Project Pandora: Grim Cargo review

Mantic Games | Sci-fi dungeon crawler | £20 | 2 players | 15 minutes | www.manticgames.com 

If you’re in the market for a relatively cheap and simple science fiction-themed dungeon crawler then Project Pandora from Mantic Games could certainly scratch that itch. Although released back in 2012, copies regularly crop up on Amazon and the like and it should only set you back around £20.

In a similar vein to games like Space Hulk, Project Pandora sees a group of well-armed humans (in this case the Corporation) going up against a terrifying foe. Here that enemy is a bunch of space rats called the Veer-Myn, who have boarded a Corporation starship to steal its precious cargo. The game comes with 20 detailed miniatures (10 Corporation and 10 Veer-Myn), although you will need to glue them together before you can start playing, a rule book and a set of cardboard tiles to represent the spaceship – so at £20 it’s certainly a bit of a bargain and a decent introduction to Mantic’s futuristic universe before you move onto the likes of Deadzone or Warpath.

Each turn the players get a set of action tokens they can spend on moving their troops or shooting enemies. Each faction also has special rules, so the Corporation can engage an overwatch-style move to allow them to shoot in the enemy’s turn, while the Veer-Myn have something called ‘shadowbreed’. This latter certainly adds to one of the game’s most interesting mechanics because the shadowy Veer-Myn thrive in dark places, which restrict the Corporation’s ability to fire. Luckily, you can use flares to light up rooms or, more simply, use the light switch but this sense of a brooding threat hidden in the darkness really adds to the thematic quality of Project Pandora.

However, with some balancing issues and only six missions, Pandora isn’t perfect but it still generates some exceptionally tense and dramatic moments reminiscent of films like Aliens.

Buy your copy here.

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