Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Gamefound campaign here: gamefound.com/projects/draft/vsb1k5hmxrkantlgw22adrcg0ni
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- BGG description -
Nightmare Cathedral prominently features the haunting artwork by the late Polish surrealist painter and sculptor Zdzisław Beksiński. Although Beksiński's art was often grim, he himself was known to be a pleasant person who took enjoyment from conversation and had a keen sense of humor. He was modest and somewhat shy, avoiding public events such as the openings of his own exhibitions. He credited music as his main source of inspiration. He claimed not to be much influenced by literature, cinema or the work of other artists, and almost never visited museums or exhibitions. Beksiński avoided concrete analysis of the content of his work and was especially dismissive of those who sought or offered simple answers to what his work "meant".
Nightmare Cathedral is a strategy game for 1–4 players, where victory is gained by controlling the map, managing resources, following objectives and selecting when to engage in fast and furious conflicts to gain strategic advantage. Over the course of the game, you will perform actions — and follow the actions of other players — to produce units, build fortifications, maneuver around the map, and spend your followers to climb the ritual track. Throughout the game, a haunting Cathedral will grow in the center of the board, and once it is completed, you will face — and gain the ability to control! — the physical manifestations of nightmares that are released upon the world. Nightmare Cathedral is a game of both strategy and tactics, where finding clever ways to follow your objectives and combining different strategies is the ultimate route to victory.
Each player has a set of Action cards. These Action cards display various effects that may be activated either on that player's own turn, or as a reaction when other players perform that action. When you are the Active Player, you will move your Dreamer to a Day space that is not adjacent to its current Night space and perform the Action associated with that Day space, as outlined on your own Action card.
Inactive Players may react to your chosen Day Action.
The game is divided into two stages. During the first stage, the titular Nightmare Cathedral is built, piece by piece, as the game progresses. Once the final Cathedral piece is placed on the main board, the Nightmare Cathedral is finished, at which point the game transitions to the second stage. From this moment on, Nightmares, powerful beings channeling the presence of the completed Cathedral, enter the game board, Devouring Units in their path. However, as a player, you may also take actions to control a Nightmare, Commanding it to do your bidding.
The game end is triggered in one of the following ways:
• The Time marker reaches a certain space on the Time track.
• A single player reaches the final step of the Ritual track.
• A certain number of Units have been devoured.
#nightmarecathedral #boardgame #preview #beksinski
Gamefound campaign here: gamefound.com/projects/draft/vsb1k5hmxrkantlgw22adrcg0ni
💙💚💙 Support honest, independent reviews and content about board games, subscribe to our YT channel and join us on patreon.com/beastiegeeks 💙💚💙
Our table: rathskellers.com
- Follow us around -
Instagram: instagram.com/beastiegeeks
FB page: facebook.com/beastiegeeks
- BGG description -
Nightmare Cathedral prominently features the haunting artwork by the late Polish surrealist painter and sculptor Zdzisław Beksiński. Although Beksiński's art was often grim, he himself was known to be a pleasant person who took enjoyment from conversation and had a keen sense of humor. He was modest and somewhat shy, avoiding public events such as the openings of his own exhibitions. He credited music as his main source of inspiration. He claimed not to be much influenced by literature, cinema or the work of other artists, and almost never visited museums or exhibitions. Beksiński avoided concrete analysis of the content of his work and was especially dismissive of those who sought or offered simple answers to what his work "meant".
Nightmare Cathedral is a strategy game for 1–4 players, where victory is gained by controlling the map, managing resources, following objectives and selecting when to engage in fast and furious conflicts to gain strategic advantage. Over the course of the game, you will perform actions — and follow the actions of other players — to produce units, build fortifications, maneuver around the map, and spend your followers to climb the ritual track. Throughout the game, a haunting Cathedral will grow in the center of the board, and once it is completed, you will face — and gain the ability to control! — the physical manifestations of nightmares that are released upon the world. Nightmare Cathedral is a game of both strategy and tactics, where finding clever ways to follow your objectives and combining different strategies is the ultimate route to victory.
Each player has a set of Action cards. These Action cards display various effects that may be activated either on that player's own turn, or as a reaction when other players perform that action. When you are the Active Player, you will move your Dreamer to a Day space that is not adjacent to its current Night space and perform the Action associated with that Day space, as outlined on your own Action card.
Inactive Players may react to your chosen Day Action.
The game is divided into two stages. During the first stage, the titular Nightmare Cathedral is built, piece by piece, as the game progresses. Once the final Cathedral piece is placed on the main board, the Nightmare Cathedral is finished, at which point the game transitions to the second stage. From this moment on, Nightmares, powerful beings channeling the presence of the completed Cathedral, enter the game board, Devouring Units in their path. However, as a player, you may also take actions to control a Nightmare, Commanding it to do your bidding.
The game end is triggered in one of the following ways:
• The Time marker reaches a certain space on the Time track.
• A single player reaches the final step of the Ritual track.
• A certain number of Units have been devoured.
#nightmarecathedral #boardgame #preview #beksinski
