Edge of Darkness is a card crafting competitive game, where you will be drafting plastic action tiles and sleeving them into a row making a tarot size card, from which you can undertake actions during the game. Each player will run a guild, aiming to become the most powerful and take control of the city. This is achieved by gaining wealth and influence, training agents who can visit locations within the city, and attacking or defending against monsters or enemies that wish to invade.
The game remains fairly unqiue in its approach, and uses card drafting to create sleeved action cards that each guild will own. These cards can be used by your own guild or also by others, who will pay for the priviledge of using them. Actions will see you play agents into the city to locations for either an ongoing benefit, or so that removing them at a later stage triggers a resource or reward. Alongside the city sits a tower which you will gradually fill with coloured cubes for each guild, and when enough spill out an enemy will attack the guild owner with the most cubes. This layers a threat element you have to prepare to defend against, but there is also the option to go on the offensive through using the war council.
The game looks amazing, with double thick boards, great artwork and the sleevable plastic tiles have great imagery on them. The central city will have a street of the sleeved action cards that you will draft from, but also ten locations that form the visitable options available to build your engine. Each game you can switch out which locations are used which will really change up the strategies available, and there is a nice book of scenarios available to add theme and a short storyline too. The game has also has an official solo rules book.
I really enjoy this game, the theme is strong, the card drafting and sleeving is different to most other games, and whilst there is a fair amount of set up, the game turns themselves are pretty straightforward, not mechanically difficult but leaving you with many choices of what places you wish visit or cards to get each turn. It all runs smoothly and the tower threat adds an element of extra interest. There is some random elements with the cube tower and river cards, but playing to mitigate are part of the strategy. The box has many different locations to try out in combinations, which adds so much replayability and variety, and the card building means no game will have the same options.
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Expansions
There are many expansions you can add to enhance or change the gameplay (my additions highlighted green = own, blue = part owned, red = not purchased) :
Location Expansions
A series of three expansions have added themed locations for the city, Cliffs of Coldharbour has a winter theme with new locations. Sands of Dunestar moves locations outside the city and adds a desert theme, focusing on adding location complexity. Emissaries of the Vale has a fantasy nature and valley theme with new locations and scenario book. All add similar new options, so potentially pick the theme you like the best.
Guilds Power Pack
This expansions adds four new city tiles plus unique card powers for each guild to create asymmetric play. A good addition to vary up the style of each guild.
Plastic Tokens and Miniatures
The kickstarter edition of the game comes with some miniatures to represent you agents, and there was an add on pack for upgraded coins and tokens. None of this really improves the game, and i personally prefer using the cardboard originals.