Unstable Unicorns studio’s next board game is Casting Shadows
Shady business.
The studio behind the party board game Unstable Unicorns, Unstable Games, is releasing a new title.
Called Casting Shadows, the upcoming board game takes place in a dark fantasy world where sorcerers are able to harness the power of their own shadows against their enemies. As different characters in the game, players must gather the resources they need in order to learn new spells, summon companions and eventually unlock their ultimate shadow form. Whichever player is the last remaining shadow caster becomes the winner of the game.
At the beginning of Casting Shadows, players can choose from a variety of different characters including a kitsune – based on the Japanese spirit creature – a wolf, a lizard, an axolotl, a polar bear and a griffin, all of whom appear adorable until they achieve their shadow form depicted on the flip side of their character cards. Each character has their own unique ability, which is upgraded when they become their shadow form. Players can trigger their characters’ shadow form by travelling to the various hex locations on the board, using their actions to gain certain resources and cast various spells.
At the start of their turn, players roll a set of five resource dice that will decide how much of each resource they’ll have access to on their turn. Whilst some resources will enable players to learn new spells, others will allow them to cast them. Spells in the upcoming board game can either be conversion spells that will change certain resources into others, or attack spells that can be targeted at opponents within range. Targeted players can use counterspells – if they have them – to protect themselves when the need arises. As well as gaining access to a new ability, when a character’s shadow form is activated they’ll be able to summon a companion to help them.
Casting Shadows was co-designed by lead game designer Jon and creative director Alex, as named in the board game’s Kickstarter campaign description. Apart from Casting Shadows and Unstable Unicorns, Unstable Games – which was founded by Ramy Badie, the creator of Unstable Unicorns and TeeTurtle, a popular online store that sells illustrated merchandise – has also published Here to Slay, another fantasy board game that has two to six players fighting hordes of monsters in a dungeon.
The Kickstarter campaign for Casting Shadows is live until April 12th, with a pledge of $30 (£23) getting backers a copy of the core game in March 2023.