The Monolith from Plaid Hat Games

Coming soon to Kickstarter!

Plaid Hat Games is proud to announce The Monolith, an exciting board game experience for 3-4 players. This game of fast, brutal combat will be coming to Kickstarter in late June!

 

 

What's the Premise?

Eager, spacefaring humans discovered an alien planet, only to uncover a terrible danger that lay in wait. An ancient monolith of unknown origin has laid waste to their minds, turning them into frothing, violent lunatics who desire nothing more than to kill for the glory of the bloodthirsty stone. To the enthralled humans, there is no thought worth contemplating that does not lead to wanton carnage.

 

Among these wretches have arisen shamans, powerful warrior-priests who are each convinced that they and they alone can interpret the will of the Monolith. They and their followers are driven to war against each other, slaughtering their heretical foes and boasting to the stone that they are its champions.

 

In The Monolith, players take on the role of these shamans, powerful leaders who see themselves as the only true mouthpieces of the holy Monolith. Marshall your forces and crush the apostates beneath your boots!

 

 

The Monolith is a game of war unending, a test of smart maneuvering, vicious combat, and unstoppable powers with which to upgrade shamans. And just as important is boasting of the wanton slaughter you have committed for the glory of the laughing stone! Packed with gobs of highly detailed miniatures, including warriors, shamans, buildings, a towering monolith and... human hearts? But the high-quality components don't end there. The Monolith features a sprawling game board, double-layered player boards for tracking your shaman's forces, actions, and upgrades, and much more.

    

How Do I Play This Thing?

The Monolith is a classic dudes-on-a-map war game with a number of innovative twists. It plays hard and fast, is easy to learn, but offers tremendous variability and strategic depth. We'll be sharing the rules and a recorded play-through of the game once the campaign launches. But here are some basic concepts.

 

You Gotta Spend Hearts to Make Hearts

Each player has a number of human hearts that serve as action points. Each turn they will spend 1 or more hearts to complete an action. This might be readying new troops for battle or marching existing warriors across the wasted landcsape. Hearts can be spent activating a shaman, letting them move, trigger devastating special abilities, or cremate their dead. Players can also spend their hearts to bid on divination cards, ridiculously advantageous blessings bestowed by the Monolith upon its favorite champions.  

The Still-beating Heart of Combat

When players complete all the actions they want to take in a round, they dump their remaining hearts into the Monolith. There they tumble down through a randomizer and are sorted into a secret tray that determines what combat options will be available to each player. Once all players have fed their remaining hearts into the stone, the Monolith is lifted, revealing the shape of the violence to come!

 

Players then take turns spending their hearts to complete combat actions, until no hearts remain. Didn't get the combat options you were hoping for? The crafty player will have prepared to mitigate any and all luck, building their side's Anger, which can be spent to modify the types of combat actions available.

 

 

So How'd You Do?

After combat, each round concludes with scoring. You'll already keep track of your score throughout the game, gleefully giving yourself points for every single enemy you squish like an ant, but at the end of the round, some shamans will earn big points. During combat you will have the option to boast of your deeds, based on your standing in each map space. We'll dig into boasting more later, but suffice to say that well-placed boasts can be lucrative. There are other points to be earned as well, such as by completing objectives. When the final round ends, player scores determine the winner!

 

Theres More to Come!

As we lead up to the launch of The Monolith we'll be releasing designer diaries, show you sneak peaks at early prototypes of the game components, and talk about the incredible artists who helped bring this game to life. Check back here or follow Plaid Hat Games on social media!