Kickstarter Highlight
You are Batman coming out of retirement in the board game that brings Frank Miller’s iconic comic series to life!
Story
Frank Miller’s iconic story Batman: The Dark Knight Returns comes to life in a single-player strategy board game experience crafted by acclaimed game designers Morgan Dontanville (Asgard’s Chosen) and Daryl Andrews (Sagrada). Your skills will be tested across four scenarios, or Books, that each feature unique rules, allies, abilities, and epic boss battles! You’ll have a limited amount of resources and turns to complete each of these four Books, and if Batman’s Grit, Sanity, or Health ever drops to zero, it’s game over…
Beyond staying alive in the short term, the world’s greatest detective also has to plan for the long term: The “Doomsday Clock” persists across all four Books, as does the constantly evolving and always chaotic Gotham City. If the Doomsday Clock ever strikes midnight or Gotham becomes too overrun with Riots, it’s all over (hang up your cape and cowl… or try again!).
Each Book lasts four rounds and, in that time, you’ll have to acquire enough Clues to track down the Boss’s location, and then dispense justice by defeating them in order to progress to the next Book.
Gameplay each round is split into two halves. In the first half, you strategically pick your favorite Fight and Detective cards, which grant you unique abilities to prepare for future battles and for navigating Gotham. But think twice, because each of the cards you don’t select has a unique Event that becomes part of the Event deck, which triggers each turn to keep you on your toes! In the second half of each round, Batman and his allies (such as Robin) will take to the streets of Gotham. Combine Ally Actions with Batman for some awesome combos!
After each round, you’ll be able to DRAW directly on the board to create a new pathway between locations in Gotham. Make your way towards locations with possible leads; you may hit dead ends, DESTROY locations, or find Clues. Find enough Clues, and you’ll learn the location of the Boss. Take down the Boss in order to complete the Book!
With a variable setup and a nearly endless combination of Fight, Detective, and Event cards, each playthrough of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns – The Game will throw a unique combination of resources and challenges at you!
For the uninitiated, The Dark Knight Returns is likely the most beloved Batman story ever told. Writer/artist Frank Miller’s four-issue series from 1986 was a watershed moment in comics, as it brought a dark and cinematic feel to the medium. Every Batman story since then owes something to it.
Let’s set the scene: In Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Gotham City is controlled by a brutal street gang called the Mutants and, since it’s the 1980s, the US and USSR appear to be on a collision course for mutual nuclear destruction. Also, being a superhero is illegal and Superman is now an agent for the government. It’s pretty dystopian, to say the least.
As for Bruce Wayne, he is 55 years old, way past his prime. And he’s been retired for years, ever since the Joker murdered Jason Todd, the last Robin. Spurred by the Mutants’ crimes and a reminder about the murder of his parents, he returns to his crime-fighting ways, but with a new edge. This time, he’s not holding anything back, using every bit of his smarts and battered body to take on the Mutant Leader, old archenemies the Joker and Two-Face, and even Superman, his one-time good friend. With Carrie Kelley, the new Robin, at his side, the Dark Knight takes another stand for justice and the soul of the city (and world) that he has defended for so long.
