Stats:
No. of players: 2-6
Amount of time to play: 60-180 min
Age requirements: 13+
Set-up time: 5 min

Light and Shadow is the first expansion for Hyperborea. It contains modular elements you can add to the base board game as you like. Some are easy additions even for new players and others you might want to only use with experienced players.

Hyperborea Light and Shadow Expansion Rules Description:

This review is for Hyperborea Light and Shadow not the base game. If you know the basics of how to play Hyperborea, read on. If you are unfamiliar with its basic gameplay, you can read my overview and review here. The rest of this review will focus on the new elements added via the Light and Shadow expansion.

During setup you may add Soul Cubes to the game. They come in two varieties, light and shadow. You add two of each per player. You may gain one soul cube everytime you upgrade your civilization. Instead of taking the cube associated with the track you have advanced, you may take either one light or shadow cube. Light cubes are white and may be placed on any multi-color activation space. Also when you place a white cube you draw a cube from your bag. Shadow cubes are black and may be placed on any colored activation space (not multi-colored or gray). The downside of soul cubes is they are not worth VPs at the end of the game.

You may also choose to add Crypt/Relics tiles to Hyperborea. One Crypt/Relic tile is placed face-down on each hex adjacent to the center hex. You may use a free miniature on a hex containing a Crypt tile to claim it. The miniature that claimed the Crypt tile is returned to their capital city and the Crypt tile is placed Relic side up next to their capital. Relics grant you a once per-game or ongoing bonus and come in three types, terraforming, elite troop, or necromancy powers.

Terraforming relics are used once and let you take an unused hex from the box and replace a current hex or add it to the map. This new hex is filled with ghosts, ruins, etc as noted and also a face-down Crypt/Relic tile. If replacing a hex, all miniatures are placed outside of cities and ruins.

Elite Troop relics have a corresponding colored token. When creating a miniature, you may place the colored token under it to denote it is your Elite Troop. Based on the color of the token that unit gains a bonus. If it dies you keep the token and may create another Elite Troop.

Necromancy Powers are one-time use and let you return ghosts to the supply to get an instant bonus. This bonus might add miniatures to the board, gain extra attack, allow two teleports, or draw four cubes.

This expansion also adds new objectives for gaining a fourth relic, controlling the center hex with no other players’ miniatures there, and for killing the last ghost. It even includes a promo objective for obtaining at least one technology from each deck.

Lastly there are new race effects for each faction in the game.

Quick Review of Hyperborea Light and Shadow Expansion:

Hyperborea Light and Shadow adds some elements that will help new players and add flexibility for experienced ones. It also adds items for more experienced players to increase replay value and add a couple wrinkles to the base game.

The components for this expansion are much in line with those from the base game. The art, miniatures and map all look great on the table. Unfortunately the rule book is not as great. There are errors that have been known and persisted across a few reprintings of the expansion. The main one is the reference to “cube generation” effects that should be replaced with “cube draw”. This is not a huge deal but definitely confusing and something that could have been avoided.

The soul cubes are a nice addition everyone can enjoy. They add flexibility but at the cost of VPs. And though the light seems less useful at first, its added cube draw helps increase the productivity of your turn. The flexibility can help new players not get stuck with too many cubes of the same color.

The crypt/relic tiles are not best for newer players but experienced Hyperborea players will enjoy the wrinkles they add. Terraforming can be very powerful and getting to change the map to your advantage can give you a leg up. The necromancy powers can be powerful, but will cost you VPs and you will need to judge whether their bonus is worth the cost. Elite troops feel like more of a mixed bag as their usefulness can depend on their color, the map, and the game situation.

I like the new objectives as they spice things up a bit. But make sure you are using attainable objectives based on the parts of Light and Shadow you are using. Likewise the new race effects provide some nice options but are not game breaking. My biggest issue with Hyperborea was the imbalance of the races. Specifically (blue) Celestial Reign starting with Diplomacy. It allowed them to reset far quicker than the other races. Light and Shadow doesn’t necessarily address this issue. But if your group bans that starting tech at least there is another option for the blue player in this expansion.

If you enjoy Hyperborea and are looking to add to its replay value, pick up the Light and Shadow expansion. It adds some nice elements for both new and seasoned players.

From the publisher: In order to purchase in the USA, just send $32.50 plus $10.00 for shipping to payment@hackandslashgames.com (total of 42.50) and I’ll get one shipped to you via priority mail (so you will have it in 3 business days or less). I will include the GenCon promo tile and some additional promo cards for our other games as well. If you need shipping outside the USA, please use our ebay listing here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/195368893476 as Ebay will handle all the customs forms to make sure you receive your item. Be sure to message me at rshofkom@hackandslashgames.com after you make the purchase, so I can provide tracking details if needed.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 3 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6