World of Rivals creator turns Masters of the Deep into a wargame

The firm behind Rivals: Masters of the Deep is bringing its board game to the world of wargames.

Rivals was crowdfunded late last year, raising $53,157 for its collection of creature miniatures set under the sea.

It’s these miniatures that Rivals maker Rival (a tad confusing) is planning to utilise in its wargame spin-off to the game, which is also called Masters of the Deep (even more confusing).

Masters of the Deep (the wargame) will be set in the same setting as Masters of the Deep (the board game), a deep and dark part of the ocean known as The Lurk.

Four factions occupy The Lurk: the Cog, Nautilus, Low Clans and Ancients. These will inspire 40mm figures, 55 of which will be included in the base game with the rulebook. An addition group, Lurkers, inhabit dens on the map and must be battled by players to gain bonus loot and defense.

Masters of the Deep (the wargame) uses an activation system to allow movement and special actions, with players moving activation tokens between three columns to track their usage.

There are also event cards which are drawn at the end of each round, introducing new occurrences and challenges.

The game is expected to launch in February 2017, with the rulebook costing $25 and the miniatures available separately for $65. The combined base set, which includes the original Rivals: Masters of the Deep board game alongside the new rulebook, starts at $100.

At the time of writing, the campaign has already passed its $15,000 goal by almost $4,000 with 18 days left to go.