Return to Dark Tower

We must unite to defeat the Tower once and for all..

I missed the original release of Dark Tower – by 1981 I was 16, and increasingly distracted by girls and music rather than games – but I can imagine the wave of nostalgia when Restoration Games announced this gorgeous new edition. This is what the company is all about – taking beloved favourites and restoring them to a better-than-original shine. And what a stunning job they did with Return to Dark Tower.

Because this game pretty much sums up all the reasons I was first attracted to the world of games. The classic fantasy theme, the amazing bits, the incredible production, the sense of adventure. And on top of all that there’s a huge electronic tower thing! Well, maybe not that last reason, but what a beast the titular tower is. I’m agog with wonder at how the team at Restoration Games tackled and completed this project – not least working out the rights with Milton Bradley (who, according to Wikipedia, originally ripped off an idea submission and subsequently had to pay out $700K in court).

The great thing that Restoration Games does is not just to re-release old games, but to make them as good as you remember them to be. And for anyone who has tracked down a game from their childhood and been disappointed when they finally played it again, that is a huge distinction. I’d guess that the original 1981 Dark Tower is a bit ‘meh’ compared to your childhood memories when you give it a spin, but this fantastic new version is going to be a treasured possession, much played, for many years to come.

The essential app component works so beautifully you hardly need a summary for this game, but it is handy as a rules refresher. It includes the Alliances expansions and Covenant expansions.