Travel back to 1804 and take on the role of the members of the Corps of Discovery! You’re tasked with exploring the western part of the country…oh, and destroying all the demonic monsters you come across. You can handle that, right? Tread carefully – we’re counting on you!

What Is It?

Cooperative – Players work together and win or lose as a team

Pattern Recognition / Logic Deduction – Players will be exploring the map each turn, turning over path tokens to reveal various terrain. Terrain locations follow various rules (i.e. water is always next to wood) to players should be able to deduce what is in certain paths the more they reveal

Scenario Game – There are 22 maps (2 training, 10 fauna, 10 flora) to choose from, each with unique set-up/rules

Variable Player Powers – Each player gets a character card and 1 to 3 gear cards, depending on player count, which will all give them access to special abilities

Resource Management – Players need resources for challenge cards, and will lose resources for failing challenges. They will also need them to defeat monsters. They can only hold a certain amount of resources before suffering fatigue, and are still limited beyond that as well, so they need to plan wisely.

Who Is It For?

  • 1 to 4 Players – I like it best at 2. It’s a small board, so less players was easier to see everything. Solo is fine but I definitely needed someone to double check my work with the logic deducing
  • Ages 14 & Up – I’d say it’s mid-weight in complexity, but it depends on how good you are at following the deduction rules
  • Fans of logic puzzles, longer co-op games
  • Players who are good with resource management

PROS

  • Aesthetics – nice art/overall look
  • Components – Great quality on everything. I particularly like the dual layer map board
  • Lots of variability with the different maps
    • I also like the touch of the folders for the map storage, which helps you not see them before setting up
    • There’s also 2 styles of game (fauna/flora) which have different play styles, and will change how you strategize
  • Smooth gameplay
  • Deduction style feels unique for a board game

CONS

  • I definitely thought some characters/gear were not as good as others, especially at lower player counts
  • I had a few minor questions due to some vagueness in the rules (mainly for the tutorial) so I had to look up a newer rulebook for clarification
  • I didn’t find the theme that integrated to the gameplay

Final Thoughts

I thought the deduction felt unique, which was cool, and I liked trying to find certain resources, and having to manage them, to strategically complete challenges while also keeping in mind the overall win conditions. There’s definitely some luck in how the challenges come out, and you might struggle for some resources in the beginning since you aren’t sure where to look at first, but I don’t think the luck feels too swingy and you can make some comebacks by deducing where things are. I liked the different map styles too, but I think I lean more toward the fauna maps, as I thought they were a little easier. For me, it’s a bit too long for a co-op or solo game, but I could see coming back to it if I had some dedicated teammates. If you like co-op and deduction, it’s a nice production that’s worth checking out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 6.5/10

Designers – Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim
Artist – Matthew Roberts
Publisher – Off the Page Games
MSRP – $53.99 CAD (Retail)
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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