Dark Venture Review - The Colour Out of Space

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Honestly, I think the best place for DARK VENTURE is being the only game in someone's collection. It is absolutely amazing, but the work you need to put into it doesn't seem "worth it" to folks that can run their hand down a shelf and grab five other games.

For that one kid or couple of cousins or something, this thing is stacks of hours of wild mind-bending times. I want to leave my copy at the library or something and spawn some psychedelic weirdo in the neighborhood.

I'm fond of Dark Venture. I like the bright colors, the wild creativity, and the peculiar setting. The bookkeeping is a bit of a hassle, but pays off as the locations gradually become populated by formidable NPCs. It's like a candy-colored Magic Realm Lite. The hassle of equipping the NPCs by flipping through a card deck in search of specific items is one of the worst aspects of the game, and I am nearly tempted to buy a second copy just to have an additional deck of cards in alphabetical order to speed the NPC setup in each encounter. But the single worst part of the game is the possibility of losing multiple, consecutive turns after losing a fight.

Because I like the Dark Venture setting so much, I am pondering the second game in that product line, Battle of the Ancients. It's a completely different kind of game but in the same setting and with the same visual design. Tactical combat between small units competing to summon their Ancients, which sounds a lot like the setup for The Hills Rise Wild boardgame that I love.

Thanks for the review. Obviously this game looks fantastic, but it sounds like the process of playing it is cumbersome to the extreme. I generally don't care about video game adaptations of board games, but this sounds like it would make a nice light computer game.

I was very tempted by the area control sequel mentioned above; I ultimately didn't pledge for it because of two reasons:

1. I knew it would barely get any play
2. I instead pledged for something else that was on KS at the same time... possibly Nemesis Lockdown? I can't even remember anymore. Time has no meaning.

Shellhead wrote: But the single worst part of the game is the possibility of losing multiple, consecutive turns after losing a fight.

Just to expand on this point, because I think that it's crucial... there are only 12 turns in the game, and you normally get 3 actions per turn. If your character gets knocked unconscious (hit points reduced to zero), you get one chance to wake up on each subsequent turn, by rolling a 15+ on 3d6 + your Mind attribute. IIRC, it is not unusual to have a Mind attribute of around 4, so you have about a 50% chance of not waking up each turn. And a 25% chance of missing two turns in a row, which would be 1/6 of the game. And a 12.5% chance of missing three turns in a row.

Man, I do need a copy of this to shelf toad.

Despite the flaws, Dark Venture is a keeper. It offers a very distinctive setting, a strange little sandbox to play in for a couple of hours. The rules are light and easy and get out of the way so the players can focus more on the emergent sense of narrative. The encounters often offer an element of Choose Your Own Adventure gaming. The game can be played either competitive or co-op or solitaire. The equipping of NPCs by searching for specific item cards is a nuisance but not a dealbreaker. The harsh KO rules could easily be houseruled away by letting a player automatically wake up the following turn.

I don't have much to say about the game (other than it is about 30 years too late for me), but as a creative writing exercise i really want you to review opening the box, reading the manual, and the first use of some random appliance like the Instapot

And i never want to play you in scrabble!

I'm quite a fan of this game. I know alot of it sounds very cumbersome to those who have never played it, but this is a game that I am entirely content to play by myself. I do find that the rich and unique world building (which is really what it is, I refuse to call the linking of unrelated dots "narrative," because fuck you, Arkham Horror) to be worth the work. I don't mind digging through a stack of cards and lost turns when there's nobody's time to waste but my own.

That said, I have the next game backed and if it's a tad bit more multiplayer friendly, I wouldn't mind.

jeb wrote: I want to leave my copy at the library or something and spawn some psychedelic weirdo in the neighborhood.

That sir, is the Lord's work. Soak the cards in blotter acid first for maximum efficacy.

Shellhead wrote:

Shellhead wrote: But the single worst part of the game is the possibility of losing multiple, consecutive turns after losing a fight.

Just to expand on this point, because I think that it's crucial... there are only 12 turns in the game, and you normally get 3 actions per turn. If your character gets knocked unconscious (hit points reduced to zero), you get one chance to wake up on each subsequent turn, by rolling a 15+ on 3d6 + your Mind attribute. IIRC, it is not unusual to have a Mind attribute of around 4, so you have about a 50% chance of not waking up each turn. And a 25% chance of missing two turns in a row, which would be 1/6 of the game. And a 12.5% chance of missing three turns in a row.

Sounds like the mathematical elements won't be an issue for you hey

jason10mm wrote: I don't have much to say about the game (other than it is about 30 years too late for me), but as a creative writing exercise i really want you to review opening the box, reading the manual, and the first use of some random appliance like the Instapot

And i never want to play you in scrabble!

I didn't think this was a particularly perspicacious piece. (How many points for that one on a double word score?)