Two years on, Daniel (@dungeondive) revisits Darklight: Memento Mori with a colder eye. The verdict softens but doesn’t reverse: still a very good Warhammer-Quest-lineage crawl, still probably the best of the WHQ derivatives, but no longer an unqualified modern classic.
Two reasons for the downgrade. First, the game is effectively dead — the print run reportedly lost money against the cost of those oversized minis, tiles and doors, the publisher has moved on to a new (non-compatible) project, and ongoing content depends on whether the fan community materialises the way Warhammer Quest’s did. Second, the box clearly shipped under-tested: the designer has since published a full set of replacement monster and hero cards (better stats, randomised behaviour charts, nerfed boss endurance against solo parties) which Daniel now plays with exclusively.
He runs through the community house-rule cheat sheet on BGG: tests succeed on 5s and 6s; critical hits roll doubled damage dice and keep top half (rather than auto-max ignoring armour); fewer journey events on solo runs; cursed-heart healing works after solo death. The Exploration Pack environmental deck remains essential and arguably the reason the game stays great — he wants every crawl, including Massive Darkness, to have one.
Total cost-to-play in 2020: ~$300 USD shipped, including printed replacement cards.
An under-tested but excellent game with a generous, responsive designer and a community willing to fix it. Worth the $300 investment and the printing-and-laminating tax, or does a closed shelf-life make this a hard pass in 2020?