Mythic Games Inc. after the successful launch of Hel: The Last Saga, returns with another title on the now well-known backery Kickstarter, this time, however, inspired by a famous video game, that is Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game. From launch day to today, we have already reported you and we have already covered everything you need to know about the campaign Kickstarter that at the time of writing it has almost reached two million dollars, for this reason the time has come to analyze the most important part of all: the game mechanics. For those who do not know it, we remind you that this title is taken from the successful video game developed by Red Hook Studios and published in 2016. Given its nature, we can safely admit that the original title could have lent itself well to the dynamics of a board game, and luckily Mythic Games has granted our wish.
Let's face the Dark Labyrinth
Darkest Dungeon: The Board Game it is a title that ranges from 1 to 4 players, which according to the company should have a duration of 90 minutes (very low estimate in my opinion). Players will have to embody adventurers, each with unique characteristics and abilities. The goal of the players will be to free some dark places from monsters and powerful bosses that inhabit them. Players will have to unravel an 11-episode, 4-act adventure. It will be essential to invest the rewards to upgrade and increase your stats until you are ready for face the Darkest Dungeon.
The first recommendation that the authors make is that of don't get too attached to your character, because this can die, or worse, be pervaded by madness. This won't catapult you out of the game, but it will give you access to backup heroes. But be careful, because the heroes are not infinite! Net of this, know that when the company can no longer be made up of 4 players, the game will end and you will have to resume the adventure.
As we told you at the beginning, the players will first have to face three acts freeing the village, and only after having cleared the area will they have the opportunity to face the last and difficult act. Each hero has a card in which all his characteristics are described: level, name, accessory slot, village capacity, life and movement. Before starting a mission you will have to draw a card Boss. The latter are of three levels and can directly affect the dungeon you are going to explore. Together with the Boss card, you will have to draw the mission cards, only once completed you can recover a certain amount of experience points, allowing your heroes to level up. Finally you will have to choose 3 out of 7 skills for each hero, before entering the mission.
Once you enter the first dungeon with our characters, which we remind you to be wonderful miniatures made in such a way as to faithfully follow the style of the video game, players will have to choose two of the available actions: move, analyze the environment, change your position or even use a skill. In the course of each dungeon you will face countless enemies and the strategy is king. At the end of each mission the players will have to heal themselves, recover from stress and get to know every place in the village.
We fight to free the village
There are times when a hero has to do his duty… and in Darkest Dungeon it will always be like this. When we enter into combat with our enemies, the initiative is decided by drawing a card that will tell us whether to play with the heroes or with the monsters. During our turn, the players will be able to decide to do two actions between: move, Interaction, Change of Posture and Use skills. There stance it is a very important dynamic, because each posture will show us which skills to use. Be very careful because the monsters are able to lure you towards them or hide some nasty surprises.
Once the player has decided to cast an ability, he will roll the attack d10. At this time we will have to read the cards of the heroes, where we will be shown both the accuracy of the attack and the power. Accuracy will be subtracted from the target's Dodge number to determine if the enemy is hit and how much damage is dealt to it. This is a very simple dynamic to learn, but also very random, which will certainly extend the duration of the games.
Having lucky fights will be important, as it will be essential to deal with each dungeon in a precise way, so as not to waste your energies (stocks of supplies), because the title is full of status to keep under control, so as not to lose control of your hero. This is an interesting dynamic, because it makes us understand how much pressure feel the fearless heroes who have embarked on the mission to free the village from the forces of evil.
Unfortunately we have not yet had the opportunity to try the title and to face all the missions and 4 acts, but we are more than confident in the great success of the product, because the quality at which Mythic Games got us used to it, combined with the beautiful atmosphere of Darkest Dungeon, are guarantees that can hardly be trusted. The glance is truly magnificent, there is really nothing to say: the tiles of the dungeon, the cards of the heroes or monsters, every single piece is made with maniacal precision, respecting the unique style of the videogame. As soon as we have it at hand, we will dedicate ourselves as always to a practical test and the usual product review! In the meantime, if you are curious to know more, we refer you to the rules of the game in Spanish, another little gem not to be underestimated.
