Dire Alliance: Horror is a deckbuilding game co-created by the makers of Undaunted: Normandy
Part of a cross-compatible series.
Command a faction of fearful fighters in Dire Alliance: Horror, an upcoming board game created by the designers behind the Undaunted series - Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson.
Dire Alliance: Horror is a deckbuilding game for one to four players that sees everyone taking control of a faction and leader as they battle their terrifying rivals. The game has two different modes, battle mode and raid mode. Whichever mode they choose, players will take turns to play cards and activate their various fighters placed across the map.
Cards can enable players to move their fighters, command them to attack and use their special abilities against their chosen opponent. Successfully damaging another character forces the other player - or the AI opponent - to lose cards from their deck, thus limiting their options in future turns. Players can also choose to focus one of their fighters to acquire more cards to use during their next turn.
A player’s objectives will differ depending on the game mode and the scenario they’re playing. Battle Mode is a two-player game that sees players going head-to-head against one another in order to complete certain objectives. Dire Alliance: Horror looks to be similar to Undaunted: Normandy and North Africa, in that it provides players with different scenarios to play through.
However, unlike Undaunted, Dire Alliance also comes with a co-op mode that enables players to team up against an AI opponent. In raid mode, players must work together to destroy the AI opponent’s various minions placed across the map, before eventually taking on the leader of the enemy faction.
Each faction and leader in the game is inspired by a classic creature or character found across horror history, and has access to an arsenal of powers to match. For example, the shroud faction is made up of various types of vampires - including a human servant and hypnotising vampire - and can use their sated ability to roll additional dice when attacking or defending. Players can choose to combine various leaders and factions together to create their own unique combinations.
Aside from Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson, Dire Alliance: Horror was also designed by Brady and Adam Sadler - both of whom worked on Warhammer: The Adventure Card Game and the co-op game, Heroes of Terrinoth.
Blacklist Games, the company responsible for publishing Dire Alliance: Horror, is known for releasing titles such as Street Masters - a board game inspired by fighting video games - and a co-op game about managing a police department called Brook City.
Dire Alliance: Horror is the first entry in a series that’s set to feature games that are cross-compatible with one another. The Kickstarter campaign for Dire Alliance: Horror is live until November 17th, with a pledge of $50 (£39) getting backers a copy of the core game that’s estimated to be released in November 2021.