When Games and Gears published Dark Deeds, The Game of Malicious Minions, in May 2016, all of us involved were keen to partner-up with recognized brands and events to promote this, our debut game. Although myself, and co-creators Andy Chambers and Ryan Miller, were no strangers to the heady world of high-profile game development, this was our first independent collaboration, and in the intensely competitive board game arena any opportunity a small studio could take to get their product in front of an audience should be seized upon. To that end, we created limited edition booster packs in partnership with the fine folk at the AdeptiCon and Gen Con shows. These packs contained a selection of new cards and an additional dice or coin mechanic and would be available primarily to show attendees.

Beyond these conventions, we'd planned to repackage the contents at a later date and make them available to a wider audience, but when we sat down to do that we realized it would be a missed opportunity if we failed to expand our plans and make Darker Deeds something more significant – somewhere between a compendium and full expansion.

So, which cards from the con packs to include? Well, the AdeptiCon set had a 'Poisoned Dagger' and 'Nun's Habit' which were fun variations on cards in the core game; the Gen Con pack had a selection of loot cards best described as a 'ninja toolkit' which made minions a little more competent when it came to evading the authorities. We definitely wanted to include cards like 'Caltrops' and 'Smoke Bomb' in the Darker Deeds set. Ultimately, we selected 13 cards from the previously available boosters, leaving a handful and any associated mechanics as exclusives to those limited edition sets, and added 16 entirely new cards.

We had created 'The Gamemonger' Merchant card as a GTM promotional item when Dark Deeds first launched and have included him in Darker Deeds, along with 'The Tinker' Artisan and 'The Hierophant' Cleric, thereby fleshing out a full set of tougher-to-rob Level 6 Citizens. Of course, more vulnerable citizenry require additional law enforcement, so 'The Watchdog' has been drafted into service. He's a tenacious hound and proves tougher to slip past than the usual Watch recruits since his keen nose negates any Cunning bonuses a minion may have gained from sporting 'Pretty Petticoats' or a 'Pontiff's Hat'.

In the months since Dark Deeds' release, we'd received a slew of suggestions from players for new card mechanics and wanted to incorporate some of the more fiendish ideas into Darker Deeds. “I want to be able to mess with other players more”, was a common request, so adding Plot cards that allowed players to engage (unpleasantly) with other minions was high on our priority list. Cards like 'Sniped!', where a player can attempt to jump in on a rival's kill, or 'Bait The Trap' and 'Take 'Em Out!', where the Nemeses of other minions can be misdirected or directly attacked, allow players to do just that.

Speaking of Nemeses, since they're the ultimate game-winning targets for all committed minions, Darker Deeds adds 'The Witch-Sniffer' to the roster of individuals every player's patron wants to see eliminated. Rounding off the deck are three new, perilous-to-pick-up Dark Deed cards, bringing the total card count to 30.

Darker Deeds contains a metal 'Most Suspicious Minion' coin which is passed around players as they gain or lose suspicion and we felt creating a new coin and mechanic to spice things up would be fun. Hence, 'The Festival of Solix-Moctis', where citizens celebrate 24-hours, bringing a day & night cycle to the game. A new metal coin, emblazoned with sun and moon motifs, is moved along the street between player turns and flips from day to night once it reaches street's end. Dusk represents an opportunity for minions to give pursuing Guards the slip and come dawn, any member of the Watch still in pursuit will clock-off and go home for a rest, getting shuffled back into the Street deck.

Also included is a very stylish, bone-colored, custom d12 dice, useful when playing the 'Sniped!' Plot card and simultaneously rolling to beat a rival minion's attack.

So there you have it, minions of Anthrand – Darker Deeds, a box of new and nefarious additions to a game where wickedness and skullduggery reap rich rewards!

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Mark Gibbons is the artist and co-creator of Dark Deeds.