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. We can, in part, agree that “they don’t make them like they used to” but at least we know the new edition still has wooden pawns!

A PoW, when released from the outer cells (Section 4 of the board) may only re-enter the Prisoner's Courtyard through the 'Pass' circle. Watching carefully what the PoWs are doing, upon his turn and having thrown the dice, moves his men similarly to the Escape Officers, circle to circle, up to the total dice throw. In 1972, Invicta Plastics published an unrelated board game designed by 18-year-old Adrian Wild titled Escape from Colditz Castle.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. The map and clever use of the Opportunity Cards afford many avenues of escape, and there is only so much a determined German player can do to deter what seems to be an inevitable outcome. PoW teams aim to obtain Escape Kit and Escape Equipment, both essential to making an escape attempt.

In Escape from Colditz, playing the role of adversary is the German Security Officer who will spend turns maneuvering prison guards into positions that are a detriment to the conniving Escape Officers. For starters the only truly hidden information is what Security and Opportunity cards are being held, so the Security Officer is always aware of what equipment players are picking up. Waiting for the proper moment, my friend rolled a 21, but instead of a sprint to the outside world, I played a card to confiscate his “pass” and sent him to solitary.As briefly commented on, you can be wholly nostalgic and simply play using the very same rules that I experienced for the first time back in the late 70s, a few years after its first publication. Remember that the advent of cooperative games was still to come and this is a game of simple mechanics. It does indeed have dice which will be tossed across the table every single turn, and as such a large portion of its gameplay comes down to getting really bloody lucky, or being screwed over by hooded specter of Chance. Likewise, if you venture through a door you can’t just take the key with you for some reason, so best be sure the plan is going to work out or else you’ll be wasting time and resources. Before you smash your computer in anger over a “roll and move” game being published in 2016 (yes, some self-anointed “expert” gamers feel this way), understand that rolling two six-sided dice for movement in Escape from Colditz is satisfying in a couple of ways.

g. a throw of 8 entitles the Escape Officer to move one of his men 8 circles or one 3 circles and another 5 circles, or any other combination he wishes. Turns play out in relatively straightforward fashion, with players – Allies first, then the solo security officer – rolling two dice to calculate movement points available for prisoners and guards, respectively. An Escape Officer must maneuver POWs so that they are simultaneously in four rooms containing the four different symbols. For the Escape Officers, Humphries suggests that obtaining their Personal Escape Kit card as soon as possible is essential. Instead, I would describe what we have been given as a more thoroughly explained set of the original rules.He concluded, "The game does not and could not recreate the sense of hopelessness and deprivation experienced 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.