Darkest Night (Board Game)
Publisher:  Victory Point Games
Designer: Jeremy Lennert
Release Date:  September 2012
MSRP:  $46.95
Number of Players: 1 to 4
Playing Time:  2.5 hours
Age Rating:  13 and up
Product #:  VPG-09-011
ICv2 Rating:  2 Stars out of 5

Cooperative games have always appealed to me.  Not all of my board game loving friends are particularly competitive--they view games as a social activity only.  So, I was looking forward to cracking open Darkest Night, a cooperative game that simulates a guerilla-style war fought in a fantasy kingdom overrun by the forces of evil.  So far, so good.

Summary:  The players are a band of exactly four typical fantasy heroes:  a knight, perhaps, or a wizard, or a rogue.  Each hero has a unique set of "power cards" that determine what abilities they can use against the evil Necromancer that has seized control of the kingdom.  The board represents a simple map of said kingdom, with seven locations our heroes can visit, from the sanctuary of the Monastery to the treacherous Swamp and Ruins.  The heroes must sneak about the kingdom building up their power and seeking the lost keys required to retrieve the sacred Relics.  Once a relic is obtained, a bold-enough hero can challenge the Necromancer to a duel.  Less combative heroes can instead try to gather three Relics and cast a mighty spell to banish him.  Either way, the task must be completed before the Necromancer's rapidly growing shadow extinguishes the light of hope from the kingdom forever.

Originality:  Okay, so the plot is pretty typical.  We've seen this before, but that's mostly because it's such a solid and reliable one.  The theme of good versus evil is always appropriate for heroic fantasy.  I particularly like the guerrilla-style nature of the heroes' activities.  Pitting the heroes against an evil that is so powerful they must slink about in the shadows has the natural effect of heightening the dramatic tension.  Mechanically, the game offers the tried-and-true target number/success system that has been used to good effect so many times before.

Presentation:  In this area, Darkest Night is something of a mixed bag.  The artwork on the box sleeve and the game board is suitably dark and ominous.  An effort was made to do the same on the playing pieces, but sadly the artwork is so dark and ominous that it is sometimes difficult to tell one character from another.  The event cards have lovely and evocative artwork as well, but something happened when they got around to doing the power cards, which are graced only with simple sketch-like artwork.  On the plus side, all cards are easy to read and the text is easy to understand.

Sadly, the packaging leaves something to be desired.  Yes, the bright red inner box is sturdy enough to use as a shipping box, but it offers no artwork itself, and is generic to Victory Point Games' entire line.  The pretty artwork (and valuable game information) is instead printed on a thin cardstock sleeve, slipped over the box.  As one who takes great pains to keep my collection of games looking good on the shelf, I find this style of packaging to be quite frustrating, as the thin sleeve quickly shows signs of wear and tear.

Quality:  Again, here we have a mixed bag.  The puzzle cut board is very good.  The cards are flexible, but they are cut inconsistently--some cards have rounded corners, while others are square.  Despite that oddity however, I found the cards to be perfectly serviceable and they held up well to my playtesting.  The rules are laid out in a rather old-fashioned style, long-championed by the original Avalon Hill:  every rule and paragraph is numbered and sub-numbered.

The tokens are excellent--thick and sturdy.  There was, however, something extremely bizarre that I have never seen before in all my years of playing games:  The "Wipes-A-Lot."  Victory Point Games thoughtfully included this folded paper device (read:  napkin) emblazoned with the announcement that it was included so I could "remove any residual soot from your counters."  And it was a good thing, too, as my fingers quickly blackened when I separated them from the frame.  But once you clean them properly, the counters really are quite excellent.  I particularly like having counters shaped like what they represent:  potion bottles, keys, and other handy things.  Kudos to the art design!

Marketability:  I think that there will always be a place for new cooperative games.  It is an unfortunate weakness of the genre that you eventually learn the ins and outs of the game, and the challenge fades away.  So I'm delighted to have new challenges to experience.  But while an "old hand" like myself certainly is not bothered by the nostalgic style of the game's presentation, I fear that the style of the Darkest Night may be a tad dated for today's gaming audience.  And by the light of goodness, please don't ask us to clean the soot off of our own playing pieces…

Overall:  I really enjoyed playing Darkest Night.  My fellow playtesters and I barely eked out a win against the forces of darkness by the narrowest of margins, and let's face it:  that's exactly what you want out of a cooperative fantasy adventure.  We did find some serious imbalances between some of the heroes in the game, but knowing that now it is easy enough to reserve those underprivileged heroes for the most experienced players.  If anything, it adds to the experience.

Unfortunately, there are clearly some issues with the production quality and packaging of the game that most definitely creates an obstacle towards marketing this otherwise fine title.  Modernize the style and the presentation, upgrade the quality of the cards and components, and it would be a different story.  Perhaps a more heroic one.  As it is, however, I must reluctantly give this game 2 out of 5.

--William Niebling