As you investigate the latest strange, glowing-eyed child which has inexplicably appeared in your town, you think maybe it's time for a holiday from the Miskatonic River Valley.  However, clearly you've never watched an episode of Midsomer Murders, as you use your time off to willingly head into the English countryside and conduct a special investigation.

In this new DLC scenario from Fantasy Flight Games, you are a special investigator tasked with the protection of a not-creepy-at-all family heirloom.  Finding the heirloom stolen on your arrival, you begin to investigate, but find you and your team separated from each other in a most unusual way;

Through some unnatural work, you have not been divided by space. Rather, you have been cast out of time, with some investigators left behind in the present… while others are trapped in what appears to be the future. Is this the work of the thieves, or is the impossible occurrence linked to the artifact itself? How can your team continue the investigation when you are divided by the span of ages? And most importantly, how do you find your way back home?

This time separation may be suitably horrifying for the investigators, but it is pretty cool for the mechanic of the game, as players become divided across two maps which are played simultaneously; the 1920s house you arrived in, and the old, decrepit, abandoned mansion in the future.

Investigators in the present can affect those trapped in the future, leaving clues under floorboards for your lost companions.  However, these companions must also contend with the legacy of the past.  Failing to rescue someone may cause hauntings which hinder your investigation.

And, of course, hidden on the outskirts of your mind, is the always uneasy feeling that something truly monstrous lurks on the limits of space and time, waiting to consume your very spirit.  You probably should have gone to Bali.

Altered Fates is another great DLC from Fantasy Flight Games.  I absolutely love the simultaneous play over multiple timestreams, and how those in the past can affect future outcomes.  The storyline is classically gothic, has left me feeling sufficiently creeped out, and full of Autumnal spirit.  Roll on Halloween, and horror board game nights!

Mansions of Madness: Altered Fates can be purchased now on Amazon, Steam, the App Store and Google Play.

Will you be hosting a Halloween Board Games Night this Year?