DARK EDEN SAMPLE CARDS and GAME SYNOPSIS


Here are eight card samples for your viewing pleasure! They may be a little slow to download, but they are worth it! Please be aware that these are only pre-production samples and may not look exactly like this when produced. You will also find a general overview of the play of the game in the text below!



Each player begins the game with one Commander card. This card represents the player in the game (very much like the MAJOR ARCANA cards in our highly-acclaimed KULT CCG). The Commander on the left (or on top) is KOMMENDANT LEITHEUSSER, a mighty leader from the Sons of Rasputin affiliation. The other is SAMIR OF THE RISING MOON, a Crescentia Commander. Note the affiliation icons in the top left corners, and the footprint and wing icons in the text boxes. These two icons indicate that both of these Commanders may be Raided by Land and by Air (some Commanders also have another icon to indicate that may be raided by Sea). On the bottom of each text box is a row of smaller Resource Icons, which tell you how many units of Gold, Food, Raw Materials and Fuel these Commanders produce for you each turn. Finally, each Commander’s Combat Value (or CV) is found in the lower right corner of its card, telling you its ability in combat. As you can see, KOMMENDANT LEITHEUSSER has a CV of 10, while SAMIR OF THE RISING MOON has a CV of 12.


Commanders gain abilities, strength and strategic advantages by developing a “village”, also called a Turf. A player’s Turf is made up of Establishments built adjacent to and outward from the Commander. Here are two such Establishments. On the left (or on top) is the SONS OF RASPUTIN EMBASSY and the other is the LUTHERAN TRIAD EMBASSY. One of the key aspects of DARK EDEN is that a player is only allowed to play cards with the same Affiliation icon as his or her Commander card, or cards that have no Affiliation icon at all (and are therefore of the General affiliation). These two Establishments allow you to play cards that you would normally not be allowed to play (notice that the SONS OF RASPUTIN EMBASSY actually has a typo in it - it should not have an Affiliation icon - this will be fixed). Like the Commanders above, these Establishments may be Raided by Land and by Air. They also both have Combat Values (CVs) of 13. The CVs of Establishments and Commanders are also an indication of the worth of those cards. When they are successfully Raided, they are worth a number of Victory Points. The first player to gain a certain number of Victory Points wins the game! Finally, the small number 4’s on the bottom right corners are the Establishments’ Neighbor Allowances. This number from 1 to 4 tells you how many other Establishments (including the Commander) may be adjacent to that card in your Turf. As you can see, these numbers have a drastic impact on the placement of your Establishmetns and the look of your Turf!

Building up your Turf is only one part of DARK EDEN! You also have to send troops out to defend your Turf and to Raid your opponents’ Turfs! Here we have 3 Warrior cards, the GREYMOURN TRENCHARTILLERY (a Lutheran Triad Infantry warrior), the SCOUT CAVALIER (a Lutheran Triad Cavalry warrior) and the mighty BLITZTANK (a feared Sons of Rasputin Vehicle warrior). As you can see, there are three main type of warrior, Infantry, Cavalry and Vehicle. Warriors may Attack other warriors or Raid Establishments and Commander cards. The footprint icons on these cards indicate that these warrior may Attack and Raid by Land (others may be able to Attack and Raid by Air and/or by Sea). You can see that warriors have Affiliation icons and Combat Values. They also have small Resouce Icons on their cards, like the Commanders. However, notice that these Resource Icons are red, while the ones on the Commanders are blue. When a Resource Icon is in blue, it means that card provides those units of Gold, Food, Raw Materials and/or Fuel to you each turn. However, red Resouce Icons indicate that the card requires those units of Gold, Food, Raw Materials and/or Fuel each turn in order to stay in play! So Balancing your Resouces is also an important aspect of the game. Even though the ones above do not show it, many Establishments either provide or require Resource Icons as well, so your Turf can become quite dynamic!


Finally, here is an example of one of the Intrigue cards, which are very much like the Special cards in DOOMTROOPER. Intrigue cards can represent anything from Equipment, to mysterious Rituals and Prophecies, to your abilities as a Commander, to acts of fate. Most Intrigue cards are of the General affiliation (they have no specific affiliaiton icon), but some feature a specific affiliation icon and therefore may only be played by certain Commanders. Some Intrigue cards modify the Combat Values of their targets, others do not (this one does not). As any good DOOMTROOPER player knows, the use of Intrigue cards will make or break your quest of domination of DARK EDEN!

This overview covers a lot of territory in a small amount of space, so it may appear as if this game is quite complex. On the contrary, it is an incredibly elegant system, coupled with a rulebook that meets our high standards of readability and easy introduction. Look for DARK EDEN in stores in March, you won't be disappointed! And be sure ask your local shop about it today - make sure he or she will be carrying it! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me at bryan@thewinternet.com!