Available now
Thirst
Play as one of four ancient and immortal vampires that wakes up in a modern city of strange lights and sounds… thirsty!
2–4 players · 30–60 minutes · Ages 8+ · Strategy
Designed by Tim Broadwater · Illustrated by Aidan Detwiler · Written by Michael Schofield
$30.00Add to cart
Also in stores at Four Horsemen Comics & Gaming (Morgantown, WV and Robinson Town Center, PA), Neitherworld Games & Vinyl (New York) and The Gaming Dungeon (Washington, PA).
How it plays
Who am I in this game?
Thirst is a darkly immersive, fast-paced 2–4 player competitive board game of gothic power struggles. Rise each night as a predatory vampire using blood, ichor and influence to outmaneuver rivals, dominate the city’s neighborhoods and avoid spirited consequences — until one vampire claims ultimate dominion.
How do I play?
Rise each night to prey on the living and terrorize neighborhoods, but return to your coffin to hide from the deadly daylight. Prey on humans, use Dark Powers, sire minions and drive your opponents into a deadly frenzy.
How do I win?
Compete night and day against other vampires to gain Influence. Claim parts of the city as your domain, enthralling people and dominating places. The first to 10 Influence wins.
Game Mechanics
- Action Points
- Map Addition
- Modular Board
- Player Elimination
- Point to Point Movement
- Role Playing
- Variable Player Powers
How to play Thirst in 15 minutes
Gameplay features
Quick rounds
30–60 minute games, ideal for repeat play.
Ichor actions
Spend Ichor to hunt, use Dark Powers, sire minions and more.
A new city every game
Modular neighborhood tiles make each game different.
Blood management
Manage blood to increase actions, sire minions and avoid frenzy.
What players say
Thirst is definitely one of the better board games I’ve played in a while. The gameplay is short, sweet, and simple to understand, while also providing a lot of fun actions and outcomes.
Roy Alan Echard — Playtester at Four Horsemen Comics and Gaming, 2025
Wonderfully evocative mechanics to the setting, gameplay is familiar of other games in the genre but has its own identity. Fun for fans of immersive horror games!
Logan Davidson — Board Game Demo-Lition at WVPopCon, 2025
What’s in the box
- 51 Prey cards
- 50 Dark Power cards
- 12 Consequence cards
- 30 Neighborhood tiles
- 4 Player coffins
- 4 Action index cards
- 44 Player tokens: 4 Character tokens (1 per player), 24 Ghoul tokens (6 per player), 16 Vampire tokens (4 per player)
- 4 Influence dice (1 per player)
- 120 Ichor cubes (30 per player)
- 50 Blood cubes
- 30 Tainted Blood cubes
- 1 Active player sun/moon
- 1 Rulebook
- 1 Box
Technical details
| Players | 2–4 |
| Play time | 30–60 minutes |
| Ages | 8+ |
| Designer | Tim Broadwater |
| Illustrator | Aidan Detwiler |
| Writer | Michael Schofield |
| Publisher | Design Thinking Games |
| SKU | DTG-THIRST-US |
| UPC | 199874322155 |
| Box size | 9.1 × 6.3 × 2.25 in |
| Weight | 2 lb |
| Price | $30.00 USD |
The people behind Thirst
Thirst is a labor of love by indie LGBTQIA+ game designers, made possible by this team:
- Tim Broadwater, game designer
- Michael Schofield, writer
- Aidan Detwiler, illustrator
- JC Wollslager, multimedia
- Bryan Roces, voice actor
- Jim Breeze, proofreader
- Zeeshan Mahmood, 3D artist
Special thanks to mentor Connor Wake, to playtester Zach Lubow for naming the game, and to the 176 Kickstarter backers who brought it to life. Read the studio’s story on our About page.
Development diary
Every update on the way from first prototype to the shelf, newest first. Click an entry to open it.
October 2026The games have arrived
After all this time, the Thirst games arrived and the first batch of Kickstarter fulfillment shipped. By October 17, 109 of 163 backers had their rewards, and on October 28 Thirst went on sale in stores at Four Horsemen Comics & Gaming.
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September 2026Through the Panama Canal, and into our shop
The games crossed the Panama Canal on their way to New York, and the US Edition opened for orders right here on Design Thinking Games.
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May 2026Watch out for bootleg copies
Bootleg copies of Thirst turned up for sale online. The real game is sold here and by Design Thinking Games.
March – April 2026The print production prototype
Photos of the print production prototype, followed by unboxing the production prototype from LongPack Games.
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January 2026A post-campaign update and the final art
An update on Thirst after the campaign, playtesting news for Unpub Festival, and the final illustrations for the vampire player characters.
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October 2025Live on Kickstarter, and funded
Thirst launched on Kickstarter on October 1. It was 31% funded after one day, Kickstarter selected it as a “Project We Love,” and it reached 100% on October 30. The campaign closed with 176 backers pledging $7,383.
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- Thirst is live on Kickstarter
- 31% funded after one day
- Kickstarter names Thirst a “Project We Love”
- The one-minute Kickstarter video
- Illustrator Aidan Detwiler and how the Prey deck works
- Tabletopia’s article on Thirst
- The full Kickstarter video (YouTube)
- How to play Thirst, Kickstarter edition (YouTube)
- The Kickstarter campaign page
September 2025Countdown to launch
Seven days, then one: the first 100 backers could get vampire miniatures.
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August 2025Demos at WVPopCon
Promoting the upcoming Kickstarter and demoing Thirst to a crowd at WVPopCon, and picking up new followers along the way.
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July 2025A launch date for Kickstarter
Big news: Thirst would launch on Kickstarter on October 1, alongside season 5 of the podcast.
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April 2025Monriver Games Spring Showcase
Thirst at the Monriver Games Spring Showcase. Such a good time and vibe.
January 2025A preview from The Board Game Rundown
The Board Game Rundown made a preview video of Thirst, with a full playthrough and review, while the game was still in Kickstarter pre-launch.
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December 2024Back at PAX Unplugged
Two years after Thirst’s first playtest at PAX Unplugged, and a year after a playtester came up with its name there, this was the final round of playtesting before Kickstarter.
November 2024Unboxing and let’s-plays
The box arrived (and it’s sick), plus videos on how hunting works and the decisions about who to enthrall and who to eat, and a call for reviewers, playtesters and content creators.
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October 2024What’s in the box, and how to play
A look inside the Thirst box, and a quick explainer for everyone asking how to play.
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August 2024The Kickstarter pre-launch page
Thirst’s Kickstarter pre-launch page went up, so people could follow and get notified at launch.
July 2024CharCon, a playlist and the designers on the podcast
Playing Thirst with friends at CharCon, a Spotify playlist to run while you play, and the team talking design on episode 054, The Designers of Thirst.
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June 2024Demos at Origins Game Fair
A call for playtesters, then three days of Thirst demos at Origins Game Fair.
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May 2024Prototypes and the pre-launch
A partial history of the game, a sneak peek at prototype cards from Print & Play Games, and the first sign-ups for the Kickstarter pre-launch.
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March 2024Thirst v0.8 at Unpub Prime
Tim’s first Unpub Prime: Thirst v0.8 on the table, along with two other games in playtesting.
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February 2024CorpVamp becomes Thirst
The 2–4 player vampire-versus-vampire city dominion game got its new name: Thirst. It was previously Corporate Vampire, or CorpVamp, a name we’re keeping for a different game.
December 2023First coverage
Humbled to have some coverage on our vampire game. People seem to like it!
November 2023CorpVamp v0.5 at PAX Unplugged
CorpVamp v0.5 was ready for playtesting, and players could try it at PAX Unplugged thanks to the Building the Game podcast.
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October 2023News about CorpVamp and Common Mobbers
Sharing some exciting news about our two games in development, Common Mobbers and CorpVamp.
December 2022CorpVamp’s first playtest
Our playtest of CorpVamp in the Unpub room at PAX Unplugged 2022 got us a lot of good player feedback.