Plaid Hat Reveals Freelancers, a New Crossroads Game

04/06/2023 11:26 pm EDT

Plaid Hat Games' Crossroads series has produced stellar titles like Dead of Winter, Forgotten Waters, and more, and now they've revealed their newest addition to the franchise. The new game is titled Freelancers, and will have players creating their characters and journeying through a vibrant fantasy world as a rich and immersive story leads them through the experience. Plaid Hat's vaunted storytelling will once again be on display, and you'll be guided along the story by a streamlined app. Freelancers will be up for pre-order soon, and Plaid Hat is aiming for a Gen Con 2023 release.

Freelancers is a game for 3 to 7 players and like Forgotten Waters, players will be moving through a storybook, with each page acting as a different location. Each of these locations, 24 in total, will offer different areas to explore and things to do to bolster your team and move the story forward in a variety of ways. The locations, characters, and other iconography are all created by Allison Carl and Skullboy, and you can see some of that artwork below.

Part of the game is creating a unique character, and you'll roll them up like in an RPG, complete with species, job sheets, weapons, armor, and other traits. You can also gain followers that will help you along your adventure, including Gopher and Clara. Gopher allows you to give this follower to another player to gain luck +2 after a supplies token is drawn from the time bag. Meanwhile, Clara comes into effect after a player rolls an agility check. After that is rolled, you may give them this follower to allow them to reroll that check.

Forgotten Waters was a fantastic experience and one that I would recommend to just about anyone. Meanwhile Familiar Tales also delivered stellar gameplay and a beautifully voice-acted story in a charming magical world. Now Freelancers looks to deliver its own stamp to the genre, and you can find the official description below.

"Freelancers condenses the fantasy RPG campaign experience into a single night of fun and mayhem. Create a character, roll funky dice, and blaze your way through multiple stories set in a world of magic, monsters, and murder. Better yet, no game master is required, as a magical companion app does all the storytelling for you!"

If you haven't played Forgotten Waters, you can check out our full review of the game right here. You can also find the official description for the game below. Forgotten Waters is in stores now.

"Ahoy, me mateys! From the minds that brought you Dead of Winter comes a thrilling new game for the sea dog in all of us. Forgotten Waters plunges players into the lives of pirates aboard the finest ship ever to sail the seas. Okay, it ain't the finest ship, not even close really, but it's certainly not the worst! Play through exciting app-assisted scenarios, and laugh as you and your friends decide if you want to save the world, or bonk it on the head and steal its money.

Each game of Forgotten Waters is a fantastic new misadventure filled with the discovery of exotic new lands. Players will plunder loot, bury treasure in places they'll never see again, and participate in the kind of violent shenanigans their mothers never approved of.

Uncover a massive world full of content you will return to over and over again. Explore a variety of standalone scenarios, each lead by its own larger-than-life pirate captain whose ambitions may undo you all. Develop your own pirate, from their backstory right up to their explosive, ignoble end! Face harrowing Crossroads Events that will reshape the course of the game."

Freelancers: A Crossroads Game hits stores this summer at Gen Con.

Are you excited for Freelancers? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things tabletop and gaming with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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