35 years ago, puppeteering legends Jim Henson and Frank Oz released their first non-Muppets feature film: the fantasy epic The Dark Crystal. Although mildly successful at the box office, the film got a little overshadowed in the same year that gave us E.T., Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Poltergeist, The Road Warrior, TRON, The Thing, Blade Runner, and other genre favorites (1982 was a very good year for nerds).
But cable and home video made sure that this odd little film, about magical creatures called Gelflings and Skeksis and mystic quests, would eventually find a loyal audience. Since that time, The Dark Crystal has become a cult classic, and spawned toys and books and spin-off comics of all kinds. It’s even coming back as a new series on Netflix.
Now we’ve learned that River Horse, the company that released the Labyrinth board game, is also releasing a game based on The Dark Crystal. The game will find the players recreating the basic plot of the film, as “Jen and Kira must go on a journey to find the Shard and heal the Dark Crystal.”
This board game is for 2 to 4 players, and includes the following:
- 4 highly collectable figurine renditions of the main characters:
2 Gelflings – Jen and Kira (with Fizzgig!).
2 Skeksis – skekSil the Chamberlain and skekUng the Garthim-Master - Rules booklet – 24 pages.
- 2′ × 2′ game board – lavishly illustrated with inspiring new artwork featuring all the legendary places from the movie, including Aughra’s Observatory, the Valley of the Stones and the Crystal Castle.
- 25 World cards, 9 Mystic cards, 7 Skeksis cards and 15 Minion cards.
- Over 20 game tokens.
- 6 polyhedral dice (D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20).
- 4 character sheets and 4 Special Ability cards.
- Cardboard stand-ups and bases: 4 Garthim, 1 Slave Podlings, 1 Gourmand Skeksis and 1 Slave-Master Skeksis
- 1 Orrery turn track (top and bottom, with plastic connector).
The Dark Crystal Board Game is available to pre-order right now.
Are you excited to relive Jim Henson’s wild fantasy epic, table top style? Let us know down below in the comments.
Images: Jim Henson Company / River Horse
Need More Fantasy?
- Get mythical with Jim Henson’s The Storytellers: Fairies.
- Waltz like a goblin king with Labyrinth dance classes.
- Rare Dark Crystal concept art coming in new book.
