Unexpected Games (part of Asmodee North America) just announced the release date of their western-inspired board game “3000 Scoundrels”, which will officially release on October 7. Pre-orders are currently available on Asmodee’s official website and on Amazon for $49.95.
The game puts players in an alternative Wild West environment, where they will try and create the toughest and roughest team of scoundrels. They will have to use their gang to bluff and steal their way into victory by obtaining valuable tech gadgets left by the Traveler – a mysterious figure that brought them to your doorstep, shaped the world around them, then mysteriously vanished.
Lie, Cheat, Steal and Create the Perfect Scoundrel
“3000 Scoundrels” takes its name from its most unique and innovative mechanic. Players will recruit their Scoundrels from the local saloon. Each one will cost you a certain amount of money and will have a special ability you can exploit to your advantage. Players create scoundrels by combining transparent Job Cards and their Trait Cards, which must be split into three color tiles – black, green, and purple, and then shuffled. After they are shuffled, players create the Scoundrels by putting the top Trait Card into the transparent Job Card, which will also act as a sleeve.
Note that only a number of cards are used each game, which means players will rarely get the same Scoundrel soon. As the game suggests, there are a total of 3000 unique combinations in the game, which is absolutely fantastic for replayability. Each game is bound to feel unique.
So how does one win a game of “3000 Scoundrels”? The goal seems simple enough – the player with the most Tech Score wins. Tech Score is normally gained by obtaining the items left by the Traveler, which are located in several safes all around the map. Players may use certain card abilities (if they happen to have them), to mark the same with a token.
If they happen to lack them, however, they can still make a bluff and mark it anyway. This bluff can be called, however, which will lose the bluffer Reputation, while the caller will be gaining Reputation. Essentially, it’s a double-edged sword. Your total reputation gains you additional Tech Points at the end of the game. There are also other ways of obtaining Tech Score in the game. Some Scoundrels will give you Tech Points just for being on a team, others can steal those valuable safes outright!
The game also allows the players to add optional Leader cards to their games. Each one has a different skill that can be used each round. “3000 Scoundrels” can certainly play without them, but adding them spices games, even more, making them ever more random and unpredictable.