Dark Gothic "unboxing" (pre-play/production value) mini-review

[mqstout]

So here are my thoughts on Dark Gothic: Colonial Horror, and the mini-expansions that came out with it, before playing it. I've just finished reading the rule book and unboxing it, etc. I will only mention where I have thoughts deviating from the base game.

Curse of the Werewolf mini-expansion:
* Contents: 8 new Secrets and 7 new cards for the main deck.
* Rules: Werewolf's Curse is going to make the game have more back and forth -- it's a secret (ie, MUST play it) that is a random discard strike. The main deck cards support Werewolf's Curse by handing them out. Unfortunately, they don't ALL do it, so it's going to be quite dilute if you mix the two base sets together as I plan to. The only card with Global is "Full Moon" which makes Minions and Villains harder to defeat until this card is taken care of -- at a steep cost of 7 silver. (And pay no attention to Lycanthrope, a mini-boss level main deck card.)
* Packaging: Ask Forgotten Isle, but with the expansion title card, with rules on back.
* Price: $10 for 15 cards.
The card dilution is kind of sad. There's a lot of support in these few main deck cards for Werewolf's Curse, but even with just one base game, it won't come up often enough. Global is not part of Colonial Horror that I can tell.

Smuggler's Den mini-expansion:
* Contents: 15 cards for the main deck.
* Rules: Roaming is going to be a nice rule, hopefully *checks the Colonial Horror rules* yep, a big new mechanic in Colonial Horror. It's going to make The Shadows far more tense and possibly actually come up more than the ZERO times they have in all my plays of Dark Gothic. Both cards with Roaming here are nice cards, while also aggressively costed (=cheap to acquire). I'd expect Roaming cards to have one or both of those the opposite to go against them, to add even more tension since you don't want to get a crappy card.
* Packaging: Ask Forgotten Isle, but with the expansion title card, with rules on back.
* Price: $10 for 15 cards.
Overall, I expect Dusty Crate will be a favorite at the table. It's a card that just costs 3 silver to get. When you acquire it, you instead get the top card of the main deck. If the top card is a minion, it goes into the shadows instead. High risk, but high reward potential.

Harbinger of Death villain:
* Contents: One large villain card.
* Packaging: There was none. It was just handed out loose.
* Acquisition: See base game above, just the same as dryad.
It's a hell of a doozy of a tier-three villain! Not too many resources required, but really potent global, high reward and... devastating Fight ability.

Dark Gothic: Colonial Horror Stand Alone Expansion
* Rulebook: The rulebook feels more substantial and better laid out this time. It might be that I know the rules now, but I suspect they just did a better job this time.
* Rulebook Easter egg: "The Search for Forbidden Lore is a dangerous game!"
* Packaging: Better laid-out insert this time around, but no room for expansion content in this one. It'll have to go in the original box if combining. I haven't yet tried to see if there's room. Also! came with separator cards! Some of the larger cards (villains, heroes) have extra bits on them from errors cutting. Minor.
* The stand-alone expansion suggests it's only for 2-3 players. While stand-alone, it IS smaller.
* Hungry Dead: Altered/nerfed for new mechanics and to strengthen minions. This might help increase the player-player interactions.
* I like the new Shocking Discoveries!
* Global: So global does exist on at least one main deck card.
* Main Deck: I like to experience this through play, so I don't look ahead! I did see a decent density of roaming, and at least one roaming card, while quickly flipping through to look for those particular traits.
* Villains: See Main Deck.
* Protect: Like block, but prevents destruction if you want.
* Cursed Costs: Interesting mechanic. Bad layout. Very hard to see on the cards, especially if it's a red combat cost that's cursed. It could have been made far more distinctive and obvious without harming the look. (In short: it's a red ring around the cost.)
* Lightning Strikes: Comparable to "Murder!" in theme in ATOE, this is a high-incidence card that helps to fill up the shadows quickly.

EDIT: Okay, the BF and I talked. We're not going to play it separately; it's getting shuffled right in with the original game.
EDIT2: It WILL all fit in the Colonial Horror box for now, though it's a tight fit. Also, the expansion box WILL fit sleeved (at least, penny sleeves) if you're the kind who would.
EDIT3: Super tight fit. While the slots are wide enough now for sleeved cards, it WON'T fit both sets if they're sleeved. It's a REALLY tight fit with it all just in the Colonial Horror box. I'm glad I don't sleeve except for organizational purposes (eg, to sleep the starter/training cards in packets of 10 rather than all loose).