Escape the Dark Sector: Mission Pack 1 – Twisted Tech Expansion

Discover the bizarre and disturbing technology of the far future, where sinister intentions and limitless possibilities collide… Mission Pack 1: Twisted Tech is an expansion for the popular thematic dice exploration story game Escape the Dark Sector. It expands on the core by adding many new cards that can be shuffled into the existing decks. Beyond simply adding more variety to all parts of the core game it also includes a new boss, drone types and a new tech die, and special ammo die mechanic.

Mission Pack 1: Twisted Tech The New

The new elements introduced at the variety of new drone types you can use, picked at the start of the game, these often have a powerful benefit beyond the default drone by giving a variety of new powers such as improved healing/mutation removal or adding an extra attack. These drones have a split choice of a weaker but safe option or taking a gamble by rolling the new tech die and potentially suffering a much more beneficial or even detrimental effect.

This new die is also used with some of the other new elements and generally follows the same pattern of an increased benefit if it goes well but a potential downside if it does not such as suffering damage instead of healing your character. So, using them is always a gamble. My personal favourite being the Replication Drone’ capable of repairing used items from the discard pile which opens up a lot more choice in your turn.

The new boss and event cards are also fun additions as it is always great to have a different unknown boss at the end to avoid meta gaming against their weaknesses and the new boss is especially proof against this as it is unknown what form he will take until you meet him.

The new chapter cards and items are also a fun addition as you can pickup sniper rifles, flamethrowers and even new brain chips that you can equip at the cost of some health when acquired. Some of these new weapons also make use of special ammo. The flamethrower has its own dedicated flame die while other weapons might use the new special ammunition dice which may give an extra triggered effect when rolled. For instance, the Punch-Gun can be fired when taking a melee fight action with the special die being rolled to see what extra damage it will deal.

Components/Theme

The components in Mission Pack 1: Twisted Tech are all well designed and produced. The new custom die feel of a good quality and the insert holds everything nicely in place while presenting it clearly. The cards are of a good stock and the artwork is one of the selling points as with the base game.

The monotone imagery seems pulled straight out of the late 80’s and brings memories of ‘choose your own adventure’ books of the era. It is both new and nostalgic at once and really sells the grim unyielding adventure that your crew are on. The whole module is based around the experimental and sci fi technology that you will encounter and it covers everything from tech augmentation to mad science gone wrong and even a little bit of Bladerunner.

It also blends in seamlessly with the base game and has some cross integration with the other mission packs such as curing mutations which was alluded to earlier.

Mission Pack 1: Twisted Tech Impressions

The new content is on par with the existing base content. It is hard and brutal at times but also seeks to fix some of the issues with the base game. Namely the lack of player choice. The drone selection is the main addition to combat this and adds an element of risk and reward with the semi-gambling on the effects of the drones which also heightens the tension that is prevalent throughout.

The new boss Neuroshima is a punishing fight and if you make it to his showdown, then he will use the tech die to gain a random effect that will power him up through the entire encounter. These range from punishing to brutal and he is certainly a tough foe to face but the new weaponry should give you some footing against him.

A fitting final boss to the dark sector to be sure. Just keep some fuel in the flamethrower for him…

Conclusion

Mission Pack 1: Twisted Tech is a hard expansion to criticize as it essentially expands on the base game in the logical way. It improves the replayability and adds fresh new encounters that will certainly refresh a new playthrough as well as giving you more meaningful player interaction with the game through the drones and augmentations.

It is also a good starting point to expand with as it gives more content without adding anything too drastic such as the mutations and time travel of the other two mission packs. This makes it the ideal first expansion to pick up. It also integrates especially well with the Mutant Syndrome expansion and it feels like these were developed to work seamlessly either independently or with each other.

To conclude if you enjoy the Escape the Dark Sector base game, then this is absolutely something to pick up and enhance your game with. I would also recommend this one first before mixing in the other two expansions as not to overwhelm with too many new mechanics/rules to reference.