The Components
As with the other two-player supplements for Dungeon Twister this one comes with a whole new set of components, which means 8 map tiles, 8 character tokens for each of yellow and blue, 7 object tokens for those colors (which is actually one extra), 8 card board figures, 2 starting lines, and 1 rulebook. There are also a few unique items for this supplement, including some neutral items and some special zombies and bats. There are also a pile of 30 corridor tiles which detail one-, two-, and three-space corridor segments, and are for use with darkness.
All of the components meet the same high standards as the original set, which means good quality cardboard and entirely beautiful illustrations (by Thierry Masson and Eric Bourgier), laid out in an attractive manner. All the Dungeon Twister sets have looked great, and this is no exception.
My scant complaints about the components are the same complaints I had about previous 2-player expansion, Paladins and Dragons. The use of icons to make the game easier to play is a bit erratic. You have to wonder, for example, why there's an icon for flying but not for illumination, an important new power in this set. Likewise the absence of player screens telling you what all the new characters and items do is unfortunate.
Overall, Forces of Darkness has great beauty, good quality, and average utility. The big difference from the previous 2-player expansion, is that it's more expensive at $29.99, which is the same price as the base game. I've awarded Forces of Darkness a high "4" out of "5" for Style: very good. The only thing holding it back from a perfect rating is price point.
The Gameplay
As with the other 2-player Dungeon Twister supplement, you can use this one in a variety of ways: playing with just the characters and items from this set; drafting individual pieces; randomly selecting them; or using specific characters as defined in a scenario.
(I'd think you could do some fun scenarios with good guys versus the forces of darkness.)
Here's what's new and different in this set:
New Maps: The map has a few new items including: a statue that you can get a two-handed sword from; wall sconces that you can get torches from; more fountains of youth which heal characters; a sacred tomb which undead can't get near; and tombs which can be used by necromancers to raise zombies. However the biggest change is darkness.
Darkness. This is a new type of terrain that often fills big chunks of rooms. Normal characters can't move into it at all, but if you have a light source you can illuminate adjacent darkness. This is done by a neat mechanic using those one-, two-, and three-piece corridor tiles. A player can illuminate as a 0-cost action (if he has item or power to do so); he decides which size of corridor to light up, then he takes a tile of the appropriate size from a face-down draw pile. He must place it adjacent to the illuminating character, but can do so in any of several different orientations. Thus, the darkened area is slowly lightened, and the player has some control over where things appear.
New Characters: Most of the 8 new characters are undead, and they all match up with the themes of light, darkness, and resurrection:
- Angel of Light: A fast character that flies and can illuminate darkness.
- Undead Dragon: A combat monster that also regenerates.
- Ghoul: A fun character who can carry away wounded opponents and gets points for doing so.
- Mummy: A light-fearing undead that can break portcullises.
- Necromancer: A magic-user that can also raise zombies.
- The Shadow: A strange creature that can walk through darkness.
- Specter: A fairly weak character. It can freely move through anything, but can't interact with items and isn't worth points if you move it off the board. It can possess a wounded character, and then it takes physical form and can be scored if it exits.
- Vampire: Yet another undead. He gets stronger in combat as he kills things and can also turn into a bat!
New Items: There are actually 7 items in this set rather than the typical 6. Players must thus decide which 6 they want when they're setting up.
There are five normal items:
- Ring of Light: A one-use item that can be used to simultaneously light up 5 corridors worth of darkness.
- Key: Can open and close portcullises.
- Holy Cross: Destroys any undead that enters a space with it; usually dropped on undead by flying creatures.
- Inversion Scroll: Exchanges two dungeon tiles.
- Torch: Lights up darkness.
There are also two cursed items which are automatically picked up when you enter their space or when you kill someone who was holding it. The "Ring of Weakness" decreases combat by 1 and the "Ball & Chain" decreases movement by 1.
Finally the "Two Handed Sword", available from the Statue space, gives a +2 in combat, but requires an additional action when you use it.
Winning the Game: Beyond that, the expansion works just like the original game: you kill your opponent's characters or get your own characters out of the dungeon.
Relationships to Other Games
Officially, Forces of Darkness is expansion #4 to the Dungeon Twister Basic Set. Expansion #1, Paladins and Dragons was another two-player expansion that, just like this one, offered new characters, items, and maps. Expansion #2 was the 3/4 Player Expansion, which introduced two new player colors. Expansion #3, Fire & Water actually hasn't been printed in the United States yet. It's considered a more difficult expansion and thus it's not going to be printed--if I hear the rumors correctly--until after set #5. However the numbering has been kept the same to avoid confusion with the original French editions.
Forces of Darkness generally works exactly like Paladins and Dragons and you can freely intermix pieces among those sets and the originals, as described above.
These 2-player sets really aren't intended to work with the 3/4 Player Expansion because only the original two player colors can use the new pieces. Nonetheless, I tried Forces of Darkness out in a 4-player game, with two players using the original forces (from the 3/4 player expansion) and two players using the Forces of Darkness pieces.
It worked OK. The two sets are relatively balanced. I think Forces of Darkness has stronger characters, but the basic set has stronger items. As long as the original players are careful with their item setup, it should be a fair game. The only worrisome element in such a setup is the darkness, which could really hose the original players in an unlucky setup. In our case, both of the original players had wall torches within easy reach, but to be more generally fair, I'd let the original players replace one of their common items with a torch.
The Game Design
Generally Dungeon Twister is a clever, tactical game, and that comes across in this new supplement.
The designer concentrates on a theme in each of his supplements, and the main theme here has to do with wounded characters. Thus you have ghouls who can carry off wounded characters, necromancers who can transform them into zombies, and specters who can possess them. I'm not convinced it's the strongest theme, but it's an interesting variation that can force players to think more about defending their wounded characters.
The other notable element in the game is, of course, the darkness. As I already wrote, I think the darkness is a very clever mechanism; it encourages some new and interesting tactical decisions.
On the one hand, since this is now the second time that I've seen a set of new characters, maps, and items for Dungeon Twister, I'm not as enthusiastic about it. On the other hand this is another well-designed set that will add interesting variety to a Dungeon Twister game.
I've given it a "4" out of "5" for Substance; it's probably every bit as good as the previous sets, which I gave a "5", but it's no longer quite as original.
Conclusion
Forces of Darkness is another fine expansion to Dungeon Twister that offers new colors and new tactics for those who regularly play the game.
