Apocalyptic horror board gaming has never looked so good.
The Others: 7 Sins is a horror fantasy board game for 2-5 players, developed by Eric Lang and being Kickstarted by publisher Cool Mini Or Not with an anticipated release next year. Set in a world on the verge of a vaguely biblical apocalypse, players enact chapters in the battle between a government run paranormal organization and manifestations of the “7 Deadly Sins” summoned by a fanatical cult.
The game puts one player in the role of one of these Sins, working against the remaining players who command a team of seven unique heroes in defense of Haven, a seemingly critical city in the conflict. The heroes must complete a branching series of objectives to win, while the Sin player works to eliminate the heroes by controlling monsters and playing cards from a character-specific deck.
7 Sins doesn’t seem terribly complicated or hard to learn (you can watch a full session of the game being played here), and the seven mission sets and tile constructed board should give it a decent bit of variety. It also features an intriguing “Corruption” mechanic, which provides escalating bonuses to characters when rolling dice with the price being a risk of death by enemy-inflicted corruption or, worse, falling under the control of the Sin player.
Heroes have a few different types of actions they can perform, and the order in which actions are taken can have strategic consequences, while the Sins player has a limited ability to interrupt between the turns of the Heroes to make their lives more difficult. At a glance, it looks like a pretty interesting blend of mechanical and thematic elements from games like Arkham/Eldritch Horror and Betrayal at House on the Hill.
What makes 7 Sins stand out is its lineup of exquisitely detailed miniatures created by Studio McVey, which previously collaborated with Lang and Cool Mini Or Not on the Viking themed game Blood Rage.
Each Sin has a corresponding set of monster figures, including an extra-large, extra-horrifying avatar and a corrupted human controller. Acolytes (more average, workaday corrupted humans in the service of a Sin) are associated with specific professions, resulting in sets of grotesque, deformed doctors, police, musicians, and clergy. Heroes aren’t short on variety either. The members of FAITH are a motley crew of sorcerers, special ops, cyborgs, and even a couple of lycanthropes for good measure.
The Kickstarter for 7 Sins, which is nearing its end with less than a week remaining, has just one tier and offers content more frequently made into reward tiers as “optional buys”. A pledge of $100 will be rewarded with a copy of the base game set and every stretch goal achieved by the campaign. As of this writing, surpassed goals have expanded the offer to include an additional six Hero characters, three more Sins (for a total of five with the two included in the base set), 40% more board tiles and an exclusive monster.
The optional purchases include three additional expansions. Two are units of additional Heroes (and also include two sets of Acolytes for each unit) for $30 each, and the third is a larger content expansion featuring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse priced at $40. Other add-on purchases include extra sets of game dice and tokens, an art book, and a lithograph portfolio.
Source: Kickstarter
