As soon as I saw this game I knew I had to have it. It’s like a cross between Escape the Dark Castle (theme/atmosphere) and DungeonQuest (tile laying). I love it - we played Halloween night by candlelight.
Bought this and played two games back to back - one solo and one with my bride. Loved it. Reminds me of a movie called 'The Descent' where unpleasant beasties lurk in the dark. Loving the gameplay and loving the artwork. My gripe is the internal storage for the game tiles - there is none!! Feels cheap. A simple plastic insert to protect tiles and the candles holder would have been much appreciated and negligible cost to the designers.
I backed this on Kickstarter, and my family of 4 loves it, although we mainly played it with 2 people (my daughter and I). It always seems to come down to the last few tiles if we win or lose. It's fun. I highly recommended people give it a try.
Ever since I saw this game last year, I fell in love and have been waiting to get my hands on a copy. The silent mode you described sounds even more amazing & I look forward to giving it a go with our group. Great review, very informative as always!
This game is so fun. Had a game where we couldn't get every character on the tile at the end. It was like seeing the exit but not ever being able to reach it. So frustrating
Thanks for sharing! I agree about needing house rules or going to BGG since the instructions aren't the best. We find the manual to be the most frustrating part. I also agree about playing with 2 people - perhaps it is better when everyone is silent when playing with 4 (unless adjacent), but we really enjoy strategizing together when we play with 2.
I've played it at two and four player, and I will say that I like four player. I think some might depend on the group for four players. We did talk about what to do, but not that much. I think that it's a great one that's easy to learn and also thematic.
I like this game. Have played solo probably 10 times. Played 2p once. Enjoyed both. I personally think this would be very expansion friendly. Throw some new tiles with like a sword or something cool to defend yourself and I’d 100% pick it up.
I wanted to love this game much more than I did. Thematically it's incredible and I think the production is really great for what it is. The pewter keys are awesome. But in execution, the luck is just too high and the fiddliness of remembering which tiles are illuminated and which aren't (especially as they wrap around the board) just takes too much of the immersion away. The variant of no communication without being next to someone is awesome but the game is unfortunately just one of those feels like it's too hard for reasons outside of players control (which is excellent thematically) but ultimately steals the agency from any victory. You win because you get lucky and it's a shame because I feel like this could have been one of those evergreen, it's Halloween so it's coming off the shelf games but it just didn't do enough to keep that position for me.
Thanks for reviewing The Night Cage, Alex! While I haven't played this at 4 (2 player only, but will likely play solo too), I can certainly understand the criticism. Perhaps, if at least some of the players were more experienced it might lessen the frustration, as more players will better understand the game patterns and justify certain choices (although that denies others the tactic discovery phase of this game). I'm not so sure the no speaking variant will help change your mind, as it's going to make players want to keep pawns close together, which in my experience, leads to getting hit by monsters at a higher frequency. The Night Cage is a game I really have enjoyed playing, even at just the standard difficulty. It's weight-to-time ratio is great, theme-mechanics blending is spot on, and still the puzzle still doesn't feel "solved" for me.
Love Sub Terra which is why I’ve held off on getting this. Sub Terra provides asymmetric powers that really lets you play differently. I would like to try this out.
I know this game is supposed to be dark but that’s what puts me off to it. I still want to play it but it lacks the allure of color. However, I love the candlestick! That was a phenomenal idea and it works perfectly with the theme.
@BoardGameCo, I highly recommend Sub Terra, you might find the decision space more engaging. Every time we've played it, it has ended on a knife's edge. Also there is the sense of dread that losing a character they are not coming back.
Have you seen the Deluxe Edition? For all the deluxification you seem to enjoy I'm surprised to see the retail edition on your table. Acrylic tiles, metal character figures and those metal keys!!! I agree with the comment below, paying with low light and candles makes going LIGHTS OUT carry actual weight.
I've seen the deluxe, but don't have it myself. And yes, the common trend seems to be that the people who love it most are really leaning into playing it thematically.
Interesting, the game Sub Terra (and if it ever arrives, Sub Terra II) are mechanically similar and they have a similar score on BGG with some of the same criticisms. I am wondering if this style of game is limited by its mechanics and if there is some improvements that can make the general game style better. I have Sub Terra and we like it enough to keep it. The game says it can be played with 6 but I never play that game with more than 2 otherwise just solo for the same reasons. Thematically the games are different but they may be limited by the mechanics and the luck of the tiles.
As soon as I saw this game I knew I had to have it. It’s like a cross between Escape the Dark Castle (theme/atmosphere) and DungeonQuest (tile laying). I love it - we played Halloween night by candlelight.
Playing by candlelight definitely seeks to be the way to go
Bought this and played two games back to back - one solo and one with my bride. Loved it. Reminds me of a movie called 'The Descent' where unpleasant beasties lurk in the dark. Loving the gameplay and loving the artwork. My gripe is the internal storage for the game tiles - there is none!! Feels cheap. A simple plastic insert to protect tiles and the candles holder would have been much appreciated and negligible cost to the designers.
I backed this on Kickstarter, and my family of 4 loves it, although we mainly played it with 2 people (my daughter and I). It always seems to come down to the last few tiles if we win or lose. It's fun. I highly recommended people give it a try.
Agreed on the last few tiles, always last minute
Ever since I saw this game last year, I fell in love and have been waiting to get my hands on a copy. The silent mode you described sounds even more amazing & I look forward to giving it a go with our group. Great review, very informative as always!
Thanks :)
Playing by candlelight with the official soundtrack, will raise the thematic nature of this through the roof.
Nice :)
This game is so fun. Had a game where we couldn't get every character on the tile at the end. It was like seeing the exit but not ever being able to reach it. So frustrating
Lol yep, sounds about right
Thanks for sharing! I agree about needing house rules or going to BGG since the instructions aren't the best. We find the manual to be the most frustrating part. I also agree about playing with 2 people - perhaps it is better when everyone is silent when playing with 4 (unless adjacent), but we really enjoy strategizing together when we play with 2.
Yep, I'm really glad I gave it a shot at multiple player accounts as my four player experience really wasn't ideal
I've played it at two and four player, and I will say that I like four player. I think some might depend on the group for four players. We did talk about what to do, but not that much. I think that it's a great one that's easy to learn and also thematic.
Definitely highly thematic, that's for sure
I like this game. Have played solo probably 10 times. Played 2p once. Enjoyed both.
I personally think this would be very expansion friendly. Throw some new tiles with like a sword or something cool to defend yourself and I’d 100% pick it up.
I love this game. Especially if you play some creepy music while playing
And by candlelight! :)
Yep :-) The general trend in the comments is that the people who love it are clearly the people who are leaning into the theme
I wanted to love this game much more than I did. Thematically it's incredible and I think the production is really great for what it is. The pewter keys are awesome. But in execution, the luck is just too high and the fiddliness of remembering which tiles are illuminated and which aren't (especially as they wrap around the board) just takes too much of the immersion away. The variant of no communication without being next to someone is awesome but the game is unfortunately just one of those feels like it's too hard for reasons outside of players control (which is excellent thematically) but ultimately steals the agency from any victory. You win because you get lucky and it's a shame because I feel like this could have been one of those evergreen, it's Halloween so it's coming off the shelf games but it just didn't do enough to keep that position for me.
Thanks for reviewing The Night Cage, Alex!
While I haven't played this at 4 (2 player only, but will likely play solo too), I can certainly understand the criticism. Perhaps, if at least some of the players were more experienced it might lessen the frustration, as more players will better understand the game patterns and justify certain choices (although that denies others the tactic discovery phase of this game). I'm not so sure the no speaking variant will help change your mind, as it's going to make players want to keep pawns close together, which in my experience, leads to getting hit by monsters at a higher frequency.
The Night Cage is a game I really have enjoyed playing, even at just the standard difficulty. It's weight-to-time ratio is great, theme-mechanics blending is spot on, and still the puzzle still doesn't feel "solved" for me.
Love Sub Terra which is why I’ve held off on getting this. Sub Terra provides asymmetric powers that really lets you play differently. I would like to try this out.
I know this game is supposed to be dark but that’s what puts me off to it. I still want to play it but it lacks the allure of color. However, I love the candlestick! That was a phenomenal idea and it works perfectly with the theme.
@BoardGameCo, I highly recommend Sub Terra, you might find the decision space more engaging. Every time we've played it, it has ended on a knife's edge. Also there is the sense of dread that losing a character they are not coming back.
Have you seen the Deluxe Edition? For all the deluxification you seem to enjoy I'm surprised to see the retail edition on your table. Acrylic tiles, metal character figures and those metal keys!!! I agree with the comment below, paying with low light and candles makes going LIGHTS OUT carry actual weight.
I've seen the deluxe, but don't have it myself. And yes, the common trend seems to be that the people who love it most are really leaning into playing it thematically.
Interesting, the game Sub Terra (and if it ever arrives, Sub Terra II) are mechanically similar and they have a similar score on BGG with some of the same criticisms. I am wondering if this style of game is limited by its mechanics and if there is some improvements that can make the general game style better. I have Sub Terra and we like it enough to keep it. The game says it can be played with 6 but I never play that game with more than 2 otherwise just solo for the same reasons. Thematically the games are different but they may be limited by the mechanics and the luck of the tiles.
Yep, to some extent the challenges that making it more complicated changes the entire game and what it's trying to be
Am I completely making this up, or did you say your Vagrantsong review was supposed to come out earlier this week?
I did, but schedules changed :) likely going up Tues.
Out of curiosity, I heard that Roll for the Galaxy fell flat for you,
I don’t have the game but what made you not like it that much?
Love this game
You can't out-luck your luck? Hold my beer.