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Monsters and game tile
Explorer - Hank Horden
Prototypes for 2nd edition
Explorer - Kim Richards
Machina Arcana designer Juraj and helper Isa at his Spiel 2018 booth
Plastic play
Monster - Deep One
New Machina Arcana logo
Explorer - Lorrai Gerrard
A defense tracker to keep track of an explorer's current armor and will values. I found myself always counting how much I had of each so I made this so I had one less thing to do/think about.

Machina Arcana (Second/Third Edition) (2019)

Players
1–4
Best: 1, 2
Playing time
150–150 min
Age
13+
7.85
Average rating
1,752
Ratings
3.64/5
Weight
#1561
BGG rank
Top 5,000
Alternate names:Machina Arcana +5 more
Designer:Juraj Bilich
Artist:Marek Madej, Antal Kéninger, Nele Diel, Aleksandra Bilic, Sebastian Giacobino, Igor Krstic, Maxim Kostin, Richard Brownhill, Kriśtian Pavlin, Elwira Pawlikowska, Damir Podhraški
Publisher:Galakta +6 more
Average rating, ratings count, weight and rank are sourced from BoardGameGeek (BGG).
Game DNA
  • This game: Strategy 5, Luck 9, Interaction 5, Complexity 7.3, Theme 10
Strategy5.0
Luck9.0
Interaction5.0
Complexity7.3
Theme10.0

This game's strategy, luck, interaction, complexity and theme.

Science FictionDiceExplorationAdventureHorrorFightingMythologyAction PointsModular BoardCooperative GameStorytellingDice RollingGrid MovementAction / EventFinale Ending

Overview

In Machina Arcana, players take on the role of explorers who are investigating an ancient subterranean complex of unknown origin. They face monsters inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos in a steampunk setting. The adventurers collect equipment, interact and utilize their environment, fight monsters, and immerse themselves in the rich narrative elements.

The complete story is broken down into different scenarios that represent a self-contained game. All of these scenarios contain chapters, each with its own narration and specifics. The objective of the game is to progress through the tale and face the endgame at the finale of each scenario.

The main goal behind Machina Arcana is to provide players with a chilling game that can never be played the same way, mechanisms that enable varying strategies and approaches, and an extensive framework that combines everything smoothly. The game scales by default; there is no need for special conditions based on the player count. As the story progresses, so does your gear. But beware! If you are too slow, horror might very well prevail and devour you whole.

The 2nd edition has a lot of improvement to the rules; as well as a new manual, new illustrations, new graphic design, and additional content. The 3rd edition includes no rule changes aside from rewordings to make the game more easier to understand, and to help the new players with the learning curve. But, the 3rd edition is the first one to offer other languages than English: French, German, Polish, and Spanish.

Expansions

Machina Arcana: Recurrence
Machina Arcana: Geometry of the Void
Machina Arcana: To Eternity
Machina Arcana: From Beyond
Machina Arcana: Vivarium
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