Unfathomable revives the classic Battlestar Galactica board game, and even succeeds at improving on it. Read Polygon’s review to find out what’s changed from the original.
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, a classic hidden-role game long out of print, is being reimplemented with the help of original designer Corey Konieczka. Unfathomable takes place in the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Arkham Horror Files universe. The game is due at retail in September.
Inside
The Initiative is a kind of alternate reality role-playing game. Its conceit casts players in the role of 1990s-era teenagers who have discovered a strange puzzle game called
The Key at a yard sale. Each of the 14 missions inside pulls players deeper and deeper into a compelling little mystery, told in the form of a comic book. It’s a high-concept game that expertly conveys a sense of wonder and awe.
This is accomplished primarily through layered immersion. At first, you and up to three other friends will sit down to play
The Key. The goal is to raid a secure office building for files. It’s fairly light, with a 30- to 60-minute playtime. The challenge comes primarily in managing the intersection of several actions with a hand of cards. To perform an action such as moving to an adjacent room or scooping up one of the files you need to play one of these cards to a stack.