Off the Page Games has certainly stayed true to their name. Taking design inspiration from comic books and turning setting and theme into unique systems. I’ve had a lot of fun with two of their earlier designs, Mind MGMT and Harrow County. In fact, Harrow County was featured in my top ten board games of 2024 list last year. Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim, co-designers of Mind MGMT, return to collaborate on this newest entry, Corps of Discovery.
Does this system, which looks like a physical version of nineties computer game Minesweeper, pull off another victory for the publisher? Let’s uncover our next path token and see if they’ve stepped into good fortune.
Gameplay Overview:
The system herein is designed around thematic chapter settings in which an overarching goal is at stake. In the first chapter Fauna, players must survive multiple days while on the hunt for an evil minotaur stalking the land. In the second chapter Flora, a giant plant is on the loose and infecting the locals. The only hope is lots of fire and a little luck. Further chapters are set to release as expansions with even wilder adventures, all pulled from the comic book.
Over a series of days, players choose to move to new adjacent locations which reveal icons that provide resources, spawn threats, and provide flexibility. Most location tokens are added to the current challenge card, which showcases an impending event that can be either passed or failed for benefit or penalty. These challenges, once triggered, require specific resources to complete.
As such, the game timer is tied to three challenges per day, each with variable token thresholds, as players expand into the wilderness. Each day ends with a need to feed your expedition team (a food token), and then combating threats if present, or encountering one if not. The game ends immediately if players cannot provide food or run out of water tokens.
To assist in the journey are character cards with powerful effects, as well as gear cards which exhaust when used and are reset at the end of the day. Certain milestones such as fully exploring a row or column may also provide benefits toward the chapter goal or provide destiny cards that feature one-time uses to rise above the tension.
Corps of Discovery’s chapters feature ten map options with different icon layouts that are secretly added to the central board before play. Each session, even in the same chapter, provides plenty to discover, though the core logic rules of how icons are related to each other remain the same. Logic rules range from adjacency patterns to row/column presence. There are many times where you only have a hint of what may be coming next. And others where you know what you’re stepping into.
Inventory management is also a big part of the game. Players have a supply board with limited space for resources, an ever-dwindling supply of water, and the ability to build fires or a shelter to assist in exploration. Certain challenges may add tokens that block resources spaces, thus limiting inventory further, and there are two spaces that provide fatigue if utilized which make you lose water faster.
Game Experience:
This game features such a simple mechanism: reveal a path token and see what you’ve uncovered. But each layered system beyond this wander through the wilderness ramps up the tension. Beyond inventory management and the inevitable timer of running out of land to explore, there’s the constant challenge ready to take you down and threats to get in your way.
Out of the two end-game timers, both are a constant struggle. Food is easy to come by during the first day, as a specific challenge card starts off all chapters and features that as a reward, whether you pass or fail. Beyond that, you must find it in the wild. And water is always dwindling. Challenge cards require it. Inventory excess demands it. Threats siphon it.
Corps of Discovery does an excellent job with not overstaying its welcome. And every finish is nail biting. I can’t tell you how many sessions I’ve completed with one water left. The game is best as a solo experience, though partners may enjoy the cooperative experience as well. It plays in under an hour easily, and of course can be even less if things don’t go your way.
The Minesweeper-esque exploration design was something I wasn’t really feeling in all the early playtests and images that came out during promotion. But on the table, it looks great and is very easy to manage. The variety of maps is welcomed, and there’s enough variability here to keep you from remembering what was on a map ten games ago. As such, there are hours of game in this box.
Each chapter also has a different feel. Fauna, with the minotaur threats, finds the map navigation limiting due to the threat restrictions. It also requires players to find forts that provide kill conditions. Three minotaurs need to be defeated to win. And in Flora, the inclusion of a search card feature that requires players to be mindful of how they explore is also very cool. I like both for different reasons.
I also was sent Expansion 2: Vameter. It adds new maps, characters, cards, and tokens. It also adds new complexity that takes a little time to understand. There are three other expansions that are releasing soon via retail. Each is pulled from the comic book series and features new monsters, a traitor mechanism, and fog to mess with terrain logic rules. This is a system ripe for further exploration.
Any faults in this design lie within the rulebook and the cards. Due to how each new chapter provides new mechanisms, there are edge cases in the rules that are not covered. And the player cards are not always exciting. It didn’t take me long to determine which characters and gear cards I’d prefer to have with me, though I did play several games by just randomizing the options. But ultimately, I was less enamored by these options over time. Thankfully, the destiny cards do work better with their one-time effects.
Another small quibble is the end game scoring feature. In a game that has a very distinctive endgame via chapter goals, the try for high-score chart does little to excite. In fact, a game such as this lends more to legacy elements than it does high scores. As such, I stopped checking these and felt a sense of accomplishment by pulling off a tense win. Then I’d set up a new map and start again.
Final Thoughts:
Off the Page Games is on a roll! This comic-turned-game publish model is allowing them to make unique and visually stunning designs. Corps of Discovery embraces its exploration theme and provides plenty to engage players. Every turn asks you to consider resources, end-game-triggers, challenges, and threats. It utilizes the setting to its benefit and comes across as a mix of survival horror, logic, and resource management. And while it does have rules woes, it plays fast and is a great solo experience. I suggest you give it a chance if you and a partner enjoy cooperative puzzles and exciting tension.
Final Score: 4 stars – The colonial west reenvisioned with a survival-horror twist that’s destined to manifest tension.
Hits:
• Excellent logic puzzle
• Top-notch illustration
• Variety and expansions
• Length and difficulty near perfect
Misses:
• Rulebook doesn’t cover everything
• Player cards not always useful
• End game scoring
