Hellscape is the latest game from Dwarven Forge, and has been funded through Kickstarter.
Dwarven Forge is a team of artists doing what they love and bringing it to the fans, and what they love to do is to create the most beautiful hand crafted and hand painted pieces out there for RPG lovers.
This company has been making celebrated modular RPG games for around 20 years, so they’ve really established a reputation within this smaller niche of game lovers.
Hellscape offers quite the package, including hand-painted 4×4 inch tiles that even have an option to be lit with LED lights. Being a modular game, there’s tons of room here for different scenarios, especially with the amount of options you’ve got here.
The hellish setting of this game is achieved with fire, lava, rocks, and other devilish details. It features any type of tile you could wish for in such a setting, along with all the necessary figurines.
Hellscape’s set is a great representation of how far games like Dungeons and Dragons have evolved, and offers some insight into how the genre will continue to grow, especially with the new-found interest that’s seen in board gaming as a whole, not to mention RPG games in particular (Thank you, Stranger Things.)
When is the Hellscape Release Date?
Hellscape is set to release in April of 2020, so like most Kickstarters, if you get your pledge in soon, you’ll have juuust about forgotten about it by the time it shows up on your doorstep, like a mini bonus birthday that you forgot you had.
Where to Buy Hellscape?
For now, you can hit up the Kickstarter (there’s a link at the bottom of this page.)
For a team investment of about $4000 you can get the full Hellscape set of figures and tiles, appropriately named All Hell Breaks Loose. This gigantic package includes 2 of everything from the First, Second and Third circles of hell (these are the different pledge points on their KS), along with 3 bonus add-on packs and some special limited pieces. But that is not all, everything is hand painted and fully illuminated out of the box, ready for play.
Through their Kickstarter campaign, the artists at Dwarven Forge have brought us into their world. They talk about what it is they do and how they do it, and it’s always interesting to get a behind the scenes look into games like this and how they’ve come to be. There are also tutorials showing how to paint the unpainted pieces, which can also be purchased through the Kickstarter.
In addition, the Dwarven Forge Team has made public encounter videos demonstrating ways to use the modular sets.
Where Do I Find Out More about Hellscape?
Hellscape is definitely causing a big stir. Its unique ability to create an immersive visual setting allows players to focus more on the tactics of the game than on imagining the environment.
The level of immersion Dwarven Forge has delivered in previous games has been spectacular, so they’ve set the bar of expectations high among their loyal fans. For more information, to pledge or if you just want to admire the beautiful work, take the scenic route to their Kickstarter page or their website.
Are modular games the future of board games?
When someone says board games in a group of non-boardgamers, they usually think of party games or “classic” board games like Monopoly, Cards Against Humanity, Codenames and the like. Board games are so much more. There are strategy games, luck based games, card games, deceit games… and, of course, modular games, which bring a lot to the table:
1. Modular games are becoming more and more affordable: With the technology behind these games advancing and the demand increasing, artists are looking for new ways to make their product even less costly. This leads to a more saturated market, with players being able to choose from a variety of different genres of games, increasing exposure and demand in the process, which leads to even larger print runs and lower costs.
2. Replayability: This is the main concept of a modular game. These games are here to offer endless value to the modern gamer. Modularity allows players to create endless scenarios ensuring that no session is the same as another This offers the ultimate experience for any player who loves to get deep into a game and expects a good time every time they play.
3. Great stories: Modular games are usually games that require good strategy. These are board games that, in order to create a sense of logic behind the strategy and the setting, need a good story.
With great stories being written, prices dropping, and artists getting more and more credit for their incredible work, it will be exciting to see this segment of the gaming industry thrive.
We don’t know if modular games are really the future of the board game world, but we do know that it all depends on us, the loyal customers and consumers.If you haven’t already tried playing a modular game, or any board game for that matter, go ahead and find out what you’ve been missing!
Board games are awesome. They provide excellent entertainment, skill honing opportunities and are a great way to bond with family and friends.
What are your favorite modular board games? Leave a comment, we’re working on putting together some recommendations based on what our community loves.
