Warcrow Adventures was launched on Kickstarter in November 2022, where it raised >€435,000. The game is expected to be published and go to backers in 2024. We’ve had the chance to play a preview prototype…
Warcrow Adventures is a story-driven dungeon crawler for up to four players. It uses a companion app but, once downloaded, the app is self-contained (ie: you don’t need an ongoing internet connection). The app eliminates any of the tedious admin that can get in the way of dungeon crawling adventurers. It also handles game set up and the story narration. It means, for example, when you encounter and interact with a non-player character, the app can offer you options to choose between. This isn’t of course the first game to use an app in this way – Lucky Duck’s Destinies has offered something similar – but the Warcrow story app is especially immersive, albeit that we’ve so far only had the opportunity to try it on a demo game.
Tho’ you’re using an app for support, Warcrow Adventures is first and foremost a tabetop game where players will have minis representing their characters and the monsters they encounter. You can expect to find fantasy game staples (elves, dwarves, wizards et al) but you’ll also encounter some less familiar foes… And the minis we’ve seen so far are of particularly high quality, just as we’ve come to expect from Corvus Belli, who’ve previously published games include Aristeia.
Success or failure on combat and your characters’ other interactions are determined by rolling various combinations of custom eight-sided dice but one of the standout features in Warcrow Adventures is the initiative roundel. Characters and monsters are allocated an initial number to determine initiative order in combat but the actions you choose to take can reposition you on the roundel so that your character can benefit from multiple actions and potential attacks. Your choice of actions is determined by the choice you make on how to apply your energy markers. It’s an elegant system that works smoothly – especially once players have mastered the game’s actions’ iconography.
Warcrow Adventures is designed to be played with missions and/or as a campaign game. The demo game we’ve played with the prototype has left the Board’s Eye View team eager for more, so we’re keenly awaiting the finished base game – not to mention all the expansions announced during the Kickstarter. We hope to showcase them too on Board’s Eye View as soon as we can get our hands on them.