Board Game Event: Games About the Malevolent Nature of Tenebrous Buildings

Join us at Pandemonium for our 3-hour, bi-weekly session to learn and play games! You’re especially welcome if you’ve never before played hobby board games (and are curious about where to start). 

AN IMPORTANT LOGISTICAL NOTE: We will be playing in Pandemonium’s private back-room event space. To find this, either ask a Staff Member or look for a half-open sliding panel next to the Used Books bookshelf (through the ttRPG stacks) – on the ground floor.

What is the meaning of this theme?

Tonight’s 2-3 games are all cooperative adventures about escaping the influence of a creepy building. In one game, you’re fabled heroes taking on quests against the forces of a foe ensconced in an evil tower. In the others, you’re bottom-of-the-barrel grunts doing your best to survive the horrors of a creepy fortress and escape. In all cases, these games are more about the story told through play at the table rather than mastery of specific mechanisms, so if that sounds like your thing, read on!

Return to Dark Tower (2-4 players) is the aforementioned game about being a hero of legend in the fight of their career. In this game, you’ll gradually build up power, putting out fires of corruption springing up in the four nations of The Kingdom and fighting foes that threaten its peace. You’ll delve dungeons, befriend allies, and solve problems all in a race against the clock until The Adversary appears. After that, it will be up to you and your allies to meet the enemy in battle and bring peace to The Kingdom, once and for all. 

The gameplay is not too complicated; the draw is that it’s played with a Bluetooth-enabled tower into which you drop skulls that let the game know how close you are to losing (so it can react accordingly). There is an app as well (we’ll project it on a screen), but the game truly does exist on the board and in the actions of your compatriots around the table.

Escape the Dark Castle (2-4 players) is almost the exact opposite of Dark Tower. In this, your characters start as prisoners of an evil place – but, as luck would have it – get the chance one night to escape. And so, each round, you draw cards to progress through the Castle. Often, these will be skill challenges to overcome or monsters to fight. And, because there’s not a lot of choice in the horrors you’ll encounter, you are given freedom to fight, rest, or manage the items you find along the way. The final card drawn is the Guardian of the castle, and if you can survive, you’ll escape! Depending on player count, we may have Escape the Dark Sector, to play as well, which is the slightly heavier science-fiction themed version of this game.

So if you ever wanted to learn these games or just want to spend time with others who like playing, come on out! And if you aren’t feeling either of these games, stay tuned for announcements of the next demoed session where – in keeping with the times – our horror-themed games will be more about running from each other. Stay tuned!

RULES FOR ATTENDING: 

• Proof of COVID vaccination is required at EVERY EVENT. Either the presentation of the physical card or a clear picture will suffice. Pandemonium does not keep any records, written or otherwise, of vaccination status.
• Advance online registration is required.
• Anyone not registered in an ongoing event will not be allowed in the event space to maintain capacity limits.
• No food will be allowed in our event space for the time being. Drinking is allowed.