KOSMOS Invites You to Revisit Andor, Karak, and The Pillars of the Earth

KOSMOS Invites You to Revisit Andor, Karak, and The Pillars of the Earth
German publisher KOSMOS has unveiled its late 2021 release schedule, with one of the headliner titles being an English/German version of Karak, a design from Roman Hladík and Petr Mikša for 2-5 players that had debuted as Catacombs of Karak from Czech publisher Albi in 2017. Here's an overview of the gameplay:
Quote:
What lies beneath the crumbling walls of Karak castle? A labyrinth full of treasures...and monsters! Six brave adventurers are going in there for a fortune waiting to be claimed, each one of them with a different trick up their sleeve — but the treasure chests are locked and monsters are everywhere. Who will outsmart their opponents, beat the monsters, and seize the dragon's gem?

From gallery of Photodump

In Karak, each player leads one of six different characters into the labyrinth. Tile by tile, they uncover what the labyrinth looks like, and it will differ on each playthrough. They have to equip themselves with weapons and spells, fight monsters, and (most importantly) collect treasure. The player with the most treasure at the end of the game wins — a true champion of Karak!
Board Game: Kingsbridge: The Game
• KOSMOS and author Ken Follett first worked together in 2006 for a board game adaptation of The Pillars of the Earth from Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler, and several other collaborations have followed, including World Without End in 2009 and A Column of Fire in 2017.

The newest title in this line is Kingsbridge: Das Spiel, this being a 1-6 player card game from Wolfgang Kramer due out in September 2021. The description from KOSMOS leans heavily on the novel tie-in and is light on gameplay:
Quote:
Following an attack by Vikings in 997, players see how the city of Kingsbridge emerges, and with the help of story cards that are laid out in chronological order according to the novel "The Pillars of the Earth", they are also introduced to the English Middle Ages. Character cards with special abilities support this immersion, and the game includes special solo game rules that enable exciting challenges for one player alone.
Board Game: High Score
• Another small box release from KOSMOS is High Score, a 2-5 player press-your-luckish-sounding dice game from Reiner Knizia that's also due out in September 2021. Here's an overview of how it works:
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High Score is an ingenious dice game with unique challenges. Turning over a new challenge card tells players how to score points this round and how you can re-roll your dice. Will even numbers score 0 points this round? What effect will the vortex have this round?

After the first player finishes their turn, the other players can attempt to beat their score, but risk too much and you may come away empty-handed. Whoever has the most points after seven rounds wins.
Board Game: Legends of Andor
• Yet another small item from KOSMOS expands the world of Michael Menzel's Legends of Andor in a new way. Andor StoryQuest: Dunkle Pfade ("Dark Paths") is a solitaire adventure from RPG designer Stefan Blanck that seems to play like a "choose your own adventure" story with more consequences. Here's the short take:
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Are you ready for new adventures in the fantastic world of Andor?

In Andor StoryQuest: Dunkle Pfade, a player plunges further and further into a story with an uncertain outcome. What challenges and tasks will there be? Your own decisions will decide in which direction the story will go. With each new card, the hero gets a little closer to the solution. Just like in the big Andor games, you gain strength and will, and you have more than enough occasions to use them as the sinister creatures of Andor sneak around in the shadows and are ready to fight!
Board Game: Andor StoryQuest: Dunkle Pfade

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