The Few and Cursed is a deck-building adventure game based on the Comic Series of the same name. It takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth where most of the water on the planet has been gone for seventy years.
Even though what was left of mankind found a way to adapt using water, the most valuable asset on the planet, as currency, survival turned the world into a wicked wasteland where it's either kill or be killed. And evil not only endured, it won.
People turned to dark arts, old tales of mischief and curses to survive. Death is everywhere. But for every darkness there is light - and among the few and cursed are those willing to fight to bring balance to the land: the Curse Chasers.
In the game, players take on the role of a "Curse Chaser" looking to make a name for themselves by searching for supernatural artifacts, completing jobs, or bounty hunting. Players traverse the desert of the Pacific Ocean as they improvise and acquire new cards for their deck on their quest for fame or infamy.
- Deck-building progression with player choice at each round
- Three distinct characters with different starting decks and abilities
- Engaging pursuit of bounties, artifacts, and relics within a desert setting
- Clear rule explanation in this tutorial; live demonstration of tactics
- Prototype components and art are not final in this version
- Rule complexity can be high for new players with many interactions
- Curses and endgame conditions require careful tracking and can be punishing
- curse hunting, grit tracking, deck-building, relics and artifacts
- Desert region around the former Pacific Ocean with bounty locations and cursed terrain
- procedural with character-specific abilities and story-driven encounters
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- artifact system and Mountain View — Artifacts are powerful items purchasable/obtainable from Mountain View; they grant grit and special abilities.
- bounty and encounter system — Defeat bounties by spending damage on the map; encounter cards resolve events in locations.
- curse track and uncursed state — Each player has a curse metric; increasing curses can cause penalties; crossing thresholds can uncursed/cursed states and grant bonuses.
- deck-building — Players add new cards to their deck each round via the improvisation step; draw two, keep one, discard the other.
- endgame conditions — Game ends if monsters reach San Andreas, enough monsters are defeated, or all artifacts are taken.
- map movement and danger — Movement across desert map triggers damage, curse progression, and bounty actions.
- resources and upgrades — Water, bullets, grit, health are managed; water is spent to acquire cards and upgrades via store actions.
- round structure — Rounds include improvisation, encounter, action, and cleanup steps; participating players act in turn order; simultaneous elements exist.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the few end cursed is each player takes on the role of a curse chaser
- this is a deck building game so we will be adding new cards to our deck
- grit is important because the person with the most grit wins the game when the game is over
- there are three cards face-up and there is a water cost in the top left corner
- you can spend one water to gain one bullet
- all eight of the artifacts are taken then we will finish the round and the game will be over
References (from this video)
- creative and wacky card interactions
- a lot of combos which may be outside comfort zone for some players
- deck-building with quirky twists
- SP QF
- Blood of Englishmen
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- deck-building — focus on unusual combos and multi-use cards
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is experimentation month
- I want to be less stubborn
- the sticker shock issue really rears its head
- please give me feedback about this specific log
- it's a big box if it was a smaller box I think you'd be much more likely to have a state in the collection
- I think it's really important to be introspective and be honest with myself