The Tantalus Escape
A co-operative board game of shipwreck, survival and escape
STORY
Somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.
The ocean liner Tantalus, sailing from Dublin to New York, is fated for disaster. The passengers inside however, are oblivious. In the grand dining hall, they are eating, drinking and partying. At the Captain’s table sits a varied selection of guests, and with amiability the Captain recounts the story of the mythical Tantalus:
“There once was a ruler of a mighty city, he was named Tantalus. He was welcomed to the table in Olympus by Zeus, King of the Gods. But Tantalus abused the Gods’ hospitality, and stole ambrosia, the food of the Gods, and brought it back to his own people. For this crime, Tantalus was condemned to the Underworld, forever trapped in a pool of water, and hungry, with the branch of an apple tree always just out of reach.”
One of you was about to ask why a ship would be named after such an unfortunate character, when the disaster struck -
A freak wave overturns the ship, and for everyone inside, the whole world seems to turn upside down. People and furniture are thrown around the interior of the ship. The Tantalus is capsized and crippled. Water is already starting to leak into the ship, it can only be a matter of time before the decks start to flood.
The surviving passengers gather together under the dim illumination from emergency lights, and the few calm heads start to talk about escape. The only way to the surface is to make their way upwards to the belly of the ship, to the hatch in the engine room, before the Tantalus sinks to the ocean floor forever.
The ship has sustained damage all over, some sections of the ship are pitch dark, in others fires are blazing wildly, debris blocks passageways, electrical cables have been ripped free from the walls and floors, and the climb upwards to the engine room is long and hazardous. Some passengers and crew have already succumbed to fatal injuries.
There may be other people alive as well, and useful items stowed away in the rooms - the survivors will have to search carefully as they make their way through the dying ship.
SUMMARY
A game for 2-8 players, with an average playtime 60 minutes.
The goal is to escape from a capsized ocean liner.
The survivors have to make their way through the decks of the ship, to the Engine Room, and then out through the hull.
Each survivor has a special ability which can help in certain situations.
Heart is what keeps survivors alive when the going is tough. Survivors who lose all Heart perish and are removed from the game.
Water is constantly flooding in, so progress up to the surface is imperative. If every deck becomes fully flooded, the game is over.
Each deck is divided into sections. Each section contains a Danger, which the survivors have to face to progress.
Each Danger has risk of the Survivors being injured or demoralised, reducing their Heart. Each Danger has a level - the higher the Level, the more difficult the Danger.
The layout of the Dangers changes every time you play, but the difficulty level of the Dangers gradually increases the closer the survivors get to the engine room. However, there may still be high-level Dangers all throughout the ship.
Along the way, the characters will find Items to help them overcome Dangers. They may also find more survivors trapped within rooms of the ship.
Safety shutoffs are spaced throughout the ship as well - these can reduce the level of difficulty of certain Dangers.
Players have to decide which is the best route to take, and balance risk against reward. The game may not be won every time!
THE TANTALUS ESCAPE AT THE UK GAMES EXPO
NEC, BIRMINGHAM, 2021
Many thanks to the team at Playtest UK for hosting my game in the morning, and all the playtesters throughout the day who provided some great feedback!
A very special thank you to Jason at Insync Games for hosting me at his stand in the afternoon as well, check out his fantastic escape room board game Collabescape here - https://www.collabescape.co.uk/
DEVELOPMENT
Hello! I'm Barnaby, a long-time gaming enthusiast, and now, in a small way at least, a game developer! The Tantalus Escape is drawn from my love of games (both video games and board games) and movies. Taking elements from my favourite co-op board games, and combining it with my favourite disaster epics, I developed this game over a year of lockdown, although I had it turning around inside my head for about 2-3 years.
Although it's by no means a finished product, the structure of the game is mostly in place. My main goals for the immediate future are to get a commercial-grade prototype to see if it's a viable product for retail.
What does that mean? Some nice, professional artwork for the game board, custom 3D-printed minis for the survivors, quality documentation and packaging, and to just simplify, refine and tweak a few of the gameplay elements.
If you're interested in my game, please drop me an email.
