Thames & Kosmos - "The Adventures of Robin Hood: Friar Tuck in Danger"

Updated: May 2

Photo above is property of Thames & Kosmos

Company: Thames & Kosmos

Game: The Adventures of Robin Hood: Friar Tuck in Danger

Country: USA 🇺🇸

Language: English

Type of Game: Tabletop Games (Board Game) 📬

Genre: Folklore, Heroic Outlaws, Sherwood Forest

Date Played: June 1, 2023

Difficulty (based on 2 players): Varies by Chapter - 5/10

Size of Team: 2-4 Players (Ages 10+)

Time: 1-1.5 hrs/ chapter

Price: $29.95

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"Friar Tuck in Danger" carries on the story from the original "Adventures of Robin Hood" game, adding four new chapters! Once more you are transported to Sherwood Forest and its surrounds, seeking to right wrongs and evade your enemies. You play as one or more of the classic characters: Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Will Scarlet, and Little John.

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This expansion adds two new board pieces that connect on the left side of the base game board. It looks very impressive and grand on the table…but it does take up a lot of space! Our table is 62”, and it was just long enough! (We did have the box with the rulebook, etc. on the table as well, so you could make it work with a somewhat shorter one if need be.) Most of the new components remain high quality and similar to those in the base game. However, the book is notably a more standard paperback, with cardboard bookmarks. Honestly, if the base book had been like this, we probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it. But the book in the original was so impressively high-quality that this one feels like a bit of a disappointment. Nonetheless, it still looks good, and is certainly in keeping with the lower price point for this expansion.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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As this is an expansion, you do need the base game to play, and we would recommend playing through the base game completely before starting the expansion. The basic mechanics remain unchanged here, but you add Friar Tuck (who typically moves with one of the characters that you are playing), the Sheriff of Nottingham (who is determined to capture Friar Tuck), the two new board pieces, and new tokens for both the new pieces and some for the main board (removing the originals). If the Sheriff catches Friar Tuck at any point, you’ve lost the game!

We loved the original game as an innovative mix of cooperative choose-your-own adventure and board game, with clever mechanics and a strong storytelling element. So, it was fun to have the opportunity to revisit the world for four new adventures with some additional facets!

While we certainly enjoyed ourselves, there were some frustrations and missteps. We found the last chapter to be virtually impossible from a combat perspective, even with attempting it several times. Had we realized at the time about the 3rd printing error below, it would have been useful, but I think still very challenging. It was a frustrating way to end the game. There are a number of misprints in the book and on one tile that interfere with some of the gameplay. While there is no official errata, some that have been highlighted on BoardGameGeek (some of which have been confirmed by the designer) are:

At the beginning of the first chapter, double stars should be left visible.
The horse tile (when you find it) should have a ? so that you can interact with it.
Characters should begin Chapter 11 with a bow.

Hopefully, these issues will be resolved with future printings!

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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This is not a puzzle game. However, there is a lot of strategic, puzzly thinking in how to optimize your moves across different characters in order to meet your objectives before time runs out.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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As huge fans of the Bullseye Award-winning base game, we’re glad to have had the chance to play the expansion. While the printing errors did throw some wrenches into a number of our games, they could be largely avoided by paying attention to the known ones above. We appreciated the addition of new mechanics and areas on the board in addition to the new stories, and definitely think it’s a worthy addition to fellow fans of the original! (And if you don’t have that one yet, definitely give it a try!)

Check out our interview with the creators to understand more on the development side of the game:

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Thames & Kosmos for providing us with samples of the game. Although a complimentary experience was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.

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