Corps of Discovery, Board Game Based on Manifest Destiny Comic, Announced

A board game based on Chris Dingess and Matthew Roberts’ Manifest Destiny has been announced. Off the Page Games has announced Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny, a new cooperative deduction game that tasks players with exploring the vast monster-filled regions of the Louisiana Purchase. In the game, players will have to not only find and kill monsters, but also complete “daily challenges” by locating specific resources hidden on the board. Players can also ally themselves with Sacajawea and other indigenous people to aid in their quest. A Kickstarter for the game, which launched last month, has already raised over $200,000 with over a week left as of press time. 

Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny was designed by Sen-Foong Lim and Jay Cormier, the latter of which also designed hit board game adaptations of Mind MGMT and Harrow County. Off the Page Games specializes in tabletop adaptations of popular comics, with this being their third project. 

Manifest Destiny was originally published starting in 2013 and ran for 48 issues. The series was an alternate history series in which Lewis and Clark were sent to the west not to survey the land but rather to eliminate numerous monsters that lived in the region. Although the series subverted many tropes about American expansion (especially in regards to the depiction of indigenous people), the Manifest Destiny title still was a controversial one and led to Off the Page Games pushing for a different title for their game. 

Kickstarter backers who pledge $53 in CAD (or about $39 in US dollars) will receive a copy of the game. Higher level pledges are also available. You can check out the full Kickstarter here.