It's New Game Friday David Wiley (Cardboard Clash) is here to tell us about the new games.
Here’s what is new this week:
- Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Axes
- Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Traps and Snares
- Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Daggers
- Four Against Darkness Zine: Mushroom Mystery
- Four Against Darkness Zine: The Flooded Forest
- Dangerous Space: Geida, Retrieve Mission
https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Axes
36 unusual axes for use in Four Against Darkness.
Well now, this is an interesting book to use! If you want more flavor and variety in your gameplay when you discover, or equip, an axe. With a vast range of axes to employ, each with some unique characteristics that impact gameplay - for instance, the Searing Axe will become red-hot upon command, making it so Regenerating minions will not recover from those wounds and does extra damage on frost-based enemies. It’d be great to have something like this for every weapon and armor category, as the extra flavor to the experience is bound to be a delight.
Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Traps and Snares
36 wilderness traps and dangers for Four Against Darkness parties of any level.
One of the nicest things about this is the presence of Rare traps, which can only be encountered once on any given adventure. That means you won’t have to deal with some of these repeatedly, which could become really bothersome over the course of an adventure. Some of these can lead to some really fun scenes, such as a Bridge Guardian barring your way, or falling into a Fighting Pit complete with a waiting opponent or two down below. Like the previous entry, if you enjoy some extra flavor without the need to try and come up with something innovative on your own every time, this is a perfect addition to your 4AD experience.
Four Against Darkness Zine: Twisted Daggers
36 unusual daggers for Four Against Darkness.
Unsurprisingly, this follows a similar pattern as the previous entries, so there isn’t a ton left to say about the idea. However, things like the Twin Dagger of Avarum make this noteworthy, as that represents a pair of daggers that, if brought together, will reveal a map with a treasure, giving you a side dungeon adventure to play complete with a Final Boss and a wealth of treasure. Add in fun things like Shadowchaser, which will wound/kill foes who flee due to a failed morale roll, you have some really fun and unique weapons to integrate from here.
Four Against Darkness Zine: Mushroom Mystery
You have been hired by the village of Cadvion to hunt down a Matanagar, an ogre-fungus that has been ravaging their crops and eating their cattle.
A fun, self-contained adventure to explore with your Four Against Darkness party, this one has you seeking out and defeating a pesky overgrown fungus that is terrorizing a village. Along the way you’ll encounter weird monsters, and follow along sets of story prompts that will give you decisions to make along the way. Reach the end successfully and your party will get to choose some magical mushrooms for their rewards, which have some varied and interesting uses. This is a somewhat longer mission, which is sure to keep you engaged and can be run with any party of adventurers you want to send in.
Four Against Darkness Zine: The Flooded Forest
The once lush forest was recently flooded. Now the smell of mildew is everywhere. Along with the water came monsters.
Another fun little adventure, complete with its own forest tiles to use in making the map as you adventure. What I like is that the final boss is determined by which of three enemy types you fought the most, giving you some replay in here just to see all three of the possible bosses. There’s a new class available in this adventure: the Forest Drakeling. They not only have natural slashing weapons from their claws, but also some poison breath, natural defense, and wings to help with movement. If you want both an adventure and a way to expand future games of 4AD, you won’t want to miss this Zine.
Dangerous Space: Geida, Retrieve Mission
Geida was always the sidekick until her entire team got ‘wiped’ in a faulty training exercise. Now she goes solo on all missions.
Geida is well-equipped for this mission, as she can eventually make good use of her Jump Pack to cover ground en route to the Databits. She also can boost an unused die each round when stepping into a Dangerous Space, something you might want to do often to set yourself up for important actions, such as making sure your dice are the right number to mark next to those Databit squares. Between that, and her ability to strike well at range, Geida should be more than capable of making a decent run at this mission.
https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/new-games
Game of the Week: Four Against Darkness on sale for $6!
Four Against Darkness is a solitaire dungeon-delving game. No miniatures are needed. All you need is the book, a pencil, two six-sided dice, and grid paper.
You choose four character types from the classic classes (warrior, wizard, rogue, halfling, dwarf, barbarian, cleric, elf), equip them, and start adventuring in dungeons created by dice rolls and your choices. When you enter a room, you generate its content on a series of random tables. You will meet monsters, fight them, hopefully defeat them (or decide that discretion is the better part of valor!), you’ll manage your resources (healing, spells, life points, equipment), grab treasure, dodge traps, find clues, and even accept quests from the monsters you meet. Your characters can level up and become better at what they do, but it will not be easy.
Here it is, folks. The base game for Four Against Darkness. If you’ve been holding off on trying this one, now is the time to sharpen your swords..or pencils, and dive into the dungeon for some solitaire adventure. While you might question if an elf is a class or a race, the game itself has enough fans to be certified as a solitaire must-try and is unlike most games you might experience out there. Plus, if you get hooked, there’s only about a bajillion supplements out there. So while your wallet won’t thank you for getting hooked, you can enter the world of 4AD knowing there’s tons of adventure and new classes out there to discover after the core experience.
Check out Game of the Week here: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/game-of-the-week
See you next week with more information on our newest print and play games!