Daniel (@dungeondive) opens by reading the scenario’s introduction aloud — a deafening Berlin electro club, a friend who insisted on meeting and isn’t there — before explaining why this demo matters to him. Civitas Nihilium became one of his favourite games of the year and is now nearly impossible to find; Neon Hope occupies similar ground, which he describes as the cybernetic offspring of Arkham Horror LCG and Netrunner, and tonally a mix of cyberpunk and solarpunk.
Locations and NPCs carry tokens you clear through four task types — investigate, get support, fight, hack — then flip to reveal a second stage, often an NPC who joins as a follower with a permanent bonus. He walks the setup through a barkeeper and two dance floors, noting approvingly that the dance floor requires courage rather than charisma.
Two systems get particular praise. The chip pool works like Arkham’s bag, but three chips are set aside unseen at setup so you never know the exact contents, and analysing lets you cull one to the archive. And the surveillance track doubles as timer and second front — purple network cards you hack to keep the state off your back.
His reservations are about scope and, specifically, how much between-scenario deck-building there’ll be, which he says is the part of Arkham he doesn’t enjoy.
Is a timer that’s also an enemy better design than a timer that just counts down?