Christmas 1974; Mud were crooning “it’ll be lonely this Christmas”, Steve McQueen was again attempting the impossible on a stolen German motorbike and I had been gifted my first board game, Parker Bros. Escape from Colditz, complete with historical notes and a replica POW Red Cross parcel. Wow! Thank you Santa! Oh, and mum.
My sepia tinged memories bring into focus moments of excitement past; my brother and I spreading the board on our bedroom floor, carefully placing the lightly varnished pawns in the made to measure movement circles, fighting over red (the Brits of course, although the blues -the Yanks-were an acceptable second choice) and then firing our fertile 10 year old imaginations with tales of war time derring do to rival the stories we loved in the Victor and Commando comics falling over in our bookcase.
In its day it was an innovation. Essentially a semi-co op race game with set collection, bluffing and card play mechanisms, Escape from Colditz could generate some genuinely exciting moments, and who didn’t love it when the ‘shoot to kill’ card was tossed onto the board. Monopoly, Cluedo and Scrabble didn’t stand a chance.
I still have my copy of Escape from Colditz, complete, although battle worn and tatty . However, the lustre has long worn off, both literally and metaphorically. Why? Well, the pacing is problematic: the first part of the game is a somewhat dull, repetitive, slog around the board collecting escape kits and equipment, or security cards if you are unfortunate enough to be playing the Germans, while the second part, escaping, is a fairly random dice fest. Game length is also an issue. This is a 2 hour plus job, which in 1974 appeared spry compared to the likes of Monopoly, but doesn’t cut the mustard today. So, when I saw that Osprey Games was releasing an overhaul of my game of games, the first of a thousand, the progenitor of my life long passion for board gaming, I was thrilled.
Yet, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. On inspecting the final product I actually experienced a moment of sadness- ridiculous, I know. The Osprey version is shiny, I’ll give it that. But, for me, that’s it. Apart from the rule book and the historical notes, there is little that is substantially better than the original. I prefer the Parker Bros. box art, the much vaunted Red Cross box seems less authentic than the original, and the rules changes do very little to address the gameplay issues I referred to above. I was even irritated by….. no, no, take a breath and stop ranting.
However, I recognise that Osprey did not produce this game for me, but for a new generation of gamers that have not been exposed to the original. I also think that there is a place for this game in today’s market. It is still the best attempt to simulate the war years in Colditz Castle to this day. It inspired both my love of board games and history and perhaps it will do so for another geeky kid somewhere in the 21st century. It is a bona fide gateway game that still offers family fun. My recommendation is give everyone an escape kit and other cards to begin with and get on with the dice rolling escaping bit, and if you want to avoid tears and broken hearts remove the ‘shoot to kill’ card. Just know, Major Mohn will not be pleased.
