The 7th Continent
Solo Playthrough
Okay, now I get what this game is about. I started the The Voracious Goddess curse (scenario) again, this time by myself. Played out the first location, which turned out to be a small island where my action deck, which represents my life, was quickly bleeding away.
Honestly I thought I’d just…die. I felt frustrated with feeling dumb, couldn’t figure out what tiny bit of art was surely hidden somewhere on some map card. Then I remembered I’d walked away from a cave with tracks out front, so what the heck? And sure enough, it was a hunting opportunity that scored me some crabs I could eat and get cards back from my discard pile, or start a fire to cook them for double the cards. Aaaaahhhh-ha!
I’ve also crafted some weird equipment, like a conch shell attached to a pan pipe attached to a fire-starting flint. Yeah, I dunno either, but it’s legal.
The deck has a lot of interesting deck management tricks baked into it. Reminds me of Mistfall in fact, one of my favorite co-ops. Once you figure out how to manage your discard pile and your hand, things seem less dire.
I found a submarine but it’s probably the end-of-game escape vehicle. Tried swimming off a peninsula and got chased back to shore by a shark (ended up freezing and scared, both fixable). Took another look at my curse’s clue card and, aha, it shows you where to go. Because the map is set, and it’s the exploration and skill card draws that provide the randomness. I can hopefully rely on the map as I start the next phase of my quest.
So, yeah, it’s very much a Choose Your Adventure. And it’s a nifty hand management game. And a push-your-luck game. I can see the shadow of the wizard behind the screen,and it’s a tiny bit less magical than first contact, but you can bet I’ll dig through the whole thing.
Glad you’re digging this. It does sound cool. Although every time I see one of these post I have to say to myself, “It’s not 7th Sea… it’s not 7th Sea.” So many games to keep straight.
Nor Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies.
Just got my copy. Can’t wait to dig in!
“I found a submarine but it’s probably the end-of-game escape vehicle.”
Ha… ha ha… HA HA HA HA HA
Adam I’m laughing along!
The submarine bummed me out.
Are you listening to the game’s soundtrack while playing? You might also want to download the spoiler free card list, so that you can identify the few cards with errata.
the soundtrack?
Yup, Paolo Greco, it’s available, along with other useful goodies, from the game’s web site.
the7thcontinent.seriouspoulp.com – The 7th Continent – Serious Poulp
Now I see how important keeping a journal of the game is. I’m drawing as I go and it’s super useful.
The meat-shovel is an oft-cited example of the weird crafting rules. You’ll get used to them – just don’t try to make sense of the combinations.
Regarding the shark: if you are Bloody (as i was) when you try to go swimming then it turns out very different.
Ummm… meatshovel.
Just in time for football season.
Paul Beakley: Can you talk about the submarine? I have a couple ideas why it might have bummed you out, but I’m curious.
(I’m at the point where I can speed-run that opening island in a few minutes, but it uses a couple tricks that I’m not sure if a new player would get solo — and I have Gary Kacmarcik and Joshua O’Madadhain and Sverre Rabbelier giving me ideas on the side.)
Adam Blinkinsop just that it was a dead end. It was also my first exposure to the banner symbols, which I found poorly explained for spoiler reasons.
Poorly explained: truth.
(But note: it isn’t a dead end.)
It was also the moment at which I realized (suspected?) the game is less sandbox and more railroad. Might not be true!
Mostly the tutorial nature of the island became quite apparent.
Yeah, you really want to get off that island as soon as you can. There’s a couple options, but a definite best one.
(When solo, I mostly play it like I play Bethesda RPGs: ignore the storyline and explore.)
Right, yeah, as soon as I took the correct (?) path off the island (north, off the submarine islet), I could see that it had taught me how to manage my hand, how to hunt, how to craft, and how to move. All of which are tightly connected of course.
I do hope it’s a bit more open-world once I get out of the tutorial. 🙂 I always hated the way the first hour of Skyrim felt, too.
The great thing about this game is you don’t have that stupid 15 minute cart ride at the start. (And other curses don’t necessarily start you on intro island, either.)
Paul Beakley the main continent is much larger than the island, with lots and lots of stuff to explore. So long as you can keep finding hunting/fishing spots, you could essentially roam there forever (but hunting/fishing eventually peak at any given spot, returning less food for the same amount of effort).
Oooh! Nice.