Hollow Pact
- Board's Eye View
- May 6
- 2 min read
The Kickstarter for Hollow Pact was already underway when this preview prototype copy arrived with us at Board's Eye View. It means we've only had time so far for just a couple of plays. We certainly plan to play it a lot more but we were keen to at least get our initial thoughts out while the Kickstarter is still live.
Designed by Tyler Exsted, Dylan Farrell, Albin Larsson, Elon Midhall, Aron Midhall, Assar Pettersson and Rafel Servent, Hollow Pact is a standalone game from Studio Midhall that's set in the same universe as Beast. Hollow Pact is an asymmetric game for three players, where one player controls a powerful Beast and the other two players are Scoundrels trying to make off with the Beast's treasure. That means it's a cat and mouse chase game but it's so much more... For starters, both the Scoundrels have a box containing what might be the Treasure but neither they nor the Beast know which one is carrying the actual treasure and which is merely carting around a decoy. At times during the game the Scoundrels may be able to peek at what's in the box and can make 'Deal or No Deal'-type swap; there's scope in this game for both deduction and deceit.
The game is played on a modular board with sections only revealed when players move to them. Some sections are locked, and the Scoundrels have to work together to do what's necessary to unlock the gates to gain access. The game then is semi-cooperative but all three players each have their own hidden objectives. When a player moves across a bridge, that bridge is destroyed, making that path impassable: a good way of keeping a couple of steps ahead of the Beast. Scoundrels moving through paths marked with a mist icon tho' incur Stress, which involves drawing a random (0/1/2/3) token from a bag. Accumulate 5 or more Stress and your Scoundrel decscends into madness... A scoundrel can also suffer a Curse from the Beast, which switches their allegiance to make them play semi-cooperatively with the Beast rather than the other Scoundrel.
The net result is a punishing horror-themed chase game with much subterfuge. Players won't necessarily stab each other in the back: they're just as likely to stab each other in the front!
Click here now to check out the Hollow Pact page on Kickstarter.
