Dusk March

Dusk March is a deckbuilder with innovative mechanics.

To start, every player begins with a deck of 8 starter cards, which they will use to accumulate command (which is used to buy and play cards). Every player ends their turn by drawing cards from their deck until they have 3 in hand. Players' decks are shuffled only once: at the start of the game. players do not have their own discard piles; most of the cards they play will go to the bottom of their deck instead.

Cards come in two types: Minions are added to the play area when they are played. They have stats which are used to hurt opposing minions and opposing players. Actions have single-use abilities. After being played, an action goes to the bottom of that player's deck right away.

Starter cards

Command

Each command belongs to one of the five clans. Once you gain a command, you keep it so you can use it once every turn. Cards have a cost. In order to pay it, you have to flip over the right amount of command of the same clan as the card. Most of the starter cards have a cost of 0 (as seen above). Every card that comes from the unaligned deck has a cost of 1-6. If you want to buy an unaligned card to add to your deck, you have to pay its cost.

The unaligned cards are available to everybody. When you buy an unaligned card, not only will it be added to your deck so you can draw it later, but you also get to play it immediately.

Minion Stats

Each minion has three stats: Influence, Impact, and Longevity.

Influence is used to hurt your opponents. Whenever an opponent ends their turn, any minions you have inflict their influence to that player.

Impact is used to attack opposing minions. It is only used once: when the minion is played. You inflict their impact to one enemy minion. Some abilities might restrict your choice of a target.

Longevity represents how much impact a minion can endure in a single turn. If they take impact equal to or in excess of their longevity, they become subdued.

Throughout the game, cards will become "subdued." When that happens, the card is moved to the bottom of its deck, so it can be drawn and played again later. Occasionally, an ability will cause a card to be killed. Only then is the card discarded. Once a card is killed it will never come back. Only mortal minions (i.e. people and animals) are susceptible to kill effects. Horrors, such as vampires and ghosts, are not likely to be killed.

Whenever a minion is played they are added to the play area and their impact is used. They stay in the play area – where they can use their influence – until they are subdued or killed (or otherwise removed by some ability).

Actions, on the other hand, are not added to the play area. When one is played, its abilities are used, then it is subdued.

If you want to read the full rules, a PDF of the rule book is downloadable for free on this page. However, please note:

Content warning

Cards in this game can contain:

• Gore and graphic violence
• Biblical references/iconography
• Occult themes
• Images of children in danger/distress
• Other adult themes

This game is intended for a mature audience. It has strong supernatural horror themes. Most cards are divided into five different clans, and each clan specializes in its own type of iconic monster. The Cult of the Divine Apocalypse (yellow) worships demons. Lords of Night (red) is controlled by vampires, Necrotic Horde (white) is full of zombies. Pack of the Untamed (brown) includes werewolves. Paranormal Society (purple) is where you will find ghosts.

Message From the Designer

Dusk March is my magnum opus. The best work I've ever done in my 20+ years of game design. I knew I wanted to make a horror game that was able to evoke real emotion, and it took 2 years of work. Your experience may vary, but honestly, this game creeps me out. It crosses the line of reasonable sensibility a few times. Although it is worth mentioning that I am rather weak when it comes to enduring horror.

That being said, I still love this game. I enjoy playing it very much. The mechanics are so good!

-Hyrum

P.S. – This game feels overpriced, but unfortunately that's how much it costs to produce a copy. It's a big game with a lot of cards, but still, that's my opinion. If it were any cheaper though, I'm pretty sure the website would take a loss on each copy sold, so we're stuck with the price as it is. I get paid less than $1 per copy by the way, which is fine. I don't care about profits. I'm just trying to share the cool things I make.