The Dark Order is a confrontational, tactical and strategic card game for two players
Engage as the commander of one of three unique factions.
Fight for control over the lands infested with a plague of abominations.
Face the challenges waiting in each location.
Lead your troops, issue tactical commands, and provide them with the necessary support.
With dwindling resources, send your units on scouting missions, where you can gather resources and obtain valuable survival tokens.
Amidst the chaos of battle remember that each of your actions affects the commander’s exhaustion, and your units rest after the battle by returning to the deck.
A vast array of tactical possibilities and multiple victory conditions await,
ready for you to outsmart, outmaneuver or simply crush your enemy.
Will the Apothecaries survive until dawn? Will the Sanctuary remain safe or the Plague consume all of Veretmor?
The fate of the kingdom depends on your dark orders!
Main features of the game
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A vast array of tactical possibilities
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3 asymmetrical and unique factions
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Several paths to victory
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Significant control of randomness
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Unexplored location cards
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Two zones of action
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Fast setup
Tactical possibilities
The game offers a range of tactical possibilities, and how you use them is entirely up to you.
Before each game, you have the option to choose your faction’s Commander. Each one has a unique ability that can significantly impact your tactics or battle strategy.
Instead of fighting on the Battlefield, your units can scout location cards to gather resources and valuable survival tokens.
They allow for a range of tactical maneuvers such as repositioning units, adding new units to the fight, executing flanking attacks, or retreating units from the Battlefield.
Don’t forget to bring them into battle. They enable your units to put up barricades, tend wounds, or set traps.
Each unit has 5 basic attributes – attack, health, speed, range, and command. Additionally, units have unique abilities used in various phases of the game
is a significant element of this game. is an essential element of this game. Each action and use of a card exhausts the commander, and units return to the deck after combat.
Deploy units on two front lines and utilize their ranged capabilities. Units in the second front line are also protected by units in the first front line.
Units have an important attribute that determines the order of attacks – their speed. Therefore, deploy units on different front lines in a way that optimizes the attack sequence.
Deploy your units wisely as they have limited attack range.
These are 25 cards that define the condition of each battle. Before each game, players draw and reveal 5 cards that will shape the battles. A vast number of combinations will provide you with varied conditions for engagements that you will need to prepare for accordingly.
Engage in battles across two distinct turns – the attack turn and the defense turn. Each attack is carried out alternately, and after each attack, the opponent has a chance to react during their Defense Turn.
Discover Veretmor
The plague swept through the duchy of Morkeengor and then spread across all of Vyndor.
Subsequent waves of foul Morkals occupy the lands of the Veretmor duchy.
Most people have relocated to the last safe haven on the edge of Veretmor, the city-state of Verloren.
However, life under the conservative and harsh rule of the Sanctuary also comes at a cost.
A handful of “free” people, who chose to live between the Plague and the walls of Verloren, seek answers and aim to halt the aberrations — they call themselves the Apothecaries.
Plague
Morkeengor was a duchy that fell victim to its own military experiments, seeking an edge on a war-torn continent. Their ambitious pursuits took a terrifying turn when the forces they sought to control completely took over, becoming the epicenter of a spreading plague. No one knows the exact cause of this nightmare. Once great rulers, they are now mere puppets manipulated by an unknown, sinister power. This shadow, using its twisted minions, has emerged from the ruins of Morkeengor and devastated much of the continent. City-states like the Sanctuary in Verloren have now become some of the few bastions of humanity.
Sanctuary
Armed forces attempting to maintain order and control during the advancing plague and post-apocalypse. They believe in sanctity and strict adherence to religious principles. They view the plague as a divine punishment against heretics and see it as the only means of spiritual purification for the world. They claim to have been chosen by God to play a key role in the fight against evil and the restoration of justice. Their monarch is revered as a holy figure. The Sanctuary imposes strict restrictions and rules with an iron fist. They often resort to brutal rituals performed on individuals deemed enemies of their faith.
Apothecaries
An organized resistance movement against the fanatical rule of the Sanctuary. Leveraging their alchemical knowledge, skills, and mutations, they are among the few who have survived outside the walls of the Sanctuary. They focus primarily on scientific research, artifact hunting, and seeking potential cures for the infection. They gather survivors and traverse the wastelands in search of answers.
Project support
The game has gathered many positive reviews during testing at several major board gaming events, including “Planszówki w Spodku,” “One More Game” in Wrocław, and “Book Game” in Kraków. The feedback from testers has strengthened our belief that we have a good game and fueled us to complete it. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go because conceptual and illustrative work consumes a tremendous amount of time, and there isn’t much of it between work and studies. Overall, we believe that craftsmanship and talent are valuable assets, which is why we greatly appreciate collaborating with such talented artists as Kuba Wiśniewski, Nikodem Janeczko, Ronnie Nimer, Oliwia Kozłowska, Grzegorz Korniluk and Ariel Jesus Colón.
Initially, we planned for over 50 great illustrations. However, due to the enormous time commitment, we will likely have to make some compromises and significantly reduce the number of artworks. We are concerned that such a move could negatively impact the enjoyment of gameplay. Hence, the idea for additional support for our project.
Your support would help us complete the illustrations fully and release the game in the form we ourselves would like to receive it. We sincerely thank you for any support you can provide!
Become a patron
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Our patrons
Mariusz Abramczyk
Dominika Stankowska
Damian Biel
Adam Janeczko
Mateusz Drabent
Game author:
Damian Szews
Artistic supervision:
Nikodem Janeczko
Illustrations:
Kuba Wiśniewski, Nikodem Janeczko, Ronnie Nimer, Oliwia Kozłowska, Grzegorz Korniluk and Ariel Jesus Colón.