We must unite to defeat the Tower once and for all..
I missed the original release of Dark Tower – by 1981 I was 16, and increasingly distracted by girls and music rather than games – but I can imagine the wave of nostalgia when Restoration Games announced this gorgeous new edition. This is what the company is all about – taking beloved favourites and restoring them to a better-than-original shine. And what a stunning job they did with Return to Dark Tower.
Because this game pretty much sums up all the reasons I was first attracted to the world of games. The classic fantasy theme, the amazing bits, the incredible production, the sense of adventure. And on top of all that there’s a huge electronic tower thing! Well, maybe not that last reason, but what a beast the titular tower is. I’m agog with wonder at how the team at Restoration Games tackled and completed this project – not least working out the rights with Milton Bradley (who, according to Wikipedia, originally ripped off an idea submission and subsequently had to pay out $700K in court).
The great thing that Restoration Games does is not just to re-release old games, but to make them as good as you remember them to be. And for anyone who has tracked down a game from their childhood and been disappointed when they finally played it again, that is a huge distinction. I’d guess that the original 1981 Dark Tower is a bit ‘meh’ compared to your childhood memories when you give it a spin, but this fantastic new version is going to be a treasured possession, much played, for many years to come.
The essential app component works so beautifully you hardly need a summary for this game, but it is handy as a rules refresher. It includes the Alliances expansions and Covenant expansions.
The link appears to be broken. When I click on it, it takes me to https://www.orderofgamers.com/downloads/ReturntoDarkTower_v1, but gives a 404 error.
Sorry, fixed.
Just watched your YouTube return to dark tower. This has definitely sparked my interest. Where can I get the rubber mat. Loved your video. Paul
It was a Kickstarter special item, but if you google ‘Return to Dark Tower neoprene mat’ I’m sure you’ll find people willing to sell you one!
I have a copy, but have yet to get it to the table!
I believe some updates are needed.
CORRUPTION
The corruption scenarios should be:
→ an effect tells you to lose warriors, spirit, items, and/or virtues that you do not have (warriors, spirit, items, and/or virtues could be replaced with “resources”)
→ an effect tells you to place one or more skulls on destroyed buildings
→ a building in your home kingdom is destroyed
→ an effect tells you to gain a corruption
“You cannot gain more than 1 corruption per event, battle card, or dungeon room…” should be “You cannot normally gain more than 1…” + “Building destruction and “gain a corruption” effects are exceptions to the one-per-effect rule and can result in multiple corruptions at once.”
BUILDINGS
Text should be “When a building is destroyed, the building and any skulls on it are removed from the game.” instead of “and the 3 skulls on it” as there could be more or fewer than 3 skulls when this occurs.
I’m not sure those clarifications are particularly essential, but I’ve made the changes anyway and updated the sheet. I left out the multiple corruptions clarification because that line of text doesn’t encompass those ways of gaining destruction, so the clarification is unnecessary. Thanks for your help!
Thank you!