.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Humphries, John (1975). "Escape from Colditz". In Pritchard, David (ed.). The Games & Puzzles Book of Modern Board Games. London: William Lascombe. pp. 140–144.
- ^ a b Pearson, Harry (2007). Achtung Schweinhund!: A Boy's Own Story of Imaginary Combat. London: Little, Brown. p. 192.
- ^ Lassen, Nils (July 1991). "Escape from Colditz: Digital Magic genåbner fange-lejr". Amiga Magasinet (in Swedish). No. 1. p. 35.