The 7th Continent

The genius of Bruno Sautter and Ludovic Roudy’s game of early 20thcentury exploration is the way it moves its ‘game book’ onto a deep deck of square cards: text on the back, artwork on the front, turning each into a landscape-forming territory tile complete with its own challenges and boons. Like Legacy of Dragon holt, it’s designed as a co-op, but best appreciated solo (even if it does make its ‘paranoia’ mechanism redundant). There’s something about feeling like the sole survivor in a vast and hostile environment, racing against time to lift a deadly curse, that only heightens the game’s atmospheric qualities. Its deck-based system is easy to grasp (you can increase your chances of passing challenges by turning more cards, but when that deck runs out, you’re in dire straits), yet it’s deeply challenging. Full disclosure: I’ve never yet won the game. But I just can’t stop revisting…