AuZtralia takes the battle against Lovecraftian horrors Down Under

Board games starting Cthulhu and its Lovecraftian cavalcade of cosmic horrors are everywhere nowadays, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for an original take on the battle against the Old Ones.

AuZtralia sounds like it does just that, with Martin Wallace’s upcoming exploration game set in a universe where the remnants of humanity left after a war against the nightmarish beings in the northern hemisphere of the globe have retreated to Australia.

The setting shares some ties to Wallace’s 2013 Neil Gaiman adaptation, alt-history deckbuilder A Study in Emerald, which followed the Restorationist war against the ruling Old Ones led by historical Victorian figures.

The core of AuZtralia is instead exploration, with players setting out on a journey from the coasts where they land to discover the outback, building farms, railways and ports along the way.

It’s a race against time to prepare, though, as eventually the Old Ones will return and begin to devastate the land. If one of the monsters reaches a port, it’s game over, but players will be earning victory points individually, making a playthrough a semi-co-op experience as players fight to win on their own but avoiding losing together.

Players will be able to recruit a host of famous faces to help in the fight, further expanding their ranks with military units before the Old Ones activate, becoming an AI-controlled force that acts like an additional player.

AuZtralia is currently up on Kickstarter, where it’s almost exceeded its £26,000 goal. The game is due out this September.