Dark streets, rich vendors with loot aplenty, and pompous fools that deserve a bludgeoning are all a part of a typical night in the brand new second edition release of Dark Deeds – a game about thieving and trying to get away with it. Created by veteran designer Andy Chambers and artist Mark Gibbons, this new edition from developers Rookery Publications and published by Modiphius Games quickly sank its daggers into me and is proving hard to shake – appropriate for a game about pilfering.
What’s in the Box:
- 1 Street Board
- 58-card Tavern Deck (40 Plot cards, 18 Dark Deed cards)
- 42-card Street Deck
- Three 15-card Citizen Loot Decks
- 5 Reference Cards
- 1 ‘Most Suspicious Minion’ Coin
- 60 Suspicion Marks
- 2 Six-Sided Dice
- 1 Rulebook
I am always on the lookout for new games that are easy to transport, quick to set up, and can be played in about an hour (aka during lunch at work). As much as I may love large games that can take up an afternoon, sometimes I just don’t have the time or players. So when I find a fun new game that not only can provide a rich and worthwhile experience in about an hour, I will likely impulse buy it in a heartbeat. Dark Deeds meets and exceeds in all of those areas.
The goal of Dark Deeds is pretty simple – show that you’re the best thief on the street by having the most victory points by the time the big evil Brute Squad appears and leaves the street. There are several ways you can earn said points, including robbing unsuspecting merchants, artisans, and clerics; completing contracts from your Patron – the head of your thief group; and “taking care of” rivals and police officers. Robbing and knocking out folks will not only get you points, though, but also increase your notoriety, and if there is too much heat on you, you risk getting thrown in jail and losing your spoils from the night so far. Once you’re done on the street, players will retreat to the safety of the local tavern where they can restock on new contracts, plot cards (more on these in a moment), or simply lay low and reduce their notoriety.
To better your chances, you will need to outfit yourself with tools to make you more stealthy (and more deadly), and luckily those folks on the street are carrying some sweet loot that will do just that. They also have those previously mentioned plot cards you can get from the Tavern, such as “Mine!” which lets you steal a loot card from another player, or “Sod Off!” which will cancel out someone else’s plot card when used on you. These prove instrumental in your plans succeeding, helping either to hinder your opponents, protecting you from them, or giving you a boost in completing your own escapades. Plotcards, paired with the dice rolls that accompany all mugging or assassination attempts, give Dark Deeds a nice mix of both strategy and luck, but one that I never felt deviated too far into one or the other. Decisions such as whether or not to get a guard or nemesis to chase you so that other players can’t get their points but risking losing points if you don’t handle them by the end of the game give Dark Deeds a lot of risk-reward moments that I appreciate. I really enjoyed how the plot cardscreated multiple ways to handle situations. One of my favorite tricks was to use copies of “‘E Did it!” right at the end of games to send a nemesis or guard chasing me over to another player at the last minute to hit them with the point penalty. Even then, there was always a risk of doing something like that, in case the person was holding a Dark Deed contract like “Enemy of the Elite,” which would win a player points if they had two Nemeses chasing them. The whole game is just a good time with a lot of layers to it that I still haven’t gotten tired of.
For those who may be familiar with Dark Deeds’ first edition, some tweaks and adjustments have been made to this new release. The biggest of these changes comes with how loot is handled. Previously the loot was part of the tavern deck and were random draws, but now they have been removed from the Tavern and instead separated into three decks – one for each type – with you being able to take a card from (either the deck at random or one of three possible cards that are on display) when you successfully rob a person from the corresponding group. For a more in-depth and complete list of changes, check out this article from Modiphius here.
Considering their previous work on things like Warhammer, it should come as no surprise that Dark Deeds is incredibly atmospheric and features some killer artwork that really sells the game’s dingy, back alley thieving vibes. Each of the 150 cards (up from the first edition’s 100) features grimy-looking individuals and gnarly thieving tools, with an artificially aged look that really helps sell the overall vibe that this is a dreary place that upstanding folks shouldn’t find themselves in. Perhaps my favorite card art is for “Sod Off,” which features and grimy man flipping two birds and sticking his tongue out.
There is a pleasant mix of strategy and luck that you have to contend with in Dark Deeds, making sure that you outfit yourself well enough to contend with your targets while making sure you complete your contracts before the end of the game. Any unfulfilled Dark Deed contracts or Nemesis targets that are chasing after you when the game ends will reduce your points, so while it may be advantageous to pull a high-cost nemesis from the street or contract from the tavern, if you aren’t equipped to deal with them, or have a plan how to, you may end up hurting yourself instead at the end. Even with the best-laid plans, things can go sour, too, as you will still need to roll the two dice in order to get your final value result. If you’ve ever played a game with dice, you know how dice can be fickle mistresses.
Dark Deeds has earned its place among my other “go-to” games for lunchtime game sessions and brewery hijinx. Thanks to its ease of setup and play, along with the great mix of gameplay and aesthetics, everyone I have introduced it to has asked, “Can we play again?” right after finishing. I’m thankful to Modiphius for bringing out this second edition. From what I’ve heard, the first edition had become pretty hard (and expensive) to find, and I think this is a game worth playing at least once.
Thank you to Modiphius for providing us with a review copy of Dark Deeds 2nd Edition! Get your own copy from Modiphius Entertainment or check your local game store.
