Tag: Campaign

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

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is a game created by Ignacy Trzewiczek, the author of Stronghold. This time Trzewiczek takes the players to a deserted island, where they’ll play the parts of shipwreck survivors confronted by an extraordinary adventure. They’ll be faced with the challenges of building a shelter, finding food, fighting wild beasts, and protecting themselves from weather changes. Building walls around their homes, animal domestication, constructing weapons and tools from what they find, and much more await them on the island. The players decide in which direction the game will unfold and – after several in-game weeks of hard work – how their settlement will look. Will they manage to discover the secret of the island in the meantime? Will they find a pirate treasure, or an abandoned village? Will they discover an underground city or a cursed temple at the bottom of a volcano? Answers to these questions lie in hundreds of event cards and hundreds of object and structure cards that can be used during the game…

Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is an epic game from Portal. You will build a shelter, palisade, weapons, you will create tools like axes, knives, sacks, you will do everything you can to… to survive. You will have to find food, fight wild beasts, protect yourself from weather changes…

Take the role of one of four characters from the ship crew (cook, carpenter, explorer, or soldier) and face the adventure. Use your determination skills to help your teammates, discuss with them your plan, and put it into practice. Debate, discuss, and work on the best plan you all can make.

Search for treasures. Discover mysteries. Follow goals of six different, engaging scenarios. Start by building a big pile of wood and setting it on fire to call for help, and then start new adventures. Become an exorcist on cursed Island. Become a treasure hunter on Volcano Island. Become a rescue team for a young lady who’s stuck on rock island…

Let the adventure live!

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Movement
  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Narrative Choice
  • Tile Placement
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.80

Oath

Oath

Oath

In Oath, one to six players guide the course of history in an ancient land. Players might take the role of agents bolstering the old order or scheme to bring the kingdom to ruin. The consequences of one game will ripple through those that follow, changing what resources and actions future players may have at their disposal and even altering the game’s core victory condition.

If a player seizes control by courting anarchy and distrust, future players will have to contend with a land overrun by thieves and petty warlords. In a later game, a warlord might attempt to found a dynasty, creating a line of rulers that might last generations or be crushed by the rise of a terrible, arcane cult.

In Oath, there are no fancy production tricks, app-assisted mechanisms or production gimmicks. The game can be reset at any time and doesn’t require the same play group from one game to the next. A player might use the fully-featured solo mode to play several generations during the week and then use that same copy of the game for Saturday game-night with friends. There are no scripted narratives or predetermined end points. The history embedded in each copy of Oath will grow to be as unique as the players who helped build it.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Area Control
  • Area Movement
  • Campaign
  • Dice Rolling
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Negotiation
  • Storytelling
  • Tableau Building

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 6 Players
  • 45 – 150 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.04

Maracaibo

Maracaibo

Maracaibo

Maracaibo, a strategy game for 1-4 players by Alexander Pfister, is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The players try to increase their influence in three nations in four rounds with a play time of 40 minutes per player.

The players sail on a round course through the Caribbean, e.g., you have city tiles where you are able to perform various actions or deliver goods to. One special feature is an implemented quest mode over more and various tiles, which tells the player, who chase after it, a little story.

As a player, you move with your ship around the course, managing it by using cards like in other games from Alexander Pfister.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Campaign
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Narrative Choice
  • Set Collection
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.89

Imperium: Classics

Imperium: Classics

Imperium: Classics

Formidable adversaries are arrayed against you. Your people stand ready. History beckons.

In your hands lies the destiny of one of history’s great civilizations. Under constant threat of attack, you must conquer new lands, oversee dramatic scientific and cultural advances, and lead your people into the era of empire. Expand too rapidly, and unrest will bring your civilization to its knees; build up too slowly, however, and you might find yourself a mere footnote of history. As one of eight radically asymmetric civilizations, you will compete to become the most dominant empire the world has ever seen.

Imperium: Classics is a standalone game that contains the Carthaginian, Celt, Greek, Macedonian, Persian, Roman, Scythian, and Viking civilizations and an individual solo opponent behaving as each nation. It is also fully compatible with Imperium: Legends for players wanting to expand their pool of civilizations even further.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Civilization
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Move Through Deck
  • Tableau Building
  • Take That

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.48

Dungeon Degenerates

Dungeon Degenerates

Dungeon Degenerates

Dungeon Degenerates: Hand of Doom takes place in the Dark Fantasy Realm of the decaying Eastern Provinces of the Würstreich. Players take escaped criminal adventurers on unsavory missions through four distinct regions, each with their own monsters & encounters. As the players explore the Würstreich, danger levels rise continuously across the map. Players must complete their mission before the Hand of Doom descends on the board, unleashing evil magic on the land.

Dungeon Degenerates is for 1-4 players co-op. Players can form parties or split up throughout the game at will; there is no obligation to stick together. Game play is 1-3 hours based on mission. Dungeon Degenerates has an epic RPG campaign feel in an open world sandbox board game, and you bring your experience & items from previous missions. There are multiple missions & objectives of varying difficulty with multiple ways to approach each mission. Dungeon Degenerates is set in a cohesive & fixed world with multiple distinct regions which feature unique encounters & thematic monsters. Encounters allow multiple interaction choices; you do not have to fight everyone you see. Play features an open experience system allowing for character customization with new skills. You are always in danger – the town is not an artificial safe zone – combat is dangerous. There are various modes of travel – players cooperate to choose their route & pace, or split up & fend for themselves. Dungeon Degenerates features streamlined combat with tactical depth; each player rolls dice only once on their turn, using standard 6-sided dice only. There are over 100 monsters with unique abilities & artwork.

Game Mechanics:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Dice Rolling
  • Role Playing

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 300 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.61

Dawn of the Zeds

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

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 Majority / Influence
  • Bluffing
  • Campaign
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Modular Board
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.47

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:

  • Campaign
  • Cooperative
  • Deck Building
  • Hand Management
  • Limited Communication
  • Push Your Luck
  • Role Playing
  • Solo / Solitaire Game
  • Variable Player Powers

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 60 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.55

The World of SMOG: Rise of Moloch

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

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