Designer: Galen Ciscell (Atlantis Rising)

Artists: Vincent Dutrait (Broom Service, Diplomacy, Discoveries: The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Elysium, Jaipur, Lewis & Clark: The Expedition, Lost Cities, Lovecraft Letter, Medici, Mythic Battles: Pantheon, New York 1901, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords – Base Set, The Quest for El Dorado, Raptor, Rise of Augustus, Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, Treasure Island, When I Dream, Yellow & Yangtze), Peter Gifford (Atlantis Rising, Ninjato, Tales of the Arabian Knights)

Publisher:  Elf Creek Games (Atlantis Rising, End of the Trail, Honey Buzz)

Genre/Mechanisms: civilization, cooperative game, dice rolling, expansion, push your luck, science fiction, solo/solitaire game, variable player powers, worker placement, worker placement with different worker types

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Atlantis Rising: Monstrosities is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total almost 11x the initial funding goal with less than 1 day to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 1-7

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: “An expansion for Atlantis Rising (second edition) that introduces four new mechanisms: Allies, Locations, Magic Items, and Monsters; as well as new challenges Medusa Unleashed and The Harpies’s Lair.”

How It Works: “Atlantis rising is a cooperative game, where players must work together as a team in order to win. You and your fellow players portray the leading citizens of Atlantis on the eve of its destruction. Send your faithful followers out to various places around the island to gather material resources and mystic energy or to use advanced Atlantean technology and mysterious ancient artifacts. Using these resources and actions, you must work together to construct a Cosmic Gate capable of transporting the remaining population of the island to safety, before your civilization is lost forever to the sea.”

“The game is played over a series of rounds, with each round separated into 4 phases, as outlined below.”

“In the Place Atlanteans Phase, players will place all Atlanteans from their councilor’s pool onto empty spaces on the Island or Cosmic Gate board. There is no turn order among players.”

“Beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise, each player must draw and resolve one misfortune card in the Suffer Misfortunes Phase. Fully resolve each misfortune card before proceeding to the next, in player order. Some misfortunes are special misfortunes. Follow the instructions on these cards when one is drawn.” This is often when Flooding occurs and parts of Atlantis are lost to the sea.

In the Take Actions Phase, “players should collectively decide in what order they should resolve the actions of their placed Atlanteans. If there is a dispute over which action to resolve next, the starting player decides. Each player has a special Atlantean called a Leader, that represents the councilor on their councilor board.”

“In the Endure the Wrath of the Gods Phase, the players choose and flood island tiles (similarly to when Suffering Misfortunes, except in this phase players may freely choose which tiles to flip) equal to the number shown on the current level of the Wrath of the Gods track.”

“If every tile, including the Mystic Power Source, floods before all 10 components of the Cosmic Gate are built, then you immediately lose. Your efforts are forgotten and Atlantis is lost forever beneath the waves, fading into myth and legend. When you build the 10th and final component, the Power Core, you immediately win. Now fully operational, the Cosmic Gate transports your people to safety.”

“Atlantis Rising: Monstrosities is an expansion for Atlantis Rising (Second Edition) that offers these new challenges: Medusa Unleashed, in which the gorgon Medusa turns Atlanteans to stone: Can you break her curse and recruit her to your side?; The Harpies’s Lair, in which three monstrous, birdlike creatures steal the resources and workers you need to build the Cosmic Gate: Can you defeat the Harpies and win back the treasures found in their lair?; and a third scenario to be revealed during the Kickstarter. Also, four new mechanisms are introduced to the game: Monsters, Allies, Magic Items, and Locations.

Comparisons: Unlike many cooperative games, Atlantis Rising is not a dungeon crawler, a legacy game, or part of an ongoing campaign. Here are a few other cooperative games that play as standalone experiences: AuZtralia, Black Orchestra, Burgle Bros., Call to Adventure, City of Kings, Chronicles of Crime, Cloudspire, CO2: Second Chance, The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, Dead Men Tell No Tales, Dead of Winter, Dead of Winter: The Long Night, Defenders of the Realm, Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game, Elder Sign, Escape: The Curse of the Temple, the Exit: The Game series, Flash Point: Fire Rescue, Forbidden Desert, Forbidden Island, Freedom: The Underground Railroad, FUSE, Ghost Stories, The Grizzled, Horrified, Kitchen Rush, The Lost Expedition, Magic Maze, Marvel Champions: The Card Game, Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game, Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck-Building Game, Mechs vs. Minions, The Mind, Nemesis, Onirim, Palm Island, Pandemic, Pandemic: The Cure, Pandemic: Fall of Rome, Pandemic: Iberia, Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu, Pandemic: Rising Tide, The Reckoners, Sentinels of the Multiverse, Shadows Over Camelot, Space Alert, Space Hulk: Death Angel – The Card Game, Spirit Island, Sub Terra, the Unlock! series, and This War of Mine: The Board Game.

What Should I Pledge?:
$29 Ally: Monstrosities Expansion Only: the new Monstrosities expansion only.
$54 Atlantean: Base Game Only: the Atlantis Rising base game only.
$79 Councilor: Game + Expansion: the Atlantis Rising base game and the new Monstrosities expansion.
$125 Monstrous: All-In: everything in the Councilor: Game + Expansion pledge level, plus the Atlantis Rising: Deluxe Components and the Atlantis Rising Playmat.

Add-Ons:
None.

KS Exclusives
The two Deluxe Atlantis Rising Dice as well as the Deluxe Components.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $125 for the Monstrous: All-In and $13 in shipping for a total of $138.

Atlantis Rising: Monstrosities completes its Kickstarter on Friday, November 20th and tentatively ships in October 2021.