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Description
Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients is a fast-paced, fully cooperative, dungeon-crawl board game set in the Old West, with a heavy dose of unspeakable horror! Players create characters, taking on the role of a classic Western Hero Archetype, such as the Law Man, Gunslinger, or Saloon Girl. Forming an adventuring posse, the Heroes venture down into the dark mines, overrun with all manner of ancient demons and foul creatures from another world. With tactical gameplay, lots of dice, and a robust card-driven exploration system, no two games are ever the same as the heroes explore the mines finding new enemies to fight, new loot to collect, and new dangers to overcome. Players can even find portals to other worlds, stepping through to continue their adventures on the other side!
An exciting campaign system allows the players to visit local frontier towns between adventures, spending their hard-earned loot and building their characters from game to game! As players find fantastic gear and artifacts to equip their heroes, they also gain experience from their adventures. This experience is used to level up, guiding the hero's path through an expansive, class-specific upgrade tree of new skills and abilities, allowing each player to develop their hero to fit their own play style.
In City of the Ancients, players will encounter portals to the otherworld on the Plains of Targa, finding an ancient frozen city whose living inhabitants are nowhere to be found. Instead, great mechanical keepers wander the city going about their duties - until interrupted by the arrival of the players' characters!
So load up yer' six shooter, throw on yer' hat and poncho, and gather the posse as the darkness is coming, and all hell's about to break loose...in the Shadows of Brimstone!
Can be used together with Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death to raise the maximum players to 6.
Year Published
2014
Featured Videos
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video Ytbx-7bzEGc
Dungeon Dive Daniel playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61286 · mention_pk 153971
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Immersive theme with a strong frontier horror vibe
- Flexible hex crawl approach supports solo RPG storytelling
- Campaign arc emerges from town connections and encounters
- Narrative creativity fueled by a mix of dice, oracle, and gear
Cons
- Heavy physical component requirements (tiles, minis, markers)
- Dungeon crawling elements can feel overwhelming in solo play
- Rules complexity and setup time may be a barrier for some players
Thematic elements
- Frontier exploration, occult horror, survival and dungeon-crawl vibes integrated into a Hex Crawl structure
- Western frontier with supernatural horror in a cursed mining town setting
- Branching, improvisational storytelling guided by dice and encounter results
Comparison games
- Arkham Horror Second Edition
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Fate Dice / Oracle system — Dice-based checks that influence outcomes and story direction
- Hex Crawl — Exploration of a hex map with town hubs and wilderness hexes, random encounters
- Loot and equipment management — Collecting gear, managing resources and companions
- NPC recruitment and faction decisions — Hiring henchmen, negotiating with mutants and tribes
- Story-driven campaign — Narrative progression across a campaign with recurring characters and factions
- Tactical combat with ranged and melee — Roll-based combat with special gear (e.g., Hellfire Ring) and various attack outcomes
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I had an absolute blast with this system with playing Shadows of Brimstone like this
- I think that answer is I was playing more of hex crawl but I was using Shadows of Brimstone as The Guiding rules to create the game
- This has been the most fun Shadows of Brimstone experience I've ever had
- the theme that's the world that's the lore that's the stuff that's the artifacts
- I'm going to box up all of my tiles and my Minis and a nice sturdy plastic boxes
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video jQiLi6ev9zM
Dungeon Dive playthrough at 0:20 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 61287 · mention_pk 153972
Click to watch at 0:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Map-free combat reduces setup and creates a fast, cinematic pace
- Strong emphasis on storytelling and GM-driven worldbuilding
- Hex crawl exploration yields emergent, memorable adventures
- Thematic integration of artifacts and standing stones with undead lore enhances atmosphere
Cons
- Combat can become lengthy and mechanically dense without a map
- Some rule abstractions may require careful tracking in solo play
- Certain mechanics (e.g., darkness, corruption) can feel opaque without house rules
Thematic elements
- occult frontier, curses, undead, relics, and a haunted landscape
- Frontier western horror in an haunted mining town and surrounding mountains, explored via hex-crawl maps and emergent story threads
- GM-guided, solo/duo-friendly hex crawl with emphasis on storytelling and improvised worldbuilding
Comparison games
- Assault on Doom Rock
- Folklore: The Affliction
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Chaos Bag / Oracle System — A home-brew fate system with boons and banes that biases outcomes and rewards clever storytelling.
- Darkness / Corruption Management — A tension mechanic (Hold Back the Darkness) and corruption tracking that adds risk and decision points.
- Encounter and Wilderness Encounters — A system of random encounters and environmental events that drive the narrative and push the plot forward.
- Hex Crawl Exploration — Movement and exploration on a hex map using exploration tokens to reveal paths, encounters, and landmarks.
- Looting and Gear — Finding gear cards and relics (e.g., Gravedigger shotgun, Hellfire Ring) that modify capabilities and health via equipment slots.
- Skirmish-Style Combat Without Map — Tactical combat without a traditional map using abstract positioning and tokens to resolve fights.
- Treasure Hunts and Gates — Treasure tests and gate discoveries tied to exploring mountains and locating lost cities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I love that Skirmish combat system where you are just having battles without a map
- combat is usually my least favorite part of a game
- not having to set up the minis not having to worry about the map tiles not having to move things around has saved some time
- I love this Skirmish combat system and I think this is genius
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cuZsMnQlDQU
Dungeon Dive analysis at 0:23 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61288 · mention_pk 153973
Click to watch at 0:23 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fast, modular exploration system
- Strong storytelling potential for solo play
- Alignment with base game's world flavor
Cons
- Prep-heavy due to tokens and town setup
- Abstract combat may deter players who want tactile minis
Thematic elements
- Array
- Array
- modifying a tile/minis heavy game into a streamlined solo RPG with exploration focus
- Array
- Western frontier hex crawl campaign; solo RPG adaptation inspired by Shadows of Brimstone
- Array
- Array
- Array
- positive
Comparison games
- Warhammer Quest
- Memento Mori
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Ambient encounters — Random encounters and advanced encounter concepts; exploration-driven events
- Events — Random encounters and advanced encounter concepts; exploration-driven events
- Exploration tokens — Tokens determine encounters, clues, and exits; alternate exploration rules introduced
- Hex Crawl Exploration — Campaign structure with towns, minds, and persistent progression
- Hold back the darkness — Grit checks and a darkness depth track to manage dungeon progression
- Resource management — Gold, XP, and gear tracked and shared across the party
- Skill checks — 2d6 dice pool with fixed thresholds and varying difficulties
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Shadows of Brimstone has all the things that I'm looking for in a good solo RPG
- This is much faster than setting up the tiles
- I'm bringing a 3d6 fate die Oracle system
- I think it is easier to turn this game into an RPG into a solo game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Ulotto-Re6w
Dungeon Dive top_5_list at 8:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 61252 · mention_pk 153941
Click to watch at 8:15 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Strong solo RPG flavor with campaign potential
- Flexible hex-crawl system for storytelling
Cons
- Combat abstraction may not suit all players
Thematic elements
- Story-driven dungeon exploration and modular campaigns.
- Dungeon-crawl fantasy with a solo RPG hex crawl flavor and campaign depth.
- Array
Comparison games
- Runebound Second Edition
- HeroQuest
- Folklore: The Affliction
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Abstract combat — Combat is deliberately streamlined toward storytelling rather than crunchy resolution.
- Dungeon Crawl — A solo campaign approach with hex-based exploration and questing.
- map cards for dungeon dive — Dungeon exploration driven by map cards rather than tiles.
- open-ended quest generation — Campaigns shaped by flexible quest generation.
- solo hex crawl — A solo campaign approach with hex-based exploration and questing.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "I am a huge proponent of house ruling"
- "if there's a game you somewhat like and there's just one little thing that you could change to make it better"
- "HeroQuest is my number one game to play with house rules"
- "these decks of cards make the sandbox style gameplay more varied and more exciting"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 5xEyl_pc9X4
Robert's Board Gaming Channel general_discussion at 8:51 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8022 · mention_pk 109697
Click to watch at 8:51 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- great modularity and variety
- strong atmosphere
Cons
- box management can be heavy
- expansion creep
Thematic elements
- cooperative exploration across modular boxes
- adventure dungeon crawling with western/horror themes
- sandbox dungeon crawl with campaign elements
Comparison games
- Gloomhaven
- Descent
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative exploration — players explore linked miniatures boards and encounter cards
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's not plug and play, it just works like a switch
- five possible tables just cuz one isn't enough
- you own your board games, you own them; video games are a lease
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5