Kingdom Death: Monster

What is Kingdom Death: Monster

Kingdom Death: Monster is a cooperative campaign board game by Adam Poots, published by Kingdom Death (Adam Poots Games, LLC). The company calls it “boutique nightmare horror.” The setup is one line on its homepage: “In a place of stone faces, nameless survivors stand together. They have nothing. Only a lantern to light their struggle.”

You don’t play one hero. You play a settlement. Survivors go out, fight monsters, and bring back resources to turn into gear. The campaign runs 30 lantern years, which is a lot of game nights, or ends early in, as the store puts it, “bitter defeat.”

It first came out in 2015 after a 2012 Kickstarter. A second Kickstarter for version 1.5 in 2016 raised nearly $12.4 million from 19,264 backers. The current version is 1.6, and the core box is a heavy one: 21 lbs, per the store.

More on the site: follow the Kingdom Death: Monster blind campaign, played in order from setup with no rules read ahead. There’s also a guide to 3D printing KDM terrain and a post on building Kingdom Death survivors.

How it plays

Three phases. The hunt, the showdown where you fight the monster, and the settlement phase, where you spend what you brought back.
The monster runs itself. Each monster has its own AI deck that decides who it targets and how it attacks, so everyone at the table plays on the same side.
Eight monsters in the core box, each with rising levels. The finale has one level, and the store’s word for it is “HARD!”
Gear from bones. Survivors craft gear from monster resources and carry up to 9 pieces. How you lay it out matters as much as what you bring.
Events shape the story. The 1.6 rulebook has over 40 story events and 100 hunt events, plus tables for severe injuries and brain trauma.
A campaign, not a scenario. Every choice carries into the next game.

How to start

Get the core game. Kingdom Death: Monster 1.6 is $444 on the official store. Outside the US, that price doesn’t include VAT or local taxes. It includes the updates from the Legendary Card Pack.
Play the First Story. The rulebook opens with a playable introduction that walks you into your first campaign.
Already own an older copy? The 1.6 rulebook is sold on its own for $40.
Keep the rules straight. The official Living Glossary is online.
Want to try it online? Kingdom Death: Simulator is the company’s virtual game room. Each dwelling comes with a digital copy of Monster 1.6, and each player needs their own.

Expansions

The store sells a long list of monster expansions, including Dragon King, Sunstalker, Flower Knight, Gorm, Spidicules, Lonely Tree, Dung Beetle Knight, Lion Knight, Lion God, and Slenderman, plus newer ones like Frogdog, Black Knight, Pariah, Red Witches, and Screaming God. Not all of them are in stock at once.

The big one is the Gambler’s Chest ($420). The store calls it “many expansions in one”: new monsters, a variant strain of survivors, Encounter Monsters, Scouts, Seed Patterns, Wanderers, Characters, and a new campaign, People of the Dream Keeper. All of it is on the expansions page.

The Hobbinomicon take

KDM has become my forever game. I have to force myself away to play other games and had to lock up my wallet. Looking at it objectively, I think KDM is probably one of those games where you either obsessively love it, or completely hate it with no in between.