A new cooperative board game has hit Kickstarter. Come check out this modern fantasy game with beautiful miniatures, storyplaying, and gameplay!
We are very glad to see more and more cooperative board games surfacing. There’s nothing like working together to accomplish an end goal!
Source: ODAM Publishing LLC
The Shared Dream is a 1-4 player cooperative board game set in the world of ODAM Publishing’s tabletop RPG Of Dreams And Magic. It sees a group of each characters wake up from the exact same terrible dream, only to discover it’s coming to life in the real world.
Each time the game is played, a Shared Dream scenario is chosen, with each one providing a different set of objectives, enemy mechanics, and unique Nemesis. Every Shared Dream also contains its own set of Personal Reflections, mini-stories each character must progress through in order to contribute to winning the scenario.
With 4 Shared Dream scenarios to choose from, 6 unique player characters, and a modular city that changes with every playthrough, The Shared Dream combines the strategy and replayability of a board game with the mood, theme, and storyline of a RPG.
Combining the storytelling of an RPG with the strategy of a board game, The Shared Dream contains 2 main mechanics that push the game forward.
First is the Personal Reflection deck. At the beginning of each game, every player randomly chooses a Personal Reflection deck that is tied to the specific Shared Dream scenario they have chosen to play. This Personal Reflection deck tells the story of that individual’s part of the Shared Dream, and their efforts to combat it in the Waking World. Each Personal Reflection deck sees players travel throughout the city, speak with its denizens, and face challenges and obstacles as they work towards completing their part of The Shared Dream.
The second is personal resource management. Every player can only take 3 actions per turn, so they must carefully consider how they are going to best spend their time. Do they rush through their Personal Reflection, helping to reach the final conflict as soon as possible? Do they carefully manage their resources to help slow the tide of enemies? Or do they go all out and defeat everything they can, despite the risks?
In addition to their actions, the main resource players use is Conviction. Conviction is used to channel their dream identities, helping them grow temporarily stronger, gain access to special powers, and defeat their enemies. Unfortunately, every time Conviction is spent, a character’s Nightmare track is increased. At the end of every turn, players must roll a Nightmare check that grows harder the more Nightmare they have.
Once this Nightmare check is failed, that player spawns a new enemy whose strength is dictated by the amount of Nightmare the player has. In this way, players must always consider when and how to use their Conviction. While spending 3 Conviction to channel at full power may be helpful now, it will inevitably have consequences down the line.
Head over to The Shared Dreams Kickstarter for more information on the game, streatch goals, and to pledge to make this project happen!
About the Author: Zeb Barrett
