- BGG rank
- BGG #3,563
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Darkest Night: Second Edition
- 1–5 players
- 120–180 min
- Complexity 3.1/5
- 2018
- BGG rating
- 8.0
Rules assistance for Darkest Night: The Small Hours
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 120 min
- 13+
Rules assistant for Darkest Night: The Small Hours
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Darkest Night: The Small Hours is an expansion for Darkest Night released in 2018 for 1–4 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Jeremy Lennert and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Cooperative Game.
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About the game
It's always darkest before the dawn.... These are the final days of the war. I never thought to see horrors so foul as have been visited on us in these past weeks, but the range of responses has been nothing short of heroic. People from all across the kingdom have contributed in every way imaginable, from food and equipment to prayers and information. Champions have risen up from all walks of life to battle the undead. Soon, this will be over, one way or another.... Complete your Darkest Night experience with The Small Hours, bringing all the new cards and gameplay features from the second edition of Darkest Night to your first edition game set. This expansion more than doubles your number of Quest, Mystery, and Darkness cards, bolsters your heroes with new "sparks" that can enhance any die roll, provides three new powers to each hero (yes, all 29!), introduces a new customizable map deck, and more. To make full use of this expansion, you must own Darkest Night (first edition) and all of the previous expansions: With an Inner Light On Shifting Winds From the Abyss In Tales of Old From Distant Lands (or the four individual promos: Nymph, Enchanter, Mercenary, and Tinker) With these expansions combined, you have all the same gameplay features as the second edition of Darkest Night (Kickstarter version).
Designers
Publishers
- Victory Point Games
Questions and answers
Darkest Night: The Small Hours supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Darkest Night: The Small Hours is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Darkest Night: The Small Hours for ages 13 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Darkest Night: The Small Hours belongs to these categories: Fantasy, Horror, and Adventure. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Cooperative Game. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Darkest Night: The Small Hours are: Jeremy Lennert. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Darkest Night: The Small Hours as an expansion for Darkest Night. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Darkest Night to use it. Check that your edition of Darkest Night is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.