Dark Is The Night

Whilst scrolling through Instagram I came across Dark Is The Night, a game currently on Kickstarter (with just over two days to go!) and it sounded like a fun two player game to try out. I am always on the prowl for filler games that stimulate and entertain, and lately I've developed an appetite for hidden movement and deduction games - I blame Captain Sonar and Noir for that. So I got semi-creative, fashioned up a make-shift board and grabbed some miniatures to act as player pieces with some crudely drawn tokens to see how this game plays. 

The hunter is camping out, keeping her wits about her, while a cunning monster lurks in the darkness, circling its prey. This hunter is no sitting duck, she is equipped with two arrows, a tasty morsel of meat and a trap. Like all good hunters, she came prepared. She knows which direction the monster starts in and can then attempt to deduce where the beast actually is. She could fire an arrow into the dark hoping that it will strike the monster, she could leave a trap that deters the monster and will alert her if it gets too close, or she could place a piece of meat somewhere to tempt the hungry monster out of the shadows.

Players act as either the hunter or the monster, taking it in turns to move one space on the board then use an action. The hunter is represented on the board by a figure sculpted by Chad Hoverter, who worked on Mice & Mystics, and the monster has a dial it uses to track its movement in secret. Playing as the hunter, you are constantly trying to work out where that tricksy monster is with the use of your tokens and a bit of logic. The monster has nothing to lure the hunter towards them but it has the Feint token which allows it to secretly move 0-2 spaces once a game.Then it could end up right in your path, ready for dinner! After the hunter uses the last token you have five turns left before the finale. The monster could eat the hunter, the hunter could kill the monster or maybe no one kills anyone - and they all go hungry tonight!

We played loads of games in a row, then after dinner and miniature painting we squeezed a few more games in. It is an enjoyable and quick game, that is easy to set up and simple to learn. The game is produced by Ape Games, and designed by three university students studying game design. Go and check this game out here if you enjoy fast deduction games and trying to stalk your opponent.

Marisa xx