One of the most beloved campaigns in Call of Cthulhu history has become a board game, and after a long wait the boxes are finally reaching players. Chaosium's cooperative Horror on the Orient Express: The Board Game is shipping to backers now, with wider availability expected later this summer.
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See how it worksIt puts a group of investigators aboard a train crossing 1920s Europe and drifting into the realm of the Dreamlands, with monsters battering the carriages, a cult hidden among the passengers, and a vampire stalking the aisles. Your job is to root out the cultists and stop them completing a hideous ritual, all while keeping the train running to its destination.
The pedigree is what makes this one worth watching. It is designed by Adam Kwapinski, best known for the tense survival-horror hit Nemesis and the Frostpunk board game, alongside Michal Golab Golebiowski of the story-driven Destinies. That is a team with a strong record in atmospheric, mechanically rich boxes, which is exactly what a horror adaptation on rails calls for.
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Find events near youThere is serious support behind it, too. When the campaign ran on Kickstarter, 13,201 backers pledged over $1.6 million, and Chaosium has since added an expansion, The Cat of Ulthar, that folds in new mechanics.
If you have been meaning to try tabletop cosmic horror but never fancied committing to a full roleplaying campaign, a self-contained cooperative box is a gentle way in. Round up your bravest friends and find a game night to give it a spin.
Sources: Chaosium | Kickstarter | BoardGameGeek
