The cluttered looking modular board in Clank! in Space represents Lord Eradikus’ space ship. Players will use their movement cards to traverse the ship, collecting tokens and credits for their special effects or victory point value, and buying cards, some of which also give victory points. Players have to seize whatever loot and artefacts they can get and then make their way off the ship, because if they still in the main part of the ship when the game ends then they lose, regardless of how many victory points they have otherwise accumulated. Thoughts on Clank! in Space You’ll find in the box a double-sided board for different player counts, which is always a nice touch. Some cards in the Dungeon Row and the Goblin in the reserve can't be bought. They must be defeated by paying the combat cost in their bottom right corner. When defeated, these monsters are discarded from the Dungeon Row and replaced at the end of the turn. They'll also give you some kind of bonus - often gold, which we'll get to later. The single Goblin is always available to be killed, and combat can be used to defeat the monsters that lurk in tunnels, shown by the monster symbol on the board, that will damage you if you can't beat them off. One of the most noticeable ways that Clank! gets ahold of players is surprisingly a metaphor for the gameplay itself. The game design is unassuming, a thiefly shadow that slips in without appearing impressive. Gameplay is straightforward, almost routine. And then finally, a mad dash to escape raises the tension, and walking away from the table players will realize how much fun they had, despite the stumbles along the way. After opening the box, players are immediately presented with an expansive space that includes cards, a main board, counters, wooden cubes, meeples and a nicely made velvet bag with dragon logo. The cards are of decent quality. The board is nicely constructed and lays flat with ease. The counters are a bit thin, but they’re enough to serve their purpose. The cubes are standard, but the meeples are very nicely designed adventurer shapes, which helps draw players into the theme.

Before you can get started with Clank! there’s a bit of set-up that needs to happen. First, you have to choose which map you want to play – if it’s your first time, you should use the more basic game – then you need to lay out all the necessary tiles. This means randomly placing one major secret on each of their spots spot and two minor secrets on each minor spot. You’ll also need to choose and place out the artefact tokens (five for two players, six for three players or all of them for four players). Finally, place the Monkey Idols on their spaces and place all other tokens within easy reach of the board.The cards in both versions of the game all have icons representing their value in acquiring other cards, movement and/or combat. The publishers ( Renegade Game Studios) have cheekily retained the same movement and combat icons in Clank! in Space that they used in the original Clank! The rule book may describe the swords as ‘laser swords’ but they look rather more like medieval shortswords than lightsabres. The map itself only starts as a couple of spaces and is only opened up once a player needs to leave the current tile they are on. That player then chooses a tile at random, first from the purple starter tiles and then from the blue tiles, and places them in any rotation that they would like. Sometimes the placement of the tiles can help you but, at other times they can divert you in ways you would not expect/hope for. These can be a fun way to mess with the other players too without being overly aggressive or upsetting for them. Once you have got your artifact/s you may leave the dungeon at any point and when you do each turn where you would have played your cards then becomes a turn for the dragon to draw Clank instead. So, once one player leaves it becomes more and more chaotic as everyone else tries to escape before they die. If you excape from the dungeon you recieve a plus 20 point token, if you finish on a purple tile when you die you still get to count up your points but, if you die in a blue zone you are dead and finish with 0 points. Final Thoughts The rules are very comprehensive and include full details of how to set the game up for a 5 or 6 player experience. There are not that many differences and you can easily be ready to go in just a few minutes by following the rule book.

Before you can get started with Clank! there's a bit of set-up that needs to happen. First, you have to choose which map you want to play - if it's your first time, you should use the more basic game - then you need to lay out all the necessary tiles. This means randomly placing one major secret on each of their spots spot and two minor secrets on each minor spot. You'll also need to choose and place out the artefact tokens (five for two players, six for three players or all of them for four players). Finally, place the Monkey Idols on their spaces and place all other tokens within easy reach of the board. Included with this expansion is a new minor secret called ‘Potion of Stealth’. When used you remove one of your Clank! cubes from the board and instead add one for each of your opponents. I'll leave you with a short tip that will make you a better player in the long run and help you have more fun: experiment each time you play. Try different strategies; buy different cards. Sure, it won't work every time, but you'll learn the ins and outs of the game a lot faster and you'll be enjoying a different experience each time you play. What more do you want from a game? Now, the series is headed to the digital realm with a freshly-announced adaptation for PC and mobile devices releasing in 2024. What else will the Expeditions series bring fans of Clank? We’ll have to wait and see. What’s coming in 2019?Before you start playing, you need to set-up the board. You can choose either the beginner’s dungeon or the more advanced dungeon on the flip side of the board. You then assign tokens representing artifacts, hidden secrets and a couple of other valuable items to their places, which are all clearly marked on the board and labelled in the rule book. The number of artifacts changes slightly with the number of players to keep the games competitive. Every time a player makes noise using a Clank card, they’ll add 1 colored cube of their color to the Clank area of the board. If you’re sneaky enough, you may be able to remove some of your tokens from the area. Actions

The main board represents a dungeon in a cross-section as if the viewer were looking at it from the side. Rooms and paths between them are indicated to show where various loot can be acquired and what paths will require more movement, keys, or fighting to fend off minor monsters. A ground level line divides the map into an upper section and lower section labeled the “Depths”. Players aim to reach a room with an artifact and leave the dungeon from the entrance/exit in the upper left corner of the board. Items available at the dungeon market. Since the original game, Clank! has seen the release of numerous spin-offs and expansions, from the sci-fi Clank! In! Space to a pair of standalone legacy games set in the world of D&D actual play series Acquisitions Incorporated. Don’t discount the bonus points for making it outside alive. It’s a whopping 20 points, which definitely can tip the scales in your favor. Pros & Cons Pros: We may not know of any new Expeditions, but Renegade Game Studios and Dire Wolf Digital have given us a glimpse of what 2019 has in store: Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated. This new expansion will introduce “legacy-style gameplay” to the Clank! system as players progress from amateur dungeon explorers to the leaders of powerful corporations. Renegade has since released two large expansions, one small expansion and has a legacy expansion in the works. The spin-off game, In! Space! has also been a big hit and has an expansion of its own, though I’m not going to be covering it in this article.

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One of the best things in the game is how the cards in the card row are balanced for multiple ways to score points or gain abilities. A few cards do nothing but award bonus points for collecting certain items in the dungeon. There’s an array of high point value gems that also enable you to draw cards. There are also several monsters whose defeat can gain a player a high number of coins, a risky but profitable strategy. With each play, the variation of the cards and the time they arrive in the game drives new considerations to strategy, making replays exceptionally interesting. One area shows the actions the second player will take on its turn. The second area is used for the card number and decision icon.

All players then add up points from their artifacts, items and dungeon cards. The player with the highest score wins! But if all players were killed without gaining points, everyone loses and Nictotraxian reigns smugly until your next game night. Clank! – The Verdict You are getting so much in this expansion that the best way to describe it is like a party in a box.Sunken Treasures also starts the trend of making gold easier to come by, whether it’s through finding a gold cavern or defeating the persistent Goldfish monster instead of the Goblin for three coins. More coins mean you can buy more great stuff and have more fun! The Mummy’s Curse Expansion