Diabolik – Heists and Investigations is the board game based on the famous comic book character. Players experience the impossible heists of the famous couple Diabolik and Eva Kant and try to foil their plans in the shoes of detectives Ginko and Morrigan. 2 to 4 players find themselves in a “cops and robbers” style experience entirely set within the world of the King of Terror. The aim of the game for criminals is to manage to complete two of the three heists available in the game, moving in the shadows, that is, hidden from their opponents. The detectives, through investigations and chasing the criminals if they find them, must bring the Danger Level to the maximum, thus defeating the plans of the couple. DAM Things!, the developer, together with Pendragon Game Studio, the publisher of the game and in collaboration with Astorina, the publisher of the comic, aims to renew a genre, the one called with “hidden movements”, introducing several innovations.
ASYMMETRIC TEAMS – It is one of the few times in which a board game of this genre offers the opportunity to play in teams, two Criminals against two Detectives (in less than four players someone holds more than one character). Each team has completely different goals and ways of playing from the other and each character enjoys a unique Ability, making the gaming experience asymmetrical and unpredictable. In addition to Diabolik, the King of Terror, the charming Eva Kant and the determined Ginko, a new character has been introduced who has never appeared in comics, detective Morrigan.
HIDDEN MOVEMENTS – The criminals must move through the streets of Clerville (the state where the Diabolik comic is set) in a hidden way, simply by choosing the place where they want to go from a deck of cards (no pencils and numbers to write down!). But be careful: each Location Card used is a possible clue for the Detectives to follow to track down the criminals!
CHASES – As in any self-respecting detective story and just as often happens in Diabolik comics, in each game there are alternating moments in which the criminals are hidden and the police investigate with others in which breathless chases are triggered.
CRIME WITH LOTS OF ACTION – Each team has its own deck of cards, Crime or Police (48 each, all different), which allows them to do everything that made the comic compelling and that makes the crime genre intriguing. There is no shortage of wonderful Diabolik gadgets, from the Penthotal to his iconic daggers, the masks, the Jaguar, the Shelters; on the other hand, the Detectives will be able to mobilize the scientific police, reinforcement agents, the Coast Guard, helicopters and even a good smoke from Ginko’s iconic pipe can help unlock some clues…
DYNAMIC HEISTS AND INVESTIGATIONS – Each heist (there are seven including The Golden Venus, the CV Bank Van, Alfredo Havel’s watch collection) and the related Investigation are a sort of “puzzle solving” in which other secondary characters can also come into play. Both factions (thieves and detectives) must overcome different steps to be able to achieve the success of the heist or hinder it. The variable setup also makes each game different and unpredictable!
EASY TO LEARN – A 1-page Rulebook entitled Escape from Clerville has also been created, a real “game within the game” that allows you to set up and learn to play from the first game in just a few minutes.
ELEGANT DESIGN – Particular care has been taken in the quality of the materials and in the aesthetics, offering a look that can fit into the atmosphere of the comic (all the cards have a different image taken from the albums!) and at the same time as “clean” as possible. The game board, for example, is a map of the state of Clerville without numbers or icons, which could really be a road map. A game that is beautiful to look at as well as to play.“Diabolik – Heists and Investigations aims to offer a unique experience, strongly linked to those dynamics that have made and continue to make the Diabolik comic unique and at the same time offers all fans of the detective genre the opportunity to experience first-hand all the dynamics that make it so intriguing”, said Silvio Negri-Clementi, CEO of Pendragon Game Studio.
Mario Gomboli, Editorial Director of Astorina srl, commented: “Ultimately, the challenge between Diabolik and Ginko is nothing more than a game that the two have been playing for years, having fun… even if they would never admit it, not even to themselves”.
The game is developed by DAM Things!, whose partner and founder, Luca Maragno, expressed himself as follows: “The crime genre is one of those that most fascinates the public, in every form of expression, from literature to TV series and comics, and Diabolik has always managed to be a point of reference since its first release. Creating a gameplay that was simple yet deep and that could offer all the ingredients of such an iconic character and such a beloved genre was a truly exciting challenge.”
Genre: crime, hidden movement
Players: 2 to 4
Playing time: 90’
Age: 13+
Contents
48 Police Cards
48 Crime Cards
40 Location Cards
18 Wound Cards
1 Special Die
15 tokens depicting Diabolik, Eva, Ginko, Morrigan, 4 Agents, the Jaguar and 6 Secondary Characters
4 Character Cards depicting Diabolik, Eva, Ginko, Morrigan
1 game board depicting the state of Clerville
A screen to hide Diabolik and Eva’s moves
7 Heists and Investigation Cards
68 Large Clue Tokens
20 Small Plan Tokens
3 Heist and Investigation Tokens (A-B-C). Diabolik Rules – Heists and Investigations Diabolik Rules – Escape from Clerville
They say about Diabolik – Heists and Investigations:
“The game, once started, is a feast for the eyes. The care of the materials, the graphic choices of all the components are of the highest quality. Every single component exudes the noir atmosphere of the comic. It is impossible not to be fascinated by it”.
“Visually beautiful, Diabolik – Heists and Investigations is a board game that you found extremely engaging. The mix of escapes, fights and reasoning for the sequence in which to face the Heists, the variety of situations and the successful balance between the characters – except that everyone wants to use the criminals, okay. But there you just have to take turns – work very well, making that hour that it takes to complete a game slip away in an instant”.Alessandro Apreda.
“When Diabolik – Heists and Investigations is played in the role of the criminals, it is fascinating to know the locations not only of your hideout, but above all of the three heists you want to carry out: planning in trying to reach all the requirements before the police discover your identity opens up more tactical aspects in the game.”
“The designer chose to use a series of well-known techniques (the hidden movement halfway between Scotland Yard and Fury of Dracula, the randomization of objectives, an “alert” indicator to quantify how much the criminals are “in the sights” of the police) combined with various thematic gems such as the Jaguar “always in the right place” and various “tricks” of the criminal Diabolik, managing to insert secondary characters and plot twists into the gaming experience in order to make each game “alive” and not just a sequence of mechanical moves by the players”.
