Designers: Richard Launius (Arkham Horror, Defenders of the Realm, Elder Sign), Adam Sadler (Descent: Journeys in the Dark, Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game – The Force Awakens Core Set, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game), Brady Sadler (Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game – The Force Awakens Core Set, Street Masters, Warhammer Quest: The Adventure Card Game)

Artists: not credited

Publisher:  Arcane Wonders (Mage Wars Arena, Onitama, Sheriff of Nottingham, Smartphone Inc.)

Genre/Mechanisms: cooperative game, solo/solitaire game, superheroes

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Freedom Five: A Sentinel Comics Board Game is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total more than 14x the initial funding goal with 2 days to go on the campaign!

Player Count: 1-5

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-heavy

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: A co-operative strategy game re-implementing Defenders of the Realm in which superheroes “race to protect their home city and its inhabitants from an onslaught of villainy from Baron Blade and his criminal cohorts. Each player must master their character’s unique abilities to manage multiple crises throughout the city of Megalopolis.”

How It Works: “Freedom Five is played over the course of several rounds–each round consisting of one turn per player. A player’s turn consists of the Private Life Phase, Hero Phase, and Villain Phase.”

“At the start of their turn, a player may switch to their Private Life to perform one or more Private Life Actions. If a player chooses to do this, they must flip their Character card to the Private Life side. While in their Private Life, players may perform any number of Actions with the Private Life Action or Dual Action symbols. Players may also activate the Special Power on the Private Life side of their Character card. At any time during their turn a player may flip their Character card to the Hero side (this is a free Action) to don their hero costume and advance to the Hero phase of their turn.”

“During the Hero phase, the active player may perform as many Actions as they have available Action tokens left over from their Private Life Phase. While all actions on the Hero boards require an Action token, some Ability cards and Character Special Power do not, enabling the player to use the effect without exhausting an Action token. Unless otherwise specified, players may only use Ability cards while in the Hero phase, even if those cards do no not require an Action.” Actions include Attack Enemies, Ability, Justice (resolving a Justice card from the player’s Hero Board), Move, Heal, Unique Character Action, Personal Task, and Token Interaction.

“At the end of each Hero’s turn,the bad guys attack and the Mastermind progresses their devious scheme. There are two distinct steps to the Villain Phase: first the Henchmen Attack, and the Active Hero suffers 1 damage for each Henchmen at their Location. Then the Chapter Effect triggers and the Hero draws number of Ability cards, Scheme cards are drawn, and any special actions taken. Villain Phase Chapter Effects dictate which steps of the Scheme card to resolve.”

“Each chapter of the Scenario Comic Books has a particular set of conditions that must be met in order to advance the story. If any of the conditions are met, play stops and the story advances immediately. The game ends in victory for all players if they defeat the Mastermind, or achieve any special Victory Conditions for the Scenario. The game ends in defeat for all players if either of the following occurs: A Mastermind effect causes the players to lose; or Freedom Tower has 2+Anarchy Cards on it at the start of the Villain Phase.”

Comparisons: Freedom Five is a redesign of Richard Launius’ 2010 fantasy-themed Defenders of the Realm. That game was intended for a second edition recently, but licensing fell though. Considering how the original game is out of print and hard to find, Freedom Five is your best bet at owning something very close to Defenders of the Realm. Freedom Five also expands the Sentinels of the Multiverse franchise, and bears much in common with that super-hero-themed cooperative card game and its many add-ons and expansions, as well as Sentinel Tactics: The Flame of Freedom and its six expansions. A few other super-hero-themed games include Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, DC Comics Deck-Building Game, Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, and Marvel Dice Masters.

What Should I Pledge?:
$49 Citizen (Retail): a copy of the Retail Edition of the game with all applicable stretch goals.
$99 Hero (KS Exclusive Edition): a copy of the Kickstarter Edition of the game with all applicable stretch goals.
$169 All-In: Gameplay: everything in the Hero (KS Exclusive Edition) pledge, plus the Cosmic Threats Expansion and the Community Team-Up Pack.
$199 Sentinel (Hero + Cosmetic Bundle): everything in the Hero (KS Exclusive Edition) pledge, plus pre-painted miniatures, the Heroic Dice Set, the F5 Card Sleeve Pack, Digital Art & Creator Content Pack, and Digital Community Campaign Membership.
$269 All-In: Gameplay (Painted!): everything in the All-In: Gameplay pledge, plus pre-painted miniatures, Cosmic Threats pre-painted miniatures, the Community Team-Up pre-painted miniatures, and Digital Community Campaign Membership.
$375 All-In: Cosmetic + Gameplay: everything in the All-In: Gameplay (Painted!) pledge level, plus the Heroic Dice Set, the F5 Card Sleeve Pack, Hero FX Pack, Art Book, Holo Foil Promo Pack, Digital Art & Creator Content Pack, and Digital Community Campaign Membership.
$475 All-In: Cosmetic + Gameplay + Mats: includes everything in the All-In: Cosmetic + Gameplay pledge level, plus (5) Neoprene Player Mats.

Add-Ons:
$60 Cosmic Threats Expansion
$40 Cosmic Threats Premium Paint
$60 Expanded Core Game Premium Paint
$25 Hero FX Pack: replaces 11 Hero-specific cardboard tokens with 3D sculpted pieces
$5 Holo-Foil Promo Pack
$25 Heroic Dice Set: includes (13) large resin dice
$25 F5 Card Sleeves Pack: enough custom card sleeves for all standard sized cards in the Expanded Core Game and Community Team-Up Pack
$15 Cosmic Threats Sleeves Pack: enough custom card sleeves for all standard sized cards in the Cosmic Threats expansion
$15 Core Game Miniatures
$20 Community Campaign Membership: a PDF campaign delivered in 3 installments over the course of a year
$10 Art & Card Creator Pack: digital art files and access to editable PSD files
$25 Community Team-Up Pack Painted: includes two new playable characters with extras, standees, and pre-painted miniatures
$20 Community Team-Up Pack Non-Painted: includes two new playable characters with extras, standees, and miniatures
$30 Art Book: 50+ page hardcover artbook
$25 Player Mat: premium 3mm thick stitched edging Game Toppers Player Mat

KS Exclusives
Everything cosmetic is a Kickstarter Exclusive, including all pre-painted miniatures, the Hero FX Pack, Holo-Foil Promo Pack, Heroic Dice Pack, Art Book, Player Mats, and Sleeve Packs.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S. you’re looking at $475 for the All-In: Cosmetic + Gameplay pledge and $30 in shipping for a total of $505.

Freedom Five: A Sentinel Comics Board Game completes its Kickstarter on Friday, November 13th and tentatively ships in November 2021.