Secrets of the Lost Tomb - Peak Thrash Madness

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This game sounds like a blast, and it also sounds like I want someone else to buy it.

Humorous There Will Be Games story about this one - Michael reviewed the first edition here years ago back when it came out. Overall it was negative due to all of the editorial problems and issues. The company actually hired him to edit portions of the second edition.

I was kind of interested Secrets of the Lost Station, which was their follow up sci-fi version. It seems to be riddled with issues though.

Everything Epic has great ideas and mediocre development. If you don't mind a substandard rulebook, slightly clunky mechanics, and a playtime that runs a little long, their games deliver great atmosphere and the illusion of narrative. They could be the next FFG if they had one great editor and did three times as much playtesting.

LOL yes I was briefly a freelance editor for EE. Chris is a good guy, he genuinely took my criticisms to heart and wanted to make a better product.
I don’t know if he used my edits or credited me, but I put quite a bit of work into it.

It’s a game full of heart and spirit that doesn’t quite do what it’s trying to do. Which is...everything. Epic.

hotseatgames wrote: This game sounds like a blast, and it also sounds like I want someone else to buy it.

I actually scored it for cheap in an auction along with a couple of expansions (one of which contained the immortal KEVIN DUSI). The usual eye-watering aftermarket rates for them reflects the cult status this thing has earned. I'll be interested to see what they offer with the third edition cos I think I want everything.

charlest wrote: Humorous There Will Be Games story about this one - Michael reviewed the first edition here years ago back when it came out. Overall it was negative due to all of the editorial problems and issues. The company actually hired him to edit portions of the second edition.

I was kind of interested Secrets of the Lost Station, which was their follow up sci-fi version. It seems to be riddled with issues though.

Sounds a lot like how I got hired for the Machina Arcana stuff. I love that smaller developers are this interactive with the community.

Shellhead wrote: Everything Epic has great ideas and mediocre development. If you don't mind a substandard rulebook, slightly clunky mechanics, and a playtime that runs a little long, their games deliver great atmosphere and the illusion of narrative. They could be the next FFG if they had one great editor and did three times as much playtesting.

I've only played this and Big Trouble in Little China (which I also loved-One of the best takes on a licensed property I've ever seen on tabletop), but I'm glad they aren't beholden to the kind of 'style guide' that renders FFG stuff so uniform and generic. Whilst BTiLC was definitely more polished, it still had a Kurt Russell sized charm to it. The scrappy underdog vibe of this one absolutely adds to the experience though. Whether by accident or design it transcends crappiness to become something enchanting.

Michael Barnes wrote: LOL yes I was briefly a freelance editor for EE. Chris is a good guy, he genuinely took my criticisms to heart and wanted to make a better product.
I don’t know if he used my edits or credited me, but I put quite a bit of work into it.

It’s a game full of heart and spirit that doesn’t quite do what it’s trying to do. Which is...everything. Epic.

I just checked out your review and I have to say that the 'kitchen sink' dissonance that irked you was probably the thing I liked best about this game. It's wild!

For context, the game I'm most enamoured with at the moment is probably Pax Pamir 2e. It's as close as it gets to what I would deem a masterpiece in terms of design and theme integration. I go to bed at night unpacking it in my head.

SotLT's contrast to that kind of professionalism and austerity has made this thing an almost perfect counterbalance for my group of late though. And the rickety beams and frayed seams are 1000% a big part of that. If ever we want this kind of experience we'll be reaching right over the top of Eldritch Horror et al to get to this one.

That nebulous, unquantifiable 'heart and spirit' is a huge factor. It's difficult to articulate why it's so damn endearing.

I'm with you on Big Trouble. I think it perfectly embodies the spirit of the film and it being published by Everything Epic was a perfect marriage.

charlest wrote: I'm with you on Big Trouble. I think it perfectly embodies the spirit of the film and it being published by Everything Epic was a perfect marriage.

Absolutely. It's actually my girlfriend's favourite out of the 100+ titles I have. The dice placement is just a very well executed novelty on top of a masterfully realised incorporation of the source material. We're yet to dig into the Legacy of Lo-Pan expansion but I look forward to even more OTT shenanigans within.

Excellent article and accurate in everything you said. I had it for a couple of years, before selling to get new blood on my shelves, and every game was great - a blast.
The scenarios book was very well written with the stories well wrapped with different myths and historical events. I had the second edition and I didn't find the rules an issue, baggies sorted out all the tokens, and loved all those a-la Betrayal at House on the Hill tiles.
Only two things I didn't like - they never (well unless it was in the many expansions) gave you much to do with the soul shards you earned slaughtering creatures and rerolling dice required you to reroll all of them, that made the game just a bit too difficult so we allowed rerolling just the ones you wanted (especially as you had to use hard to earn audacity for it).

I'm interested in getting a new edition if I have the chance of grabbing expansions, where did you hear about it and where should I keep an eye out ?

We never liked Big Trouble as much, although the dice mechanic was brilliant - part 1 was always too rushed to do much interesting (we tried variants with the Doom track to help) and part 2 was either too easy or too hard depending on what you found in part 1. And the rules were a bit muddle compared to Secrets so it wasn't a hard a decision to move that one on - but would easily play it again, and maybe even buy it again for the right price.

southernman wrote: Excellent article and accurate in everything you said. I had it for a couple of years, before selling to get new blood on my shelves, and every game was great - a blast.
The scenarios book was very well written with the stories well wrapped with different myths and historical events. I had the second edition and I didn't find the rules an issue, baggies sorted out all the tokens, and loved all those a-la Betrayal at House on the Hill tiles.
Only two things I didn't like - they never (well unless it was in the many expansions) gave you much to do with the soul shards you earned slaughtering creatures and rerolling dice required you to reroll all of them, that made the game just a bit too difficult so we allowed rerolling just the ones you wanted (especially as you had to use hard to earn audacity for it).

I'm interested in getting a new edition if I have the chance of grabbing expansions, where did you hear about it and where should I keep an eye out ?

Cheers man, yeah I rarely use the soul shards (or 'fanny points' as we christened them due to the iconography) but one of my friends relished racing back to the trader to cash his in for relics.

Official third edition wishlist thread by the creator is here. It sounds like its all but announced. The expansions are great as a game like this lives and dies in the variety. Just make sure you get the one with KEVIN DUSI!
Women want him, men want to be him.

boardgamegeek.com/thread/2600815/new-sec...rd-edition-wish-list