Shadows Deep: The Kickstarter To Watch Out For

This one was always going to pull me in (into the grave, bwah hah hah!). Within 1.3 seconds of spotting this on Kickstarter, my brain reflexively breathed 'Horrified'. Take a look at the suitably gothic map and tell me I'm wrong. There is plenty of room in my life for more horror-themed board games, so a closer look was a necessity...

Shadows Deep is a cooperative strategy board game for 1-4 players, where each player takes on the role of a vampire trying to defeat the hunters, manipulate the citizens and seize control of the city of Ashenport. So, co-op is definitely in Horrified's ballpark, but the twist here is that we get to be the bad guys (finally!) instead of letting the card deck control the monsters. Each round will feature deck building, combat, feeding - you are a creature of the night after all - and thematic, emergent gameplay.

I'm dead keen (!) on the setting, a 19th century Victorian city (did any of you ever play Nightmare Creatures on PS1?) in which you and up to three other vampires will dominate the shadows, feeding on the unwary, raising ghouls and enthralling servants whilst attempting to evade nine tenacious hunters, each of whom have their own unique hunting strategy.

Cooperation will be required, my fanged friends, to maintain control over this grim city and prevent the hunters from encouraging enough faith that the locals turn against their vampire lords. However, within this chaos you might find an opportunity to seize control of areas from underneath the other vampires. You'll be able to increase your vampiric powers by carrying out forbidden quests. Clever deck building will help you shape your abilities, command your servants and hopefully eventually claim your position as the dominant vampire of the city.

The artwork looks super gothic and thematically on-point, and you've got five vampires to choose from (one just got unlocked as a stretch goal), each with their own asymmetric playmat - you might therefore find that you prefer one of these vamps to the others, as they suit your play style better. There's plenty of Actin cards, Hunter cards and Quest cards to ensure that each playthrough feels a little different.

As suggested by the newly unlocked additional vampire, Shadows Deep is already full funded and is swooping through its stretch goals: additional hunters are up next, followed by another vampire character. It’s worth bearing in mind that this is available to test out on Tabletop Simulator (which is so very, very cool), so you can give it a try before committing to a pledge. Head on over here for more info, gals and ghouls.

Published 10th Feb 2025.