
- BGG rating
- 7.2
The Great Escape: Recon
- 1 player
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2021

2019
Rules assistance for The Great Escape
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

For 1 player
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Great Escape is a board game released in 2019 for 1 player and ages 5 and up. It was designed by John Grills and its main mechanics are Open Drafting.
Based on the legendary exploits of POWs during the Second World War, The Great Escape is a single player card game with a point scoring system so you can challenge yourself and others to achieve the best escape record. Played in three stages it is your mission, as Escape Officer, to first help the POWs plan and excavate three tunnels, Tom heading North from the shower block, Dick heading East from Hut 3 and Harry heading West from Hut 4. Next you must help as many POWs as possible escape through one of these tunnels without being spotted by the guards. Finally you must help the POWs avoid capture as they make their way across country aided only by items that they have managed to make, steal or forge.
The Great Escape supports 1 player according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The catalogue lists The Great Escape for ages 5 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
The Great Escape has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
The Great Escape belongs to these categories: Card Game, Wargame, and World War II. Its main mechanics are Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of The Great Escape are: John Grills. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists The Great Escape as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.