Ten years later... in the village of Spring Forest, close to Camp Apache, someone or something seems to have awakened… something the villagers have tried to forget for years: A Demon able to live in the dreams and twist them into nightmares!  The horror and suspense of Last Friday – the board game set in a summer camp where young campers try to survive a long weekend of terror with an undying maniac hiding in the shadows of the forest – is coming back with the expansion Return to Camp Apache. In these designer’s notes, author Antonio Ferrara talks about the expansion.

I thought I had completed my job with Camp Apache, but some legends never die, or do they? So...

At first I was hesitant, because I believed the base game was enough, but I was wrong. Ideas are as bittersweet as honey and they arrive when you least expect them. The more I mulled on the idea of a game expansion, the more I realized there were many ways it could make Last Friday even more thrilling and addictive.

Return to Camp Apache introduces new challenges and objectives. First, there’s the ability to play two new interconnected chapters, but using different dynamics, with two evil opponents playing at the same time — the Maniac and the new Demon (who’s equipped with new and exclusive power-ups). Five new campers (each with unique characteristics) are introduced, along with new kinds of Clue tokens (such as the longbow and the torch), and two new special characters: the Marshall and the Witch. Special characters are empowered with a great variety of exclusive actions and power-ups, such as the revolver and the voodoo doll. The box also contains the “on fire” board overlays, which change the aspect of Camp Apache and the cards of the new characters (Demon, Marshall, and Witch). In addition, there’s material such as the new Camper Equipment sheets, new tokens, a new Demon tracking screen, a sandglass, and... well, I can’t spoil everything to you, can I?

With this expansion, I wanted to make the game even more fluid and adrenaline-filled… that’s why the sandglass has been introduced. It’s activated when the Maniac and the Demon finish their turn. At that point, the Campers have only two-minutes to play their game turn, not following a determined turn of play but moving all together. The sandglass simulates the panic and tension and trepidation you’d feel if hunted by two mad killers in a summer camp, alone in the woods.

The story takes place ten years after the first four chapters of the base game and introduces two new chapters. In Chapter V, the Campers, to escape the Demon, enter the woods looking for the Marshall and a missing girl who seems to have strange powers. All tracks lead to Camp Apache, but they don’t yet know a Psycho hides in that place, who never really died. They must escape from a double threat, waking the Marshall and Witch from their nightmare-filled slumber. Only these two characters can possibly put an end to the horrors. Depending on how this Chapter closes, the interactions in the following chapter change.

The 6th Chapter begins with a fire started by the Campers, which ignites in one of the bungalows and advances, burning anything around it (including Campers and Psychos). Campers are convinced the purifying fire can eliminate the evil once and for all, but the Marshall and the Witch fear that the fire may not be enough, and they must personally put an end to the horrors cursing the camp. They’ll have to track down the Evil and make certain it never returns. But, in the meantime, they’ll be vulnerable to those who move in the shadows and are still thirsty for blood. In a whirl of fear, who will survive the last night of Camp Apache? Who will be the Prey and who the Predator? Who will pursue who, and what?

In addition to the two new chapters, there’s a new playing mode I call “Survival Horror Mode,” which combines the first four chapters of the base game with the new components and interactions presented in this expansion, to make the Last Friday’s experience even more engaging and thrilling.

Despite the introduction of new components, I can say Return to Camp Apache makes Last Friday faster, more instinctive, and more suspenseful, bringing a cinematic experience to your gaming table.

Antonio Ferrara is a novelist and game designer with a passion for horror movies and books. Together with Sebastiano Fiorillo, his partner at Escape Studios, he has authored the games Stay Away! and Last Friday.