Dead Throne – Kickstarter Preview

Dead Throne is an ambitious open world game that is now back on Kickstarter with a new core box and extras. Set in its own unique world and creating its and your own stories as you play. You dive into the world of Veles with a number of different ways to play including support from the Sharkee Games website. If that's not enough you can also create your own scenarios. Let's take a deeper look.

Dead Throne

Out of the box Dead throne offers competitive, co-op and solo modes and combinations of those. The competitive mode has one player take the role of Saladar, who is not a hero and has his own goals to win the game. Although he plays the same way mechanically the other players will need to watch out for that player and actively work against them to prevent Saladar winning.

Saladar also makes the competitive game very interactive, as he must steal an item from each player to win. Solo and co-op modes see you protecting a castle and fighting the dragon Agrimor. As well as the co-op mode being solo-able there is also a dedicated solo mode included giving lone players a fair amount of options.

Whichever mode you choose you will be set up in mere minutes thanks to the clever and practical storage. Deck boxes are provided that keep each deck of cards contained in the main box and have a clever opening system that props them up to be within easy reach during gameplay. The storage trays in the box will be used in game meaning you simple place them on the table. The market is particularly clever keeping cards flat in the box but giving you vertical storage during game so you can see the wares on offer.

Playing 1-7 players effectively is no easy task, but a lot of thought seems to have gone into how Dead Throne navigates this. The first thing to mention is the innovative 'mechanical market'. This is a mechanism built into the box lid, which stores the in-game market cards in distinctive categories. Players can then access them during the game by sliding a leaver up to release the lock. The cards are then put back after play and locked in place by the aforementioned level.

When the game has more than four players, certain actions allow the other players to carry on with their adventures while you perform those actions. This is known as the 4+ rule, explained further by the publisher:

"When the players are interacting with the market, trying to decide what to buy, or when they are battling each other, the other players, if there are four or more total players in the game, will simply skip those player turns. This way, the players battling will have an uninterrupted battle and the players in the market can take their time, buying, selling and swapping items around."

This definitely sounds like it could work...

Throne Alive!

On your turn you can move around the map and interact with other players and the 'step' you find yourself on. This usually means drawing a card matching the terrain which might provide loot but could be a roaming monster... Though there are ways to win the game you are encouraged to find your own path, and more importantly your own story through the game.

This isn't a story driven game that doles out narrative as you play but one that reveals elements and gives your imagination room to fill in the details.

Dead Throne is currently on Kickstarter and with Zatu's help has just unlocked the metal coins and scenario pack add-ons!