Perseverance: Castaway Chronicles – Episodes 3 & 4

The moment I opened the third part of Perseverance, that familiar joy of “we are preparing an operation,” rather than merely a game, came rushing back. After the epic brain-burn of the Episodes 1 & 2 campaign at the BLTG Summer Retreat, the dinosaur games had already become a favourite of our group, so the next chapter was nailed to the top of our list. And Mindclash, as usual, did not arrive quietly: miniatures, cards, counters, little bits, and trays everywhere. This is one of those deluxe heavy euros that demands a separate appointment for unpunching and organisation before it even hits the table. Personally, I did not see the drop in quality discussed online; a few packs merely looked as if they had been sealed in a hurry, but that is a minor issue.

In Episode 3, the castaways continue from the temple they discovered in the previous part and spread deeper into the jungle. The core is a more complex evolution of Episode 2’s build-and-explore: you build outposts, gather dinosaurs, and now tame them to take on jobs or quests. Just eight actions, but every choice carries weight. The combos are powerful, yet they require you to look one or two rounds ahead and squeeze your resources precisely.

In Episode 4, the city has now been built and survival gives way to relative prosperity: you no longer chase resources, while dinosaurs have taken over the role formerly held by the soldiers. The Ancients, those Avatar-like little token figures, appear whenever we do something for the common good and start ruining the party by throwing spears from the foliage. The interaction recalls what the dinosaurs did in the first act, but here it is much better developed. With seven dice effectively defining your moves, every choice has a lot of substance. The game starts tight and stays tight even when a battle breaks out, because enemies keep appearing. It is also less sandbox-like than the others: the random scoring revealed at the beginning guides you, and you need to pursue it, without that making the game scripted or reducing its replayability.

If Episodes 1 & 2 felt somewhat simplistic to you, Episode 3 is the series’ very convincing answer: one of the best heavy euros I have played in recent years. Episode 4 keeps up the intensity, with even more polished pressure and a full, tight euro feast of point salad with sponge cake. These are games with serious brain burn, not for the masses, and they need extra time especially on a first play. For my group, though, the overall package is among the best of the year and a clear GOTY candidate. I am already looking forward to the next BLTG long weekend and another attempt at the complete 1-2-3-4 campaign. Rooooar!

Updated session

The later play did not change my positive opinion; it strengthened it. Episode 4 is not as free-form as Episode 3, because its initial scoring demands a more specific direction, but the pressure from enemies and its better-developed mechanisms make it equally tough and equally juicy.