The Everrain

Exploration in a world on the brink of annihilation.

Not only are there so many huge Kickstarter-funded games these days, but there are so many that mix great graphics, miniatures and storytelling elements that us gamers are spoilt for choice. The Everrain certainly seems to have all the elements that make it a winner in this class – but does it sink or swim?

I didn’t back this one when it came out – in fact shipping prices and exchange rates make it impossible for me to back KS campaigns these days – but it came up on a local trade site and I bagged myself a full pledge. Why? Well, I was a sucker for the theme and it hooked me immediately. A watery world of naval adventure with Mythos-like monsters, drowned sailors, and vicious marauders, something like a mix between the second Pirates of the Caribbean film and Arkham Horror. And the game looks great. The miniatures are a cut above the usual Kickstarter game fare, and the graphic design is suitably dark and foreboding. Though of course, our old friend the dodgy rulebook is back again, so I think you’ll find this rules summary lays out the information in a much more digestible format.

In the game, your ship travels from hex to hex over a watery world, encountering monsters, visiting ports, and following story leads. You can improve your ship by putting crew on upgrades below deck, or you can send crew on deck to get buffs or fight invading creatures. While all this is happening you must collect clues in a somewhat abstract way to try to discover the nature of the endless rains that plague this world. Certainly there’s heaps to do and it all looks like lots of fun.

I haven’t got this one on the table yet so I’ll reserve judgement until I do, but I have heard there are some issues, mainly that it is very long, and the ending can be anti-climactic if you don’t encounter the ‘big bad’ but instead just manage to push a counter to the win spot on a track. To be honest I’m a bit worried that the winning conditions all boil down to moving counters up and down a track and collecting clue tokens. But we’ll see if those criticisms float or not after a few game sessions. In the meantime I’m painting up these lovely miniatures and I’m still in that nice state where a game has so much potential – before you actually find out if it lives up to it or not!