AuZtralia is an adventure/exploration game for 1-4 players set in an alternate reality 1930s. The theme is inspired by Martin Wallace's A Study in Emerald. Following the Restorationist war, the northern hemisphere lands lay poisoned and starvation was the norm. Intrepid adventurers set out to explore and settle new lands. Little did they know, after the war, the surviving Old Ones and their remaining loyal human armies made their way to the outback of Australia to lick their wounds. Build a port, construct railways, mine and farm for food. You’ll need to prepare for the awakening. You’ll need to fight.
Everything you do in the game costs time, which is one of AuZtralia's most valued resources. At a point in time, the Old Ones will wake up and become an active player. They begin to reveal themselves and move, with potentially devastating outcomes. You’ll need to prepare wisely for the awakening and may have to co-operate with others to defeat the most dangerous Old Ones.
Military units will help you to locate, fight and defend against the nightmarish beings that may be lurking on your doorstep. As well as hardware, you’ll need to recruit some Personalities who have the skills and resources to help you.
Riches from the land, mixed with darkness and insanity await you in the outback. Will humanity prevail or will the Old Ones wreak their revenge?
By default, the game is semi-cooperative, where one wins or everyone loses. The rulebook includes a fully cooperative variant.
- Tense, engaging combat card system that creates meaningful risk management
- Allies provide emergent powers and varied scoring opportunities
- Action selection and pacing are well implemented, with meaningful decision points
- Appeals to both thematic and Eurogame players seeking narrative flavor with strategic depth
- Solid solo mode and expansions that add depth without drastically altering core feel
- Thematic cues lean more British-English in flavor than authentically Australian in tone
- Ending can feel anticlimactic if monsters are cleared too early or too easily
- Expansions add complexity; core game is already a substantial commitment for new players
- Cosmic horror and frontier expansion within a train-driven economy
- Australia with a Cthulhu mythos; continents featuring ports, farms, and a railway network
- emergent, evolving threats and player-driven tension through combat and mythos events
- Arkham Horror
- Brass: Birmingham
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Each turn you select an action from your board; some actions can be repeated by spending gold, adding strategic depth to planning and tempo.
- combat using battle cards — Encounters with monsters use a battle card system that interacts with sanity tokens and card outcomes to drive risk and reward.
- enemy movement and fortification — Monsters advance toward farms and ports, with blight and reinforcement dynamics affecting defensive planning.
- network/tile placement — Your train network constrains where you can place farms and where you can attack, creating a spatial puzzle and planning challenge.
- Resource management — Gather resources from hexes, recruit allies and units, and manage markers to optimize timing and effects.
- timing track — Actions advance a shared time track, increasing urgency as monsters become more active and the game progresses.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- A train game with a Cthulhu theme seems like a drug-induced idea or a fever dream but weirdly it works better as a combination than it has any right to.
- The pacing of the game is interesting as you start off with the baddies inert and have a period to build up.
- The action selection system is well executed with all the actions making sense and the option to pay gold to repeat actions a great decision point.
- The best thing about this game is the combat card system; it can get really tense especially in long battles where injuries and sanity loss are mounting.
- All up a game that would appeal to thematic and eurogamers who want a taste of how the other half lives.
- For a traditional Cthulhu game, try Arkham Horror, and for more fun with trains, try Brass Birmingham.
- Auztralia designed by a brit published by kiwi.