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Safe Return Doubtful box art
1996 Ranked #16,856

Safe Return Doubtful

A survival exploration game has expeditions outfit ships, choose routes through variable terrain, and reach the pole before returning safely. Food, weather, disease, and mutiny test how far each team dares to push north.

Adventure Card Game Paper-and-Pencil Dice Rolling

Players

1-5

Play time

Not listed

Age

?+

Complexity

2/5

Rating

6.14

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 4 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

A game simulating Arctic exploration and the race for the North Pole in the years 1845-1910. Players choose an explorer, ship, and crew, and outfit their expedition.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

A game simulating Arctic exploration and the race for the North Pole in the years 1845-1910. Players choose an explorer, ship, and crew, and outfit their expedition. Terrain cards take the place of a map, so each expedition encounters variable terrain on their journey north. Once the ice is reached, they proceed on foot or by sled as far as they dare, limited by bad food, weather, crevasses, scurvy, deep snow, and mutiny. Due to the "you against the elements" nature of the expeditions, player interaction is minimized, making for an excellent solitaire game. Three solitaire scenarios are included, as well as the 2 to 5 player competition game that includes disaster card play and newspaper attacks on your opponents. Rulesbook, 195 cards, player aid charts, and expedition log sheets are included. Will you reach the pole and return ahead of Peary, or end up icebound and abandoned like Franklin? It's also possible to lose your ship and be forced to try riding home on an iceberg!

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
No editions imported yet.

Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

No files imported yet.

Game and edition data

All specifications (4)

Play and group

Players
1–5
Best with
1–3
Play time
60 min
Complexity
2.0/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Randy Moorehead

Publishers

1
Simulations Workshop

Linked items

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