Pact

About this board game

Pact is a 2019 board game for 1–5 players, with play taking about 45 minutes. Set in the Hiddenlands, it follows goblin clans that have driven the remnants of the Five Realms away and now seek to establish their own power.

Life among the goblin clans is far from peaceful. Each clan must deal with dangers in the land while trading, researching, fighting diseases, and building structures. At the same time, players strive to become the most powerful and respected clan in the Hiddenlands.

The heart of the game is its goblin recruitment and play system. You work to fulfill tasks as quickly and effectively as possible, choosing whether to complete them alone or cooperate with one of your two neighbors. A shared effort can bring rewards to both players, but every clan is still pursuing its own position in the struggle for influence.

• Recruit and play goblins to pursue your objectives.
• Complete tasks alone or alongside one of your two neighbors.
• Trade, research, fight diseases, and build buildings.
• Earn rewards while both cooperating players score at the end of the game.

As the year ends and winter arrives, the results of your work become visible and the balance of power is decided. The game combines competition between rival clans with moments of necessary cooperation, creating tension around when to work together and how much that alliance may benefit you.

Thematically, Pact is a sequel to Pandoria. Its story begins after the goblins have expelled the remains of the five Realms and settled the Hiddenlands for themselves, where their ambitions, rivalries, and uneasy agreements shape the struggle for supremacy.