Deathmatch Island’s tabletop RPG battle royales expand to nine new (player unknown) battlegrounds in Deathmatch Island: New Horizons.
Deathmatch Island is a tabletop RPG inspired by the cult hit Battle Royale and the countless spinoffs that descend from the movie, including video games like Fortnite and PuBG, as well as shows and movies like Squid Games and The Hunger Games. You take a bunch of folks, put ’em in an “arena” made out of a natural environment/abandoned amusement park/empty town, and then let them go to town. It’s good stuff—classic in the psyche for reasons that maybe should be unpacked.
But that’s something to save for another day because we’re here to talk about Deathmatch Island: New Horizons, which offers up nine new arenas all in a single book.
Deathmatch Island: New Horizons
If you haven’t taken Deathmatch Island for a spin, you can see it in action below. But rest assured, it captures the feeling of the sinister oppression of trying to fight for your lives on an island for “someone’s” entertainment. Maybe you figure out what’s happening. Maybe your only goal is to survive.
But whether you want to take down a sinister conspiracy of wealthy people who are so strung out that the only pleasure they have now is watching the poor try to kill each other, or just see if YOU would do okay if you dropped into Loot Lake, you can try it in Deathmatch Island.
And in Deathmatch Island: New Horizons, you get nine new environments to play with. These were originally funded as stretch goals as part of the initial crowdfunding campaign. But now you can pick it up for $10 from the Evil Hat game store. Here’s a look at the nine new islands:
Match Island, by James Mendez Hodes, Sean Nittner, and Karen Twelves: Welcome to Match Island, a tropical paradise where our contestants will each have the chance to find true love—or be eliminated.
Junk Island, by Will Jobst, Aaron Lim, and Alexei Vella: A polluted atoll houses twisted remains of rusted metal and ruined industrial facilities.
The Adrift Isle, by Alex Chapman, Michael Cremisius Gibson, Raven Dubique-Ashton, Ava Gibbins, Jacqueline Heisel, Kayla Herbert, Alex Koeberl, Jacob Lee, Cade Naylor, and Rachel Rudy: An island where anything that has ever been lost can reappear. Whether memories or mementos, they reside here forever. Competitors should beware, there seems to be something supernatural at work behind the scenes.
Folk Island, by Aaron Catano-Saez, Tim Hutchings, momatoes, and Erin Roberts: On first inspection, a quaint and cozy island full of reminders of bygone times; childhood amusements, simple villages, and pastoral hills. But strange beasts stalk the shadows, and the truth of this place is eerie and terrifying.
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Resort Island, by Tim Hutchings, Michelle Jones, Michael Sands, and Liam Stevens: A former resort for the rich and powerful, an island of white sand beaches and idyllic lagoons. Theme park attractions, luxury entertainments, and cultural appropriation.
The Institute, by Grant Howitt, Poorna M, and Taylor Navarro: This island consists of a single large complex, connected by echoing hallways. A central courtyard offers a glimpse of the sky, but no there are no other views to the outside world.
The Tower, by Carrie Carney, Caleb Zane Huett, and Ethan Yen: All the locations at this site are within a single towering building. Is this DMI corporate headquarters, the very heart of Production?
The Deep Facility, by Lex Kim Bobrow, Agatha Cheng, Morgan Davie, and Sean Nittner: A large complex that plunges deep into the earth. The upper levels seem to be some kind of survival bunker, but as you go deeper, it gets stranger still. The facility’s design intentionally disorients and isolates, taking a psychological toll on those navigating its brutalist confines.
Judgement, by Ash Cheshire, Greg Soper, and Viditya Voleti: This surreal island has the competitors restrained, forced to review footage of tasks they don’t remember performing. It technically has only one location, but the footage might take place at a variety of locations. This island focuses on the strange influences and absurd pointlessness of Deathmatch Island.
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All that to say, the book is available now. And the various islands have been put together by a fantastic team of writers. So, if you’re looking for a fun change of pace – maybe a one-shot or recurring campaign – you might want to snag Deathmatch Island and the accompanying setting book.
You will, of course, have to find someone to chug jug with you!
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