Escape if
you can...
As the beleaguered crew of an impounded starship, players find themselves confined to the detention block of a vast space station. Using a variety of advanced gear and weaponry, you’ll embark on a desperate mission to find your ship and blast your way home.
Escape the Dark Sector is a simple, sci-fi adventure game for 1 to 4 players with a focus on atmosphere, storytelling and player cooperation.
HOW TO PLAY
Escape the Dark Sector™ has simple rules so it’s easy to learn and if you follow these steps you’ll be setup in about 5 minutes…
Setup the Mission…
Create a unique mission deck before each game by shuffling the chapter cards from acts 1, 2 and 3 and then dealing 4 from each act to form a single deck of 12.
Place a Boss Card on the bottom and a start card on the top of the deck.
Place the dice, items, epilogues and action cards nearby and the mission is (almost) ready to begin!
…Select your Crew
Each player chooses a member of the crew, taking that character’s unique, custom-made die.
These represent how each character has a different amount of Might, Cunning and Wisdom – all of which you will need to Escape The Dark Sector…
Now you’re ready to escape…
The objective of the game is to complete all cards in the mission deck in turn and defeat the Boss. If you do this then you return to your ship and escape!
But you must work together because if any member of the crew dies along the way you all lose!
Proceed with Caution…
To begin the game, simply turn the first Chapter Card. There is no turn order and as a group you choose who will turn each card.
Each card greets you with great artwork and rich story text which you’ll read aloud to set the scene. Follow the instructions about what must be done to survive that chapter…
But be warned – chapters often have perilous consequences for those who dare to turn the card!
As a team make your decisions on each encounter and should you meet an enemy you could Flee or perhaps its time to Fight!
Flee or Fight…
Take a stand
Sometimes you will need to fight for survival and Escape the Dark Sector features both ranged and close combat mechanics that work like this…
Setup the Dice
Place dice to match the row of symbols shown on the card and roll one additional dice per player and add these to the row as well…
This row represents how strong the enemy is and what you will need to defeat it!
Plan your attack
First comes ranged combat and the crew must formulate a plan choosing one action each…
Here you can see Lt. Tailor has chosen to Shoot so she rolls her ammo dice to lay covering fire while Lt. Abbot chooses to Flank the enemy.
Rolling 2 hits her barrage inflicts 2 wounds on the Cyborg Guard and 2 of the dice are removed.
However the hit dice shows the cyborg returned fire and Tailor was wounded which is noted on her medical report!
From the flank, Abbot is now able to choose to ambush which ends ranged combat with a surprise attack!
He rolls his crew dice to pounce on the cyborg and removes any black dice that match his roll – his ambush inflicts another wound!
Too close to call…
Now in close quarters each crew member works to finish off the Cyborg Guard by simultaneously rolling their dice to make the attack…
Each time they make a match the enemies dice are removed – if there are still remaining dice then players will receive a wound unless they rolled a block (the shield symbol.)
…but it’s not over
Combat continues until all the black dice are removed and the enemy defeated.
However players keep turning chapter cards and dealing with challenges until they complete every card in the mission deck, find their ship and Escape the Dark Sector!
But be warned – if any member of the crew is killed, the game is over
The Great Escape
Escape the Dark Sector was kindly provided by Themeborne for review and in November 2020 it will return to Kickstarter along with a new expansion called Expand the Universe. These thoughts relate to the original base game…
A Theme is Borne
Escape the Dark Sector is the next outing in Themebornes “Escape the Dark” series which began with the acclaimed and richly thematic Escape the Dark Castle.
In ETDS, Themeborne have adapted their deceptively simple adventure system into a new Sci-Fi setting which finds your crew captive on board a dark and deadly space station.
In order to escape you’ll have to successfully traverse this station by choosing caution to avoid its lethal surprises and unfriendly inhabitants, or diving gung-ho into deadly fire fights.
But should even one of your crew perish then there is no chance of escape!
How it lives up
It’s fantastic to see that in their second outing Themeborne are really living up to their mission of creating simple yet richly themed adventure games.
The mechanics behind the Escape the Dark series are famously simple to pick up but their format is powerful and keeps the momentum of action flowing as you delve deeper into the deck while the tension and story is building around you with each turn of the card.
This time around however this power house of a system comes with some new moves, with the introduction of ranged combat and flanking allowing for even more attack strategies.
How the games story unfolds is through the creation of a unique “mission deck” of cards meaning each session is totally unique and ends in a different Boss Fight each time. This provides countless replay value as you co-operatively decide amongst your crew how to traverse the deck and hope to Escape the Dark Sector…
Given the co-op nature of the game higher player numbers will add to the flavour and enjoyment, because it’s the actions and decisions between the crew that steers this adventure to its fullest; it’s just a fantastic system of mechanics and story that makes this game a pure joy to play!
Solo play is still a treat of course, but the interactions and camaraderie to be had calls for all hands on deck and make the most out of this game.
Overall it’s a super light game to learn but tricky as hell to beat for sure – a perfect game that sits at under the hour mark. That said this is no filler for your gaming night, you’ll be diving back into the deck again and again for sure!
On a personal level the energy this game evokes in me is in many ways down to the the art style which is superbly retro as richly inked scenes and characters explode from each card and triggers pangs of nostalgia from every pore and pays homage to those classic games and books of the 80s.
As I think about it more, the art style could be a culture shock to new gamers who may feel it lacks a modern style and I start to think… has that nostalgia affected my opinion of the game overall?
Not at all!!!
The story and system is rich, flavorsome and moorish for all – the fact I get added emotions from the artwork is just a fantastic bonus wrapped in a highly polished production.
Already in retail but returning to Kickstarter with an array of expansions I cannot recommend Escape the Dark Sector enough – add it to your gaming shelf and you will not be disappointed!
