Aftermath is an Adventure Book Game in which players take on the role of small critters struggling to survive and thrive in a big, dangerous world. Humans have mysteriously vanished, and the remnants of civilization are quickly being reclaimed by nature and the animals who still remain.
In the game, you play as a misfit band of critters known by their colony as "providers". There's the guinea pig with anger issues, a hamster that talks fast and drives faster, a small mouse with keen eyes and a lot to prove, and a mysterious vole who's borderline feral. These characters each have their own personalities, play-styles, and personal goals.
You'll leave the safety of your colony and venture out into the abandoned world on one of 20+ story-driven missions and side missions. Scavenge the ruins of mankind in search of food and supplies for your colony, but beware — the world is filled with bandits and predators, and you must fight or flee to stay alive.
Return to your colony with resources and information that will help your friends and family survive. Grow your colony and keep it safe by building structures and improvements with the spoils of your adventures, but plan accordingly, for the colony will face hardship each time you leave it...
—description from the publisher
- beautiful artwork
- setting and narrative potential are strong
- mechanics tweaks may have risk of being hit-or-miss
- survival and rebuilding in a ruined world
- Post-apocalyptic, animal-in-charge world
- story-driven adventure book game
- Battle Lands
- Mice and Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- adventure book / card-based system with dice — an adventure-book driven system that retains a card-based core with some dice elements
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a book that claims to have a hundred different mechanisms and 100 different diagrams to go with them
- I think this is going to be a great resource
- they are big fans of magic
- what is there there's like Jace and Chandra and Lilith and carne and chub toad
- I'm not sure exactly what Snap is maybe that has to do with shuffling
- I grew up playing Magic I was obsessed with it
- yo there's this article but you should go and check out which could describe this so much better than I could
- I really wanted to spend some time just emphasizing yo there's this article but you should go and check out
References (from this video)
- Cute, flavorful animal theme
- Sandbox exploration vibe
- Accessible mechanics
- Limited published information if not widely known
- Animal protagonists, survival, exploration
- Post-apocalyptic world where humans are gone; intelligent animals remain
- adventure-driven with a light narrative
- Mice and Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- adventure_exploration — players explore and undertake expeditions for supplies.
- resource_management — collect and manage supplies to sustain and grow the animal colony.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- One of the biggest names in the board game Biz that's Eric Lang
- we invited four of the Canadian game designer friends to compete with you
- for season four we had this goofy idea
- this season you're competing against industry professionals whom you associate with in real life
- you're a great sport
References (from this video)
- Deck-based mechanic provides more control
- Personal goals and colony-building add meaningful player progression
- Expansive story with adventure-book structure
- Requires familiarity with adventure-book games
- Adventure book game with a mythic, story-driven campaign
- Present-day; post-disappearance world
- Non-dice, deck-based with personal goals and colony-building
- Mice and Mystics
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck of cards for actions — No dice or bag-draws; players share cards to help each other
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- we got rid of the dice we don't draw from a bag anymore we have a deck of cards
- there are personal goals and trying to build up your colony
- the miniatures really pops
- they're fun fast demos each page plays pretty quick
- we're hoping to bring in families that aren't necessarily gamers yet