Final Girl, published by Van Ryder Games, has been successful since its launch in 2021. If you’ve never come across the game, take a look at the many posts about it on the Zatu blog, but for the impatient, here’s a very brief summary…
It’s a solo game—or rather a collection of solo games—themed around the ‘final girl’ horror movie trope, in which you attempt to rescue victims and defeat the big bad monster before it gets you. Gameplay includes dice rolling (mainly for battles), card drawing (events and actions) and movement around a small board. The game consists of 2 components: a core box, containing common cards, dice and tokens; and a ‘movie’ box, of which there is an ever increasing number: 15 so far, split into 3 seasons, with Season 4 popping up on Kickstarter this week.
Van Ryder don’t seem entirely certain if they want to call it a series or season, but it makes no difference really—the games in one series aren’t at all related to each other, other than being modules for Final Girl. Each movie box contains a killer and a location, and while these are thematically matched, an interesting aspect of the game system is that any killer can be used with any scenario: for example, my favourite movie boxes are Into the Void, clearly inspired by Alien and Panic at Station 2891, based on The Thing, and it’s interesting to have the Arctic shape-shifter rampaging through a spaceship. Each movie also includes a couple of final girl characters, and either can be used with any movie, though as with the killer/location pairing, they are thematically linked to the movie they come with.
Series 4
So, what does Season 4 bring? More movies. And I could end the article here… Just go look at the campaign page.
If you’re still reading, one of the best things about the game series is that there are so many movies, you’re sure to find one that you like—assuming you’re a fan of slasher-style movies in the first place.
The new series includes:
· The Raptor Game, in which Maud or Christina (the final girls in this box) do battle with a pair of Raptors on Isla Lagarto—what movie that could possibly be based on? Given the picture on the campaign page:
there are plenty of raptors to deal with and a tyrannosaurus rex—I wonder if this one can walk as silently as the movie version. (As a fan of the original Jurrassic Park movies, though not so much the recent ones, I reckon this one will be heading to my wishlist.)
· The Green Terror, featuring Dakota and Alois contending with Volk’ar—a predator (hint, hint) with weirdly mobile fangs at its lower jaw—in the tropical jungle of Pesadilla Verde. Since an Alien-inspired movie box exists, I really want there to be a means of connecting both this and Into the Void to make an Alien vs Predator mashup.
· A Demon in the Shadows, in which Rita and Lindi have to do something about Berith, the fallen angel possessing Ursula, one of the nuns of L’Armes Abbey.
· A Rotten Harvest, in which something has awakened the demon Grimlash in quiet Shady Acres, and it’s up to Vicky or Joy to deal with it. Based on the campaign picture:
the game includes a combine harvester—things could get messy…
· Bad Times at Buddyland, where animatronic Billy Bear and his buddies are going berserk in the rundown Buddyland arcade, with only Rena and Gwynn to defeat him. (The Five Nights… video games and movies really didn’t appeal to me, so this one’s at the bottom of my list.)
As well as all this, detailed minis are available (though totally unnecessary in my view) as are a handful of other deluxifications (more yet to be announced). There are several ‘mystery boxes’ on offer as well.
The Campaign
At time of writing, the Kickstarter campaign has only been running for a day, and many bonuses are yet to be revealed.
The reward structure is rather complex, partly because some of the movies are already available, so there are options to catch up with what’s missing as well as to grab the entire series, or the first 3 seasons as well. The whole shebang—all 4 seasons and the extras—is available for a mere $800, and that’s not including VAT, import duty and shipping!
Should you back it? Well, if you’re an ardent Final Girl fan and a completist, there’s little question. For the rest of us, though, it’ll be cheaper and less risky (though I doubt there’s actually much risk here) to be patient and pick up the movies you’re interested in when they hit retail.
Incidentally, the Kickstarter campaign was fully funded in 10 minutes, giving an indication of the game’s popularity.
What’s Next?
A particularly interesting note on the campaign page (right at the end of the videos section) suggests things are going to change after Season 4. ‘Era 2’ will begin in 2027, breaking away from the series model and decoupling characters from movies. Fortunately, it seems gameplay will not be radically changed, as Era 2 content will be compatible with Era 1 (i.e., seasons 1–4). However, there’s also a statement that Era 1 items are unlikely to be reprinted after that, suggesting if there’s something you’re interested in now, it might be best not to put it off too long.
About the Author:
When not playing boardgames or blogging about them, L.N. Hunter keeps himself occupied writing fiction: a comic fantasy novel, The Feather and the Lamp, sits alongside close to 100 short stories in various magazines and anthologies, and on websites and podcasts (see https://linktr.ee/L.N.Hunter for a full list). L.N. occasionally masquerades as a software developer or can be found unwinding in a disorganised home in Carlisle, UK, along with two cats and a soulmate.
