The Stalker is finally out of the bag. We’re bringing Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion, the tabletop experience, to Kickstarter on November 21, 2023!
My name is Fraser McFetridge, lead designer of Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion, and I cannot express how excited I am to share with you what we’ve been working on behind-the-scenes here at Steamforged Games.
Beginning in mid-October, I'll be sharing weekly design diaries on all aspects of the board game. That includes how we've been working closely with Guerrilla's Narrative team to create an official story within Horizon's canon, taking place before Aloy's arrival in the Forbidden West.
For now, we’ll start with an overview of all the new and exciting things you can expect from Seeds of Rebellion, whether you’ve played our previous Horizon Zero Dawn board game or are new to the tabletop experience.
Speaking of which, it's been amazing to see so many people playing our Horizon Zero Dawn board game. Especially since we’re all huge fans of Horizon’s world.
Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game
It’s consistently one of our most popular games, with people coming to our show stands and socials to ask when we’ll be making a Forbidden West game. Needless to say, although we couldn’t talk about it, the gears were already turning in our minds…
And now we can talk about it, there’s so much to talk about! First up:
What is Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion?
Horizon Forbidden West: Seeds of Rebellion is a new board game for 1-4 players. It builds on the critically acclaimed engine first developed for the Horizon Zero Dawn board game to deliver a fully cooperative, narrative-driven experience.
In the distant lands of a far-future Earth, colossal machines rule and humans exist in pre-industrial tribes. Your adventure will take you to the majestic yet deadly Forbidden West, before Aloy’s arrival. Much of this frontier is the territory of the warlike Tenakth. Though the tribe is currently united under the great Chief Hekarro, a rebellion is fomenting in the dark corners of this mysterious place. This potential insurrection threatens the hard-won, fragile peace between the Tenakth’s three clans.
You and your fellow Marshals must uncover, investigate, and fight this threat before unnecessary blood is shed and the fate of the Clan Lands is changed for generations to come. Along the way, you’ll explore the vibrant world, earn powerful equipment, and undertake life-or-death quests, testing your skills against an ever-present menace: the deadly, ever-evolving machines.
Will you fall to the spear, the claw, or the toxic blight? Or will you rise against the odds together and unravel the untold mysteries of the Forbidden West?
What’s New in Seeds of Rebellion?
Narrative!
Storytelling was something we were keen to include in Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game but couldn’t due to the setting of the game. Based on feedback, we know the community shared the same desire.
In Seeds of Rebellion, we’ve not only addressed this, but we’ve pulled out all the stops to do so. We’ve been working closely with Guerrilla to deliver not only a narrative for the board game but a canonical adventure that will cover never-before-seen events!
Fully Cooperative Gameplay!
We’ve taken the popular combat engine from Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, which is a semi-cooperative game, and adapted it to create a fully cooperative experience in Seeds of Rebellion. This adds a tonne of new features, which I'll be sharing more on in the diaries and during the Kickstarter.
New Machines!
It goes without saying we’ll be bringing the new machines found in the Forbidden West to the tabletop. But that’s not all. With new machines come new gameplay mechanics. Each new machine has been under a microscope, and we’ve engineered a huge variety of new behaviours, encounters, and challenges for you to overcome when facing down the machines of the Forbidden West.
Exploration!
Through our new narrative engine, you’ll not only encounter the mysteries and intrigues of the story, but also the environment, enjoying stunning visuals as you explore and make discoveries in the Forbidden West. Along the way, you’ll make several meaningful decisions that shape your quest and can even impact gameplay mechanics.
New Ways to Play!
Once we introduced fully co-op and narrative elements, the door to possibilities blew wide open. Suddenly, there was a tonne of unexplored design space we could use to build on the Horizon engine to create a new experience for Seeds of Rebellion.
We’ll cover this in the upcoming diaries, including the new cooperative stealth system, in-depth combat encounters, and a huge suite of abilities for your hunters to outwit, evade, and dismantle your enemies!
Backwards Compatibility!
If you own Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game, then good news: You’ll be able to encounter miniatures from your existing collection, too!
We’re introducing a backwards compatibility pack that’s free for returning backers, so your Thunderjaws and Oseram delvers (and more) can roam the Forbidden West.
What’s Next?
We’ll be kicking off the diaries from mid-October, and we’ll be rolling out gameplay videos in the run-up to the Kickstarter!
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