IceMakes, publishers of titles such as Age of Civilization, Elijah and the Shiny Something or most recently Morpho, has announced its new asymmetrical horror game, Terrorscape. This will be released on Kickstarter in the second quarter of 2023. We were able to test the prototype and want to share our experiences with Terrorscape with you.
On a stormy night, three travelers take shelter in an abandoned mansion. What lurks within her, however, is far worse than the storm raging outside. The villa is the hunting ground of a bloodthirsty murderer. This is the full story of Terrorscape. Not telling, but enough to explain the events of the fun horror experience.
The hunt begins
In Terrorscape, one of the 2-4 players takes on the role of the bloodthirsty killer whose task it is to locate the intruders in the mansion and assassinate one of them. The remaining players slip into the role of the three travelers or survivors. They try to avoid the killer and escape safely from the villa. All this happens in good old Hidden Movement manner. Because while the survivors have information about the locations of all characters, including that of the killer, the killer only has to find out which rooms they are in with clues that the survivors leave behind after their turn.
To escape the mansion, the survivors must first find five keys to open the main front door or repair the radio to call the police. As simple as these goals may sound, it is all the more difficult to advance them unnoticed. The keys can be searched in three rooms with a key icon and the radio can be repaired in a room with a gear icon. These spaces are fixed and therefore visible to the killer as open information. Whenever a key is found or a part of the radio is repaired, the survivors create noise in the room where the action was performed. Thus, the killer gets the hint that there could be a survivor in this room.
In Terrorscape, the survivors have different ways of escaping the killer. However, the hidden exit (right) can only be used if the secret map is found in addition to the keys. Image: Sven Karsten
After the survivors, it's the killer's turn. With the help of the clues, he can now guess where the survivors might be and organize his turn accordingly. Unlike the Survivors, the Killer performs most of his actions using cards from his hand that he draws from his deck. If the killer finds a survivor while searching a room, a fight ensues. The survivor must then roll the four defense dice and hit at least the killer's strength. If he fails, he will be wounded. If he is already wounded, he dies and the game ends. However, if he manages to fend off the attack, the killer may draw four cards, which brings him closer to leveling up. Once the deck has been played through, the killer increases in level and thus becomes more and more powerful.
A race for victory
So Terrorscape is a kind of race for both sides. The killer must manage to find the survivors and kill one of them before they can escape, and the survivors must manage to escape before the killer levels up so much that he is almost impossible to overcome. Terrorscape manages to make the game feel menacing and exciting throughout. You try to anticipate and confuse each other's moves. It's also great that the game is explained in less than 10 minutes and can be played in a short time. Our games lasted between 30 and 60 minutes, although the 60 minute mark was rarely reached.
Terrorscape from the killer's point of view. We try to locate the three survivors with only hints of noises. Image: Sven Karsten
In any case, we had a lot of fun with Terrorscape in our test games. In combination with the short playing time, it made us play the game several times in a row in different constellations. However, we also felt that the survivors often found it easier to end the game victorious. However, it was all the more satisfying when, as a killer, you finally managed to win the game.
A fantastic look
Terrorscape is also a real stunner from a purely visual point of view, and mind you, already as a prototype. The game board consists of two layouts of the mansion where the killer seeks the life of the survivors. One board is used by the survivors, the other by the killers. Between the two parties there is a large house, which serves as a privacy screen, storage space for any information that needs to be shared with the opposing player, and as a dice tower.
Terrorscape is simply a stunner on the table. The mansion is a big part of the overall picture, but the rest of the game looks really good too! Image: Sven Karsten
Building the house can be a little annoying and also takes a lot of time. It gets faster and faster over time as you get used to the setup, but it's still annoying, even though it ends up looking really good. In order to save time elsewhere, IceMakes has helped out in the form of organizers. This allows the tiles required for the game to be taken out of the box quickly and easily.
characters
The miniatures and all the game material also look really good. In total, we had five survivors and three killers in the prototype, each with different abilities. Depending on which killer or which survivor was in play, the players had different tactical options to act against each other. The abilities and characters were also well balanced and consistent with their demeanor and looks.
Kickstarter campaign
One thing we can predict. Terrorscape is just plain fun. In the last few weeks, no other game has landed on our table as often as IceMakes' horror game. The reasons for this are the simple rules, the short playing time and the tension that the game creates. So any person who is at least a little familiar with Hidden Movement titles can safely take a look at Terrorscape. But the horror title could also be interesting for casual gamers. Over the holidays, everyone who played the game - those who played a lot as well as those who played occasionally - definitely enjoyed the game very much.
An exact date for the start of the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is not yet known. It should start sometime in the second quarter of 2. Until then, if you are interested, you can Facebook, Instagram or Twitter get new information about the game. With the Terrorscape newsletter However, you are 100% not missing any news about the game.
About Terrorscape
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Number of players: 2 – 4 Author: Jeffrey CCH |
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Mix Brand Age of Civilization - Pocket Sized Board Game for... * | 71,91 EUR | Buy |
Last updated on 7.03.2023/XNUMX/XNUMX / Affiliate Links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. * = Affiliate links. Images from Amazon PA API
