About
A society crumbling into anarchy.
Crucial decisions, calculated risks.
Get ahead or get taken down.
Players take on the role of Nightlancers, underworld operatives striving to survive and make something of themselves in the cut throat world of dystopian 2099 AD Birmingham.
Take on challenging underworld missions, choosing the route that best suits your abilities to succeed and get paid. Play it safe or take bigger risks for more pay.
Then invest in the black market to buy weaponry, cyberware or other gear to prepare for harder missions. You can invest in your opportunity and prospects instead, building yourself up so when the crumbling society finally collapses you're able to escape to something better.
But will you let the criminal life take it's toll on your values? Will the risks and dangers wear you down so you give up your ideals? Or will you give them up willingly to make more money? Be careful not to lose too much of yourself, or you might not have a reason to leave the underworld life any more.
Nightlancer is a competitive cyberpunk game.
Choose your unique Nightlancer, trade on the black market, use your contact network and take on challenging missions to improve your prospects and survive the dystopian world. You can be cut-throat or try to get along with your opponents, but only one of you will escape.
- 2-4 players, with rules for full cooperative or solitaire play
- 120+ minutes
- Strong, integrated theme
- Character building, risk taking and take that
- Extensive replayability with 8 Nightlancers and 36 unique missions
I have been developing Nightlancer for 6 years, it has been through hundreds of playtests, revisions and one failed Kickstarter campaign. it's now ready. The purpose of this Kickstarter campaign is to raise funds to cover the costs of artwork and printing.
Retailers: If you are interested in stocking Nightlancer send me a private message to find out how to pledge.
This represents the final prototype state of the game and is subject to change. Not all components are to scale.
Event schedule
I will be demoing Nightlancer at multiple events through the campaign, so you can turn up and try it for yourself!
UK Games Expo - For the 1st to 3rd of June at the NEC in Birmingham there will be a full weekend of demoing Nightlancer! Find Nightlancer at table 2-G3.
Dark Sphere - On the 9th June I will be demoing in the Dark Sphere store in London.
Birmingham Boardgames Bash - On the 16th June I will be attending a game designers event at Meeple Mayhem in Birmingham, where you can play Nightlancer as well as see games in development by other designers.
Q-Con - On the 22nd-24th June I will be at Queen's University in Belfast demoing for the whole weekend.
Prototype rulebook link
Nightlancer prototype rulebook
2018 reviews
Excerpt "Nightlancer is a solid, well thought out game that I have enjoyed playing in the limited time that I had. I only wish I could have kept it for a while longer. There was a lot to get to grips with the first time I played it and a lot to remember, but after a few rounds the gameplay flowed nicely and was easy to follow."
Excerpt "When we sat down to play we chose our characters through colour rather than anything else. Three out of the four characters we'd chosen were women, all of whom were armoured as much as the men, and still looked like they could kick arse. The colours on the black background provide a vivd contrast and were easy to read (black backgrounds can be problematic). Nightlancer is a very well thought out game with good mechanics."
2016 prototype reviews
(gameplay improvements and additional art completed since)
Review from @biggrumpygamer
Excerpt "The box art gives you an idea of what they are aiming for, and if that is the case then anyone who has played Cyberpunk 2020 than you will have a pretty good idea of what the art work is going to be like. The whole game has that genre at its very heart, and certainly you can tell that they really are looking at condensing the feel of that RPG into a semi-cooperative/competitive game."
Review from @TheAngelOfDice
Excerpt “Whilst not a true role playing game or a game where you can replay the characters over and over while carrying over stats, I did get the feeling of a character progression within the game session and I liked that. As a player, you feel invested in being a Nightlancer and trying to better your life without succumbing to TechShock.“
Video review from I Teach Her, She Wins
Review from A Board Game A Day
Excerpt "At the end of the day though I definitely enjoyed fighting for my character and I thought a majority of the elements in it were extremely well executed. The longer I've thought about it the more of a fan I've actually become."
For Contact, Antagonist and Nightlancer pledges
You will be able to state your preference of character in a backer survey. Every effort will be made for all backers to get their first choice but this may not be possible if there is a lot of demand for some options. Try to look the part if you want the best shot at getting your first choice!
Note that you must provide a suitable picture of your face within 8 weeks of receiving an email notification after the campaign. Failure to do so will result in losing your chance to be in the card art as otherwise this would delay the art schedule. Unsuitable pictures includes but is not limited to children, pets, inanimate objects, offensive images, unrecognisable pictures, pictures that are not of your face.
Nightlancer avatars
You are free to use these on your social media to show your support.
Nightlancer pledges will be fulfilled from either the EU or US depending on your location. This will allow for low shipping costs and no problems with taxes or customs for these regions.
Stilz - Stilz is the musician that created the Judictator album which features in the introduction and gameplay explanation videos, I knew the moment I heard the music and read the backstory for it that it was right for Nightlancer.
Hill Peak Productions - These guys did the work on the three main videos (the Intro video, the Gameplay explanation and the About Me video) and it was a fun day filming with them in Birmingham.
Wikkid Wetwork - Matt helped out by handling the filming for the full gameplay video as well as by taking part in the game, thanks to his experience streaming his awesome miniature painting on Twitch
Christos Zabaras - Christos is the graphic designer for Nightlancer and we've been working together on this project for 2 years. He's worked on graphic design for a wide range of projects including some incredible graphic novels.
Manolis Frangidis - Manolis is the illustrator for Nightlancer and we've been working together on this project for almost 3 years. He's completed artwork on numerous successful Kickstarter projects by other developers and has always impressed me with his passion for this project.
Risks and challenges
SCHEDULE
The schedule for Nightlancer from the campaign being funded to the game being delivered to backers.
July '18 - Pledges received
October '18 - Optional solitaire/cooperative rules finalised
November '18 - Artwork completed
December '18 - Printing completed
January '19 - Shipping completed
February '19 - Fulfilment completed! All pledges have arrived!
The printing, shipping, fulfilment and legal factors for completing a Kickstarter campaign and satisfying all pledges have been researched extensively. However this is the first publication of Adversity Games so comes with the inherent risks of being new to the industry and needing to adapt and learn in response to any unexpected factors which may result in delays.
This schedule has been set quite generously with extra time for each step of the process. All steps will be taken to find suitable alternatives in a worst case scenario and all backers will be kept up to date about any necessary changes to the schedule.
I launched Nightlancer on Kickstarter in late 2016 and failed to fund, I took this opportunity to learn more about how to run a campaign. I have been demoing Nightlancer at conventions through the last year to give more people a chance to play and I have also been getting much more artwork produced to show backers.
I am personally invested in completing this project and overcoming any adversity on my way.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
By pledging to this project you acknowledge that the final look, materials and content of the rewards are subject to change and may differ from the final prototype form which is presented here.
If you do not confirm your shipping and pledge details within 12 weeks of receiving an email notification your pledge will be treated as abandoned. In the event of exceptional circumstances I will do my best to satisfy your pledge sympathetically.
You agree that my responsibility to you is for shipping your rewards as entered into the pledge management system. Your rewards will be shipped to you from within the EU or US, you are responsible for any import or other duties that may be payable from these locations. You also accept that you are fully liable for incorrect shipping details and risk your pledge being unable to be delivered or lost in transit. Rewards will not be shipped to PO boxes.
If you do not accept the proposed terms please do not pledge on this project.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ