Osprey Games to Republish 'Escape From Colditz 75th Anniversary Edition'!

Osprey Games was set up last year as part of the Osprey Publishing Group - who have been producing fantastic historical military books for decades, Osprey Publishing had already produced several wargames rules for miniature gaming but decided they also wanted to start producing card and board games - using their reputation for quality to bring out new games as well as to bring back long out of print classics.

They have already released several board and card games and had a presence at Essen Spiel this year but the announcement they've just made that they are working on a bringing back the classic 'Escape From Colditz' will be met with a lot of interest and excitement.

'Escape From Colditz' was originally published by Gibson Games in 1973 who published it until 2000. Rumour had it, at the time, that the rights of the game had been brought by an American Movie studio who were planning on making an 'Escape From Colditz' movie and wanted the game rights as part of any future merchandising.

The game was designed by Pat Reid, a British officer who was held at the Colditz prisoner of war camp during World War Two and managed to successfully escape from it, and Brian Degas who write the 'Colditz' TV series (BBC; 1972-74) based upon Pat's escape.

The game had one player take the role of the German Officers and the other players taking the roles of various nationalities of prisoners held at Colditz - British, French, Dutch, American and Polish - who move round the board, evading the German Officers, and collecting various items to aid them in their eventual escape attempt.

The new edition, due for release in October 2016 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Pat Reid's escape, will feature completely new artwork, wooden playing pieces, and also include replicas of prisoner-of-war artifacts from Brain Degas' extensive collection.

Escape From Colditz has long been heralded as an iconic game with innovative game design. With Osprey's background of excellence in the military arena all the signs are that this new edition should hit all the right spots.

By Angus Abranson