Ares Games SRL

Sword & Sorcery

Discover the ultimate heroic fantasy board game

by Roberto Di Meglio, Director of R&D of Ares Games

Acclaimed as one of the best “dungeon crawlers” on the market, Sword & Sorcery is a solo and cooperative boardgame, published by Ares Games, where players control legendary Heroes with unique powers, fighting together against the forces of evil. The Heroes grow stronger during their story-driven Quests, acquiring Soul Points, new magic and skills, and powerful artifacts.

Sword & Sorcery uses beautiful 32mm miniatures and modular tiles to create endless scenarios. Fans love its rich and detailed combat system which, together with the narrative elements and the advanced AI system of the monsters, creates an immersive and enjoyable game experience. Translated into 8 languages, Sword & Sorcery has sold more than 200,000 copies. There are many products in the product line to choose from, and here we offer a short “buyer’s guide” to navigate all these offerings.

Sword & Sorcery debuted in 2017 with the first core set, Immortal Souls. Additional Campaign Sets (Arcane Portal, Darkness Falls, and Vastaryous’ Lair) allow players to level up their Heroes to epic stature and to unfold a thrilling storyline. Eight different Hero Packs offer a wide range of characters to choose from, and five Accessory Packs can be used to visually enhance the game.

A new stand-alone core set, Ancient Chronicles, released last year, offers a new entry point: a new campaign and Quests, 5 new Heroes and 2 Companions (NPC allies), 12 new and different Enemies, tiles, cards, and rules. The Heroes journey on a kingdom map to explore the world outside of (and inside!) the dungeons, and players experience a deep storyline with the help of the Book of Secrets, a 100-page “choose your own adventure”-type volume.

From a retailer’s perspective, Ancient Chronicles is a great gateway for retailers who want to start offering this product line to their customers. For less than $100, players get a content-rich box with everything they need.

Retailers do not need to carry the whole line to get new players into the game, but they have a rich range of expansions and accessories to offer afterwards. • TheSword & Sorcery Ancient

Chronicles cycle is fully compatible with Immortal Souls – all Heroes and

Accessories can cross over from one campaign to another. • Several smaller expansions are already available: Chaotic Familiars and Lawful

Familiars feature the miniatures and cards for small fantasy creatures which can help Heroes during their adventures.

The Ancient Chronicles Challenge Set includes variants of all rank-and-file

Enemies, while the Nemeses expansion introduces a new type of Enemies –

“dark twins” of the Heroes. • New Accessory Packs further enhance the visuals of the game. Spawn Gates and Gods’ Shrines includes 7 highquality, ready to use “dungeon dressing” miniatures; Minions replace some of the monster tokens inside Ancient

Chronicles with miniatures; and Ghost

Soul Form Heroes is a set with 5 miniatures to replace the core set Heroes when they “die,” and it also includes two card expansions to enhance characters’ backstories and customization. • Two large campaign sets are in the pipeline, Myths of the Arena and

Northwind Tales. • Also in the pipeline are Alternate

Heroes – a set with 5 playable characters –, and two new Hero Packs to bring new “character classes” into the game -

White/Black Monk (Genryu/Shakiko)

and Thane/Skald (Sigrid/Sigurd).

Each pack will include two Heroes with similar abilities.

There’s no better time to discover Sword & Sorcery and become part of its Legend!

Excavate ruins and unlock the mysteries of a forgotten temple in Block and Key, a puzzling game from Inside Up Games for 1-4 adventurers. Collect blocks from the excavation site to place strategically on the shared temple floor, completing the most key cards from your unique perspective to win. Only $50 MSRP. info@insideupgames.com

Your mission is to kill the leader of your enemy’s ninja house ... if you can figure out who they are! Night of the Ninja from Brotherwise is a lightning-fast social deduction game for 4 to 11 players. No moderator required, so everyone can play. “It’s simple, it’s fast, and it’s FUN!” says Tom Vasel, The Dice Tower. brotherwisegames.com/retailers

Birds of Prey: TOPGUN from Ad Astra covers the engagements from both movies and contrasts them with the real Naval Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN) program. Like the real TOPGUN program, this product aims to “teach the teachers,” to help drive community growth in the air-combat gaming community! design@adastragames.com, 608-232-7872 Munchkin Petting Zoo from Steve Jackson Games lets you add a menagerie of surprisingly friendly fauna to your arsenal! But you should probably still wash your hands after you pet that … giraffe? This is an expansion for Munchkin, it is not a standalone game. retailers@sjgames.com

Store and organize all your favorite card games including deck boxes or up to 7,600 cards in the ENHANCE Card Backpack. Adjustable reinforced dividers keep your cards protected from impacts. Lock your deck boxes into position using the see-through Card Defender Screen, which prevents cards from shifting around during travel. tabletop.enhancegaming.com