GTM #131 - Nightfall

The sun has retreated from the earth. It has been a little over a week since the last hint of light shone over the horizon, and the chaos has begun. People fear for their existence, while scientists struggle to explain the phenomenon.

Until they came.

The creatures of nightmare — vampires, werewolves, and ghouls — have begun to appear throughout the world, and they show no sign of hesitation in claiming the dark world as their own!

Alderac Entertainment Group knows card games. They brought you multiple hits during the CCG era, including Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown, and Warlord, and now, right on the heels of the hit deck-builder Thunderstone, AEG brings you the first true direct-damage deck-building game. Nightfall takes the deck-building genre out of multi-player solitaire and into the realm of building a deck to attack your opponents while fending off all threats, thus ensuring your control over the night.

Nightfall Basics:

Before the game begins, there is a draft to determine which cards are available for purchase, and by whom. During this draft players select two cards from the set for their personal cache, and also select cards to put into the common area. The cards drafted into personal caches may only be purchased by the player who drafted them.

After the table has been set with the private and common cards, players begin play.

The meat of Nightfall is in the chaining mechanic. Each card has a main color and two linking colors. If you can match the main color of a card to one of the linking colors of another card, then you can chain those cards together. Once a chain is started, players all get an opportunity to link additional cards onto the chain during that turn.

Cards in the chain then resolve in reverse order: first in, last out. Instant effects fire off as cards come off the chain, doing damage to your opponents or bringing characters into play to defend you and attack your opponents.

The object of Nightfall is to put wounds into your opponents’ decks and end the game with the least amount of wounds in your deck. But beware: the more wounds a person has, the more enraged they become and the faster their deck works, which means more cards and bigger chains coming your way!

To kick off Nightfall, AEG is doing one of the boldest promotions in board game history: The First 100 Days. During The First 100 Days, players will have the opportunity to submit their name and contact information to AEG.

Every day from January 1 through April 10 one name will be drawn to receive a free full copy of Nightfall in a special preview collector’s box! Not only that, but hundreds of retailers will also receive the preview so players can try the game out well before it goes on sale.  Be sure to visit www.nightfallthegame.com for more information!

DECK BUILDING WITH A PURPOSE!

AEG is no stranger to card games.  Three AEG products sure to be hot this year:

• Thunderstone - The hit deck-building game of adventure in a fantasy world.
• Nightfall - Claim minions of the night to crush your opponents.
• War of Honor - The L5R Multi-Player card game