Bringing more people to the table is the goal of every game publisher, and it defines our philosophy at Brotherwise Games. When we designed the original Boss Monster, we wanted to appeal to traditional gamers, but we also wanted to see people playing who might not normally find a seat at the gaming table: girlfriends, boyfriends, and video gamers who normally wouldn’t touch physical playing cards. Boss Monster sought to offer something to them all. Well, that original design clicked, as Boss Monster has gone on to become a staple at gaming tables around the world and is known as a “gateway” game that appeals to new players.

Unfortunately, at the time, we didn’t consider the actual number of players at the table. As a 2-4 player game, Boss Monster is a blast, but over the past two years we’ve frequently heard from players who wish the game accommodated more players. “We’d love to play Boss Monster more, but our gaming group has six players,” has been a continuous lamentation from fans at conventions and online. Many have developed house rules to accommodate more players, but we at Brotherwise are thrilled to finally announce an official expansion designed to open up the Boss Monster table to more players. Boss Monster: Crash Landing is a 5-6 player expansion for the base game (also compatible with Boss Monster 2) that adds all the components needed to expand play to a broader group.

In Crash Landing, an alien vessel has crashed on Boss Monster’s home world of Arcadia, spilling out new bosses, new rooms, and new spells, all themed around science fiction elements. Aficionados of classic D&D may recall the seminal adventure Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, in which your party’s fighters, mages, and thieves had to face off against a spaceship filled with bizarre aliens and technology. At the time, it was an exciting twist on the fantasy theme that dominated D&D, and we’ve always loved that collision of genres. Designing Crash Landing was a blast, in no small part due to the chance to lampoon science fiction pop culture in much the same way the original game parodied epic fantasy.

While it feels very much like the original Boss Monster, Crash Landing does change some of the mechanics of the base game. Since the primary factor limiting the number of players in the game was the number of Hero types, Crash Landing begins by introducing the intrepid ‘Explorer’. Explorers specialize in braving the unknown lairs of the alien bosses, and are drawn to the Alien Artifact treasure type. Alien Artifact rooms are themed around the mechanic of dungeon manipulation, allowing players more options to strategically arrange their dungeons to especially take advantage of Advanced Rooms.

Perhaps the most important addition that Crash Landing brings to the table is a change in the rules of how the game is scored: Now, when playing with 5 or 6 adventurers, players are not eliminated when their Boss takes five wounds. Instead, the player with the most total souls (minus wounds) is declared the baddest dude in the land! Not only does this rule keep all players in the game, it changes the strategy a fair bit, encouraging more risk-taking among players. Sometimes those risks pay off, sometimes they don’t. For those Bosses who bite off a bit more than they can chew, many of the new spells in Crash Landing are powered up by the number of wounds you have, allowing some big come-from-behind moments and epic revenge.

There are some other rules changes that Crash Landing brings to 5-6 player games of Boss Monster, but the hero-bashing fun that made Boss Monster a hit remains true to the original. We hope you’ll have as much fun super-sizing your Boss Monster games as we’ve had in developing this expansion. Crash Landing will be for sale first at Gen Con, and then at your FLGS soon after!