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Lost Cities designer returns to Schotten Totten with a two-player asymmetric sequel

Highland hijinks.

Man the walls and prepare defences because an attack is on the way in Schotten Totten 2, the upcoming sequel to the 1999 card game by Reiner Knizia, creator of Lost Cities.

Designed for two player mayhem, Schotten Totten - which received a rethemed version called Battle Line in 2000 - is a card game that shares similar mechanics to Poker. In the game, players are each commanding their own army in a clash over nine border stones placed somewhere in the Scottish highlands. By laying down lines of units - or cards - players can attempt to overcome their opponent’s defences and win each of the nine stones in turn.

With a deck of 54 cards numbered from one to nine, coming in six different colours, players must place three cards behind each border stone on their side of the line. Depending on what players place - whether the run of cards they play are of matching colours or not - they can claim a border stone before their opponent even begins laying down cards, simply because it could be impossible for their run to be beaten by another.

Cover image for YouTube video

Schotten Totten 2 is also a two-player card game involving clashing sides in a conflict, however, things are a little different this time. Unlike the original game, Schotten Totten 2 is an asymmetrical title, meaning that each player will have to achieve a different goal in order to win the game.

Whilst one player is attempting to defend their walls, the other will be trying to breach these defences, with both having access to a set of numbered cards that represent their forces. As with the first game, players will lay down cards at a series of locations to determine who wins which bouts. However, players will be laying two to four cards - depending on the location - and the winner won’t always be determined by whoever has the strongest hand.

The defending player will also have access to three boiling oil tokens they can use to clear out the attacking player’s cards from a location, with a selection of 10 possible tactical cards also featured in the deck.

Schotten Totten 2 board game layout

Whichever player successfully completes their objective is named the winner of Schotten Totten 2.

Other than designing Lost Cities and Schotten Totten 2, Knizia is also known for creating an enormous catalogue of board games including co-operative adventure game Lord of the Rings (2000), auction board game High Society and the critically acclaimed Tigris & Euphrates.

Schotten Totten 2 is being published by Iello, a company which has previously released titles such as beginner board game King of Tokyo, Diamant - a quick game about collecting gems whilst avoiding dangerous traps - and Dungeon Mayhem, a push-your-luck card game.

The US release date for Schotten Totten 2 is currently set for September 17th at a retail price of $15/£12, with no confirmation on a worldwide release date as of yet.

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Schotten Totten 2

Tabletop Game

About the Author
Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

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