Rising Sun and Blood Rage designer’s next board game is like a meatier Carcassonne

Eric Lang, the designer behind the likes of Blood Rage and Rising Sun, has co-created a new board game that’s like a meatier version of Carcassonne.

Called Life in Reterra, the upcoming board game sees players becoming leaders of their own post-apocalyptic communities existing within a greener version of Earth after the collapse of the previous civilisation.

Designed to support from two to four players and set to take around 35 minutes to play, Life in Reterra is a tile-laying game that has players acquiring and placing various tiles and buildings within their own separate community spaces. Taking place in a world in which older technologies have been abandoned in favour of a more environmentally sustainable way of living, Life in Reterra sees players reusing discarded items from the older world as infrastructure for the new.

Each playthrough of the family board game has players choosing between one of three different sets of themed buildings to use, with every building being worth a different amount of points depending on where it’s placed and what is around it. In a similar manner to tabletop titles like the aforementioned Carcassonne and Kingdomino, players then take turns to take and place either a tile or a building on their four-by-four grid - with players needing to fulfil certain requirements in order to be placed.

Players may need to have collected a certain amount of a particular type of symbol in order to put a building within their community, as well as make sure they have enough space within an area of terrain. Putting buildings within certain patterns, locations and alongside other buildings will earn players the points needed to win the game.

Certain types of building in Life in Reterra will provide players with special abilities if they’re placed within the community. These abilities can boost their scoring potential, or can make it easier for them to take other building tiles. There are even certain buildings that will directly and negatively affect players’ opponents, such as forcing them to put harmful junk into their communities.

Other than tiles and buildings, players will also be able to put inhabitants into their communities that will grant their certain bonuses or otherwise beneficial effects, with some buildings’ abilities being intrinsically tied to inhabitants. Having inhabitants in your community will also earn you additional points. Whichever player has the most points by the end of the game is the winner.

Besides Lang, Life in Reterra was also co-designed by Ken Gruhl - co-designer of party game Happy Salmon, as well as titles like Mantis and Cahoots. Life in Reterra is being published by Hasbro, the owner of Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast and the company behind Betrayal at House on the Hill, Avalon Hill. According to Hasbro, copies of Life in Reterra will be produced using “responsibly sourced wood and paper,” that has been acquired from “well-managed FSC®-certified forests, recycled materials, and other controlled sources.”

Life in Reterra is set to be released in the US on June 15th in Target stores at a retail price of $30 (£24), with an European release date yet to be confirmed.