I’ve played a lot of the the 7th Continent, which is a large, sprawling Adventure game that provides an amazing experience; as long as you are willing to put in the work and deal with some small problems.
Is the 7th Continent worth it? The 7th Continent is definitely worth it but the game is not for everyone. In this guide I will make sure you do not waste your money by going through all of the pros and cons so that you can make the most informed choice possible!
The 7th Continent is a board game about adventuring with heavy survival influences. You navigate one or more explorers across a mysterious continent. However, this isn’t your first journey to the continent; you are coming back to lift one, or more, curses that you acquired on your first trip!
You will flip over terrain cards and use a unique card system to navigate the continent while using items and skills to hunt, fish, fight and generally explore every single nook and cranny on the island, in your pursuit of not dying from a nasty curse!
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Pros
- Legacy game. Technically the 7th Continent is not a legacy game but it does have some legacy aspects which contribute to the realism and immersion of the game. I explain in detail exactly how the legacy aspects work in an article here so make sure you click and have a read! Immersion is key to a game like this and so the world reacting to your choices is a great thing!
- The System. Although the card system has its limitations to me it is absolutely ingenious and balances extreme amounts of card shuffling vs having some randomization and differences, even when visiting the same terrain card multiple times!
- Uniqueness. There’s nothing out there that is quite like the 7th Continent. The system brings a level of immersion that I have not found in any other adventure game.
- Content. This game does not have a board. It does not even really have miniatures.(it does, but they are super tiny and nobody is buying the game for the mini’s) What it does have is thousands of cards, most with their own custom art work. The sheer level of content means you will get many hours of play from the game, so even though the cost is high, which is a con, the $/per hour calculation is actually better than many legacy/campaign style of games.
- # of players. You can play with 1-4 players so it’s nice to have that flexibility, however the game plays best for 2 players, followed by solo, then 3, and finally 4 players in that order.
- Accessories. The 7th Continent has sold a lot of copies and usually high-selling games have a lot of accessories. You can buy so many different accessories to really bling out your copy and make it a real show piece. My favorite is the Satchel and Journal Binder, because as you adventure you have a lot of satchel cards to store and it’s really neat to have this cool binder. My second favorite is the Cartographers Notebook, so you can draw maps and keep notes! If you do this you will have a more immersive experience and the game will be a lot easier for you, and reduce frustration!
Cons
- Combat. This game isn’t about combat but there is a reasonable amount of it – I mean you can’t have a game like this without some conflict! However the combat is relatively uninteresting. It’s mostly just you using items/skills, deciding on how many cards to draw from the action deck and then counting up # of successes. Do not expect Tactical combat here!
- Weak story. There are a lot of interesting things to do in the 7th Continent but there isn’t a great narrative like some other adventure games. It is closer to a survival game than a narrative adventure
- Cost. The 7th Continent has a very high price point, especially once you get into adding all of the extra curses and content expansions.
- The admin work. The 7th Continent has an ingenious card based system that is really fun… HOWEVER it is a lot of work and you will spend a decent amount of time flicking through the cards. They are catalogued in the box and separated by numbered dividers but it still takes a lot of work, especially for cards, of the same number, that sometimes have 10+ copies it can take awhile to flick through them to get to that next number you need.
- Repetition. 7th Continent, especially in the beginning is quite hard. It takes a little bit to get a handle on the systems and then after that you are learning the continent and trying to get your bearings so you can beat the first curse; The Voracious Goddess. Often you will have to retread the same ground(because you die or because you get lost and have to retrace your steps) and while the game does an admirable job of changing things up, it’s still a board game and there are only so many possibilities. This means that often you know what is going to happen and it can be pretty tedious to have to do all of the admin card work again
- Memory Game. If you don’t play this game consistently and you have weeks or months between sessions it is going to be very frustrating for you. You will get lost, you will retread ground and you will play ineffectively because you have forgot what you need to do. This is a game of small details and leaving a large amount of time between play sessions means you will forget the small details. This happened to my wife and I and we didn’t beat the first curse for over 2 years after we got the game due to infrequent play sessions where we forgot what we had to do or had done.
- Dying. To me, the penalty for death in this game is too harsh for most players. Having to completely restart and redo many hours of work, retreading the same ground is too tedious. For most people you will want to use a non permadeath house variant, beyond even the Voracious Goddess beginner item! The easiest way is to use the 777 card over and over again, or you can try one of the many house rules out there.
So Is the 7th Continent Worth It For You?
Despite it having a lot of drawbacks you should get this game if you love mystery, survival, and adventure, choose your own adventure, a unigue card management system and even exploration!
If you are the kind of person that likes action and wants to get right into it, if you are bored be redoing things, if you have 5 or less plays on any board game you own or if you like a cohesive narrative the 7th Continent is not going to be the game for you.
