Ancient Terrible Things

Roll dice combos to unlock ancient secrets in the jungle, or unleash a terrible thing that costs you points.

Designer: Simon McGregor
Published by: Pleasant Company Games
Editions by: Feuerland Spiele, Redbox Editora (Redbox)

Ancient Terrible Things is a pulp horror dice game in which you paddle up a dark jungle river as an intrepid adventurer. Every turn you travel to a Fateful Location, face an Ominous Encounter and try to unlock its Ancient Secrets by rolling dice for runs, pairs, three or more of a kind, or a single high number. Succeed and the Secrets count as points. Fail and you unleash a Terrible Thing that counts against you at the end. Resource tokens like Focus and Courage help you bend the dice. The game ends at the Unspeakable Event, and whoever holds the most Secrets wins. Two to four players, about an hour, with a very Indiana Jones meets Lovecraft attitude.

Dice combos beat encounter cardsFocus and Courage tokens bend the rollsFailure unleashes a Terrible Thing

Who it's for

You enjoy dice-pushing with an adventure-horror flavor and want a game with a pulpy atmosphere for two to four.

Not for you if…

You dislike dice-driven games or you want a cooperative horror story. Luck plays a large role, and failure costs you directly.

Vibe's take

Pulpy, tense and a bit gambly. Each encounter is a small dice puzzle with a dark reward, and you never quite know when to stop and when to push on.