Reggie Video games, writer of Primal, has been busy. After efficiently funding and delivering their hit recreation Primal: The Awakening and its 5 expansions, they started engaged on a number of new expansions, in addition to reprinting the Primal base recreation and the unique expansions. Their new webstore at Reggiegames.com opened on November seventeenth, 2025. It is possible for you to to preorder all Primal content material, together with the brand new expansions, on their website through the Primal Friday 2025 promotion.
Talking of which, I used to be fortunate sufficient to obtain preproduction copies of ALL the brand new expansions to assessment. Truthfully, these are among the greatest preproduction assessment copies I’ve ever obtained. However no matter manufacturing standing, are the brand new expansions value your time and money? Principally sure, relying on what you wish to add to your Primal expertise.
Growth Overview:
Reggie Video games has printed 9 new expansions by which I’ll group into 4 totally different classes:
- Character – “Coronary heart of the Wild”, contains two new hunters, spear-wielding Zaraya, and wardrum grasp Drusk.
- Biomes – 5 totally different Biome expansions, every with a double-sided playmat, including two new biomes. These playmats change the usual playmat, with the biomes including arena-based bonuses to reap the benefits of and/or obstacles to keep away from.
- Card organizers – Two new storage options for sleeved playing cards, one for all of the tokens and monster playing cards, and the opposite for hunter playing cards.
- Nightmare Growth – The aptly named “Nightmare Growth 2” provides playing cards for the entire monsters that didn’t obtain the nightmare remedy (a.ok.a. arduous mode) within the first nightmare growth.
Beneath are all the brand new expansions, so as from my most to least favourite.
Sport Expertise with the Growth:
My favourite growth is “Coronary heart of the Wild” as a result of it provides two new hunters, Zaraya (Spear) and Drusk (Wardrum). Of the 2, I desire Drusk. Why? As a result of he’s a bard and helps his fellow hunters. I additionally love bards. Sure, I additionally predominant Searching Horn in Monster Hunter, so I’m a bit biased. However I do love his new Rhythm mechanism, which rewards you for discarding a card that matches the highest card of the discard pile. At ranges two and three, Rhythm lets you improve the harm when one other hunter performs a pink assault card. I additionally like that I can heal, assist my group with motion, and cease monster behaviors as effectively. Offense is probably not his forte, however any group would profit from together with Druck.
Zarya, alternatively, is pure offense. She has a pierce observe that will increase whenever you play two maneuver playing cards back-to-back. As soon as it reaches stage 4, you possibly can set off piercing harm as an alternative of your regular assault harm (this new harm is included on all spear playing cards). It feels nice dancing round a monster, build up pierce for a HUGE assault! I really take pleasure in each new hunters, particularly when they’re collectively as a group. Drusk boosting Zarya’s harm can result in some fast fights. The one factor lacking from this growth is one other mini-campaign. I cherished the shortened marketing campaign offered within the Mount Havoc growth and hoped one could be included in Coronary heart of the Wild.
The 5 biome expansions are subsequent up in my listing of favorites. Whereas not as thrilling as new hunters, these add important replay worth to Primal. Every growth has its personal rulebook explaining the 2 included biomes. Throughout the 5 expansions, there’s a biome for every of the 9 monster components, in addition to a tenth one merely known as “Nightmare.” For the marketing campaign, you possibly can change the “boring” customary playmat with the biome that matches the monster’s component you’re confronting. The principles additionally present eventualities to make use of the biomes in Expedition Mode, in addition to methods to stability using the 2 biomes with any of the monsters for customized eventualities it’s possible you’ll wish to design. The 5 expansions and their components are as follows:
- Crystal Caves and Flooded Wilds – crystal and coral
- Infinite Swamp and Nightmare – venom and nightmare (non-element)
- Goldarks and Thunder Mountains – metallic and thunder
- Niz-Maraga and Sundown Plains – feather and horn
- Woltyar and Frozen Wastes – hearth and ice
I loved utilizing the brand new playmats, particularly for fights that I’ve performed a number of occasions and mastered… effectively, in addition to you possibly can grasp Primal. For instance, preventing Vyraxen in Woltyar actually will increase the problem. Not solely do it’s important to take care of the beast itself, however the rising temperature of the battlefield (firstly of the spherical, you’re compelled to discard X variety of playing cards from the highest of your deck, the place X is the spherical quantity), in addition to struggling Burning for those who cross the lava rivers on the playmat. And that’s simply one of many 9 new biomes!
Subsequent, there are the 2 new card organizers. I actually preferred these. Whereas I don’t sleeve my playing cards, the truth that it matches sleeved playing cards shall be a profit for a lot of. Extra importantly, I’m additionally not a painter. Why am I telling you this? I’ve no downside stacking my non-painted minis on high of each other. What these card organizers allowed me to do was save shelf house. I used to be in a position to retailer all my minis and rulebooks within the base field, and the playing cards in tokens within the new card organizers. All of my Primal content material matches in three bins. This makes transporting the sport a lot simpler. The one draw back was that no directions or hyperlinks to a video of how one can retailer the playing cards have been offered in my preproduction copy. Hopefully, this shall be rectified by the point these organizers are in your fingers.
Lastly, there’s Nightmare Growth 2. Whereas it’s good that now each monster has its nightmare variant, those that know me know that this isn’t an growth made for me. I desire having a troublesome time however then successful nearly all of my coop video games. I don’t wish to play a ninety-minute recreation and solely win 25% of the time. This growth makes the monsters tougher. I ALREADY have a tough sufficient time as it’s… I don’t want them to be stronger! The one purpose I preferred the unique Nightmare Growth is that it included three new monsters; sadly, this growth is playing cards solely.
Closing Ideas:
I LOVE Primal and am blessed to have virtually every part that has been launched so far. As an alternative of occurring about how a lot I really like the sport, I’m going to offer my suggestions of what to preorder, from most to least wanted, on their web site:
- Primal: The Awakening Base Sport – duh
- Mount Havoc – whereas it pains me to say it, Heavy Gun + Twin Blades > Spear + Wardrum. It additionally contains all of the required playing cards to play with the bottom recreation and ALL expansions. Lastly, it features a new mini marketing campaign.
- Coronary heart of the Wild – a detailed third, however nonetheless the 2nd greatest growth. It contains all of the required playing cards to play with the bottom recreation and ALL expansions. I want it had a mini marketing campaign.
- Feather – two new monsters, introduces Feather component, feather forge card, feather weapons, in addition to new objects, helm armor, and reward playing cards
- Ice – two new monsters, introduces Ice component, ice forge card, ice weapons, in addition to new objects, helm armor, and reward playing cards
- Nightmare – contains 4 new monsters, three new minis (one of many minis makes use of two of the units of monster playing cards), and Nightmare variant playing cards for six base recreation monsters and the entire monsters on this growth
- Venom – two new monsters, introduces Venom component, venom forge card, venom weapons, in addition to new objects, helm armor, and reward playing cards
- Biomes – choose those that match the monster components you want preventing, if you do not need to purchase all 5 (see my listing above)
- Card organizers – Most individuals would like gameplay over storage options, however if you’re tight on shelf house, these are value it
- Nightmare Growth 2 – the sport is already arduous sufficient for me….
Hits:
• Two new hunters
• Biomes add a ton of selection
• Storage options will help shrink the video games shelf footprint
Misses:
• No new monsters
• No mini marketing campaign included in Coronary heart of the Wild
