Tag: Campaign

Board games with a campaign mechanic typically play across more than one sitting, and progress carries over between sessions.

Dawn of the Zeds

| T3d-1978
Dawn of the Zeds

Dawn of the Zeds

The postcards in every local drug store read, “Welcome to Fabulous Farmingdale!”, an ad campaign that was the brainchild of Mayor Hernandez (who coincidentally employed his wife’s public relations firm to market their community). But right now, things are far from fabulous in Farmingdale and, for once, everyone isn’t blaming the Mayor. Some kind of virus or poison is turning ordinary people into vicious, zombie-like killers. It is not clear how the disease spreads (though it seems that physical contact is certainly one way), but it is obvious what the illness does to its victims.

These undead, nicknamed “Zeds” from the local newscasts as the acronym for “Zombie Epidemic Disease,” are now converging on your corner of the world around Farmingdale. As best you can tell, you have been left to your own devices to stop them while the National Guard organizes a relief column, but that could take days, perhaps weeks, for them to fight their way to you and until then, what can you do?

With little choice between survival and a gruesome (un)death, you realize that you must coordinate the defense of the town of Farmingdale and its surrounding villages. You must lead the good citizens and emerging heroes of these communities to halt the Zeds’ advances by (re)killing them, attempt to coordinate the discovery of a cure to this vile scourge, and preserve as much of the area and as many of its inhabitants as possible. There’s no time to lose…

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Move Through Deck
  • Wargame

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.81

Black Rose Wars

| T3d-1978
Black Rose Wars

Black Rose Wars

Black Rose Wars is a competitive fantasy game of deck-building, strategy, and combat set in the hectic universe of Nova Aetas in Italy. Each player is one of powerful mages of the Black Rose Order who aspires to become the new Supreme Magister in order to acquire the mighty power of the Black Rose Artifact and the Forgotten Magic. Mages must fight, fulfill Black Rose desires, and gain strength with their spells until their power reaches the containment threshold of the prison where they are exiled, finally freeing themselves. Each mage has at their disposal six schools of magic, each one with its own strategy to annihilate their opponents and increase their power.

At the start of the battle, mages start with a grimoire of six cards; as mages study more spells during play, their grimoire will increase. Every spell in Black Rose Wars has two different effects, increasing a player’s adaptability during a fight.

Mages fight each other in a modular arena of hexagons called “rooms”. They summon powerful creatures, cast destructive spells, or devise dark deceptions with their enchantments. The game system is divided into different phases. Each turn, after choosing new spells from the six schools of magic, players plan their strategy in advance, placing cards face down. Later, they reveal the played cards to kill each other, solve missions, summon creatures, or destroy the prison rooms, one against each other and against the Black Rose (the playing system).
After being killed, mages are reborn immediately, allowing them to re-enter the fight without delay — although their death still fed energy to those mages who caused it.
The mage with the most power at the end of the battle will be crowned Supreme Magister of the Order by the Black Rose itself.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Area Movement
  • Bluffing
  • Campaign
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.44

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

| T3d-1978
Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Something evil stirs in Arkham, and only you can stop it. Blurring the traditional lines between role-playing and card game experiences, Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a Living Card Game of Lovecraftian mystery, monsters, and madness!

In the game, you and your friend (or up to three friends with two Core Sets) become characters within the quiet New England town of Arkham. You have your talents, sure, but you also have your flaws. Perhaps you’ve dabbled a little too much in the writings of the Necronomicon, and its words continue to haunt you. Perhaps you feel compelled to cover up any signs of otherworldly evils, hampering your own investigations in order to protect the quiet confidence of the greater population. Perhaps you’ll be scarred by your encounters with a ghoulish cult.

No matter what compels you, no matter what haunts you, you’ll find both your strengths and weaknesses reflected in your custom deck of cards, and these cards will be your resources as you work with your friends to unravel the world’s most terrifying mysteries.

Each of your adventures in Arkham Horror LCG carries you deeper into mystery. You’ll find cultists and foul rituals. You’ll find haunted houses and strange creatures. And you may find signs of the Ancient Ones straining against the barriers to our world…

The basic mode of play in Arkham LCG is not the adventure, but the campaign. You might be scarred by your adventures, your sanity may be strained, and you may alter Arkham’s landscape, burning buildings to the ground. All your choices and actions have consequences that reach far beyond the immediate resolution of the scenario at hand—and your actions may earn you valuable experience with which you can better prepare yourself for the adventures that still lie before you.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Movement
  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Limited Communication
  • Push Your Luck
  • Role Playing

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.49

The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch

| T3d-1978
The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch

The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch

The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch is a Victorian adventure board game, for 2 to 5 players, set in an alternate England, where magic and technology have taken an extraordinary turn. Playable as a campaign or individual adventures, Rise of Moloch puts one player in the position of the Nemesis, against the intrepid Gentlemen controlled by the other players trying to save the Crown. Secretly activate the order of your characters through different scenarios, enjoy your steam power weapons, and save your special actions for the most opportune moments – you surely don’t want to make your opponent stronger!

Rise of Moloch is a campaign driven adventure, played over a series of missions, each telling part of the overall story of Moloch’s rise to power (or defeat at the hands of the fearless Gentlemen!). Each mission features a unique board setup and goals for both the Nemesis player and Gentlemen players to complete. More so, subsequent missions will be impacted by the outcome of the one before it, weaving the overall story and game-play together to make each campaign unique.

Players will each control one or more of the intrepid Gentlemen or, in the case of the Nemesis player, cunning Agents and Minions, all with unique powers and upgrades they will utilize to complete the various goals of each mission.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.93

Warpgate

| T3d-1978
Warpgate

Warpgate

Warpgate is a fast-paced game of hand management and area control. As a leader of a unique race of aliens, lead them towards triumph.

Move your fleets of star-ships on a hex-based modular game board, establish colonies and outposts and engage your enemies in battles for the control of prized commodities. Research new technologies and grow your galactic empire.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Campaign
  • Grid Movement
  • Hand Management

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.93

War of the Ring the Card Game

| T3d-1978
War of the Ring the Card Game

War of the Ring the Card Game

Inspired by the best-selling and award-winning War of the Ring board game, War of the Ring: The Card Game allows players to journey to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and create their own version of the dramatic conflict between the Dark Lord, Sauron, and the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.
In War of the Ring: The Card Game, up to 4 players compete in two teams, the Shadow against the Free Peoples, each player using a specific and different card deck representing the strengths and weaknesses of the different factions involved in the war.
The Free Peoples desperately try to complete their quest to destroy the One Ring, while at the same time defending their homelands from the encroaching hordes of Sauron and from his evil allies.

The Shadow players must strike quickly and decisively, before the Ring-bearers can complete their quest; or try to slowly corrupt Frodo, burdening him with wounds, toil, and the sorrow for the loss of his Companions.

During the game, players will take turns playing cards representing the characters, armies, items, and events of the War of the Ring. Each card they play will help or hinder the journey of the Fellowship as it progresses on its Path; or be used to defend or conquer the strongholds of Middle-earth, as they fight to control the new Battleground cards activated in each round.

With more than 100 original illustrations from the greatest Tolkienian artists in the world, including an amazing gallery of landscapes from The Shire to Mordor by John and Fataneh Howe, War of the Ring: The Card Game is more than a game – it also a memorable collection for all lovers of the world imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien.

This is your chance to forge the destiny of an age, like you never did before!

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Hand Management
  • Team Based

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 90 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.90

V-Sabotage

| T3d-1978
V-Sabotage

V-Sabotage

V-Commandos is a WW2 commandos co-operative board game. Players can either select a pre-generated mission or create their own by combining objective cards, then they assemble a team from famous Allied corps: U.S. Raiders, British SAS., Devil’s Brigade, SOE, etc. During play, you hide in darkness, wear enemy uniforms, and sneak up on your targets. Get spotted? Open fire with emblematic allied weapons and try to turn the enemy’s weapons against them! If you can, get back to cover and turn off the alarms as the enemy has more available troops than you. Thus, you need to focus on completing the mission, then leaving the area as quickly as you can.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Movement
  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Wargame

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.71

Vendetta

| T3d-1978
Vendetta

Vendetta

Vendetta is a cooperative deductive murder mystery game where players must solve puzzles, follow clues and make decisions to solve a case. They do this using the included deck of cards, 12 hidden realistic clue documents, and the Internet. Through a choose-your-own-adventure mechanism, players make decisions that influence the course of the game and lead to solving the case in the end. One by one, they enter different realistically designed locations and encounter the various suspects. Then they choose from 3 different ways to deal with the situation and receive points based on their decisions. Complex puzzles and escape room elements must be solved in order to progress further in the case.

Thematically, the game moves in the environment of the mafia in today’s New york. As a member of the mafia you have to uncover the mole in your own ranks who caused the death of the eldest son of the godfather. It’s up to you whether you act morally or use other methods to make your victims talk.

The game is closely intertwined with the real world, and players have to keep using traditional apps like Google Maps or Wikipedia to gather information. Writing emails, detiallated web pages and cell phone calls are also part of the immersive gaming experience.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Deduction
  • Storytelling

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 5 Players
  • 180 – 300 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.00

Vagrantsong

| T3d-1978
Vagrantsong

Vagrantsong

You trainhop aboard the Silver Ferryman, chasin’ a dream or runnin’ from the past. What you find is a welcomin’ hand – white glove, stretched skin… and a fiddle player in the distance, playin’ a tune that’s awfully inviting. Makes you never wanna leave.

In Vagrantsong, a cooperative and story-driven boss battler, you will take on the role of a Vagrant trapped on a supernatural ghost train. Face off against ghosts lingering on the train (called Haints), adjust your playstyle with Skills and Junk acquired along the way, and uncover the secrets of the Silver Ferryman in this spooky and challenging adventure.

In each of the 20+ Scenarios in Vagrantsong’s campaign, players will take turns spending their 3 Coins to take actions, such as: moving around the train board, investigating the unknown, and rummaging for items that might help them get out of a tight spot. Additionally, players can spend their Coins on more exclusive actions to remind a Haint of their lost Humanity, all in the hopes of freeing the spirit from the ghost train’s bone-chilling grip, and winning the Scenario in the process. But be careful! Each Haint has their own bag of tricks and gameplay mechanics. They will stop at nothing to make sure that the players lose all of their Humanity and stay aboard forever.

After each Scenario, players will have a moment to rest, allowing them the opportunity to change out their Skill and Junk cards, heal their Vagrant, and prepare for their next encounter aboard the Silver Ferryman.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Grid Movement
  • Narrative Choice
  • Role Playing
  • Storytelling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.08

That Time you Killed Me

| T3d-1978
That Time you Killed Me

That Time you Killed Me

You and your opponent are rival time travelers trying to erase each other from history. To prove you are the one true inventor of time travel, you must use your invention to find your enemy in time and murder them — before they get you!

Unfortunately, since your enemy has strewn many copies of themself across the timeline, you may have to do the terrible deed many, many times before it sticks. Just make sure you don’t get erased first!

That Time You Killed Me is an abstract narrative game of time and murder that introduces new scenarios with unique rules and components as you play. As with any game about mucking about across time, you must play through this content in a strict, unalterable order.

To set up, place three game boards in a row to represent past, present, and future. Each player starts with a player piece in the same location on each 4×4 board, with the start player having their focus token in the past while the other has it in the future.

On a turn, choose a single copy of yourself on the board where your focus token is located, then take two actions with this copy, with actions being movement to an adjacent orthogonal space, time travel forward to the next board (travel from the past to the future is not allowed), or time travel back to the previous board, leaving a copy of yourself in the current location when you do. Sure, you traveled to the past, but if you stick around long enough, you’ll be right back where you started, so now you’re there, too! At the end of your turn, move your focus token to a different board.

Under the basic rules, you murder a copy of your opponent by pushing them into the wall of the game board. You have a limited number of copies of yourself in reserve, and murdered copies don’t return to your reserve because that would be gross. If you run out of copies, you can no longer travel to the past since you can’t leave a copy of yourself behind.

If on your turn, your opponent has copies of themselves on only one board, you win!

Play through four chapters of escalating difficulty, adding more wild time-travel shenanigans and unlocking more content as you master the game!

Game Mechanics:

  • Abstract Strategy
  • Campaign
  • Grid Movement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 Players
  • 15 – 30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.63