Desperate for Hades 2? This Ancient Greece-inspired board game should do the trick for you

Dance of Muses is an upcoming board game whose theme and artwork should satisfy players' curiosity about the yet-to-be-released Hades 2 video game.

Dance of Muses is a board game for two to four players that lasts about 20 minutes and is inspired by the myths of ancient Greece, much like the Hades video game series. Like Hades and Hades 2, Dance of Muses features a cast of characters taken straight from Greek mythology – in this case, the famous Muses.

The Muses in Greek mythology are goddesses of the arts, daughters of Zeus, and were frequently invoked by the people when seeking inspiration. The Muses consisted of Calliope, probably the best known and goddess of epic poetry; Clio, goddess of history; Polymmia, goddess of pantomime; Euterpe, goddess of the flute; Terpsichore, goddess of light verse and dance; Erato, goddess of lyrical choral poetry; Melpomene, goddess of tragedy; Thalia, triple goddess of comedy; and Urania, goddess of astronomy.

Each of these goddesses appears in Dance of the Muses, represented through artwork by Giulia D'Urso and Sara Marino that is reminiscent of the iconic artwork found in Jen Zee's Hades series. Each of the Muses has their own character sheet, with depictions referencing their specific areas of artistic expertise, such as Calliope holding a book, Thalia holding a comic book mask, and Urania's necklace resembling a chain of moons.

At the start of the game, players take turns placing Muse cards on the table, before placing a d6 with the number one facing up on each of them. Players then take turns moving one or more of the Muses orthogonally, or non-diagonally. Whenever Muses are moved, they must remain connected to at least one other Muse; they cannot be completely separated from each other; a group of Muses can be moved together as long as they are connected.

By moving a Muse token, the player may increase the number shown on the newly moved token's die, and tokens moved along with it will also have their dice changed. The game ends when a Muse's dice reach the number six, and players score points based on the dice numbers shown on their Muse tokens. Typically, the higher the number, the better, though each Muse has a specific number that will automatically make the token score as if it were a six. Players may use the Muses' abilities to affect token movement or dice results in their favor.

Dance of Muses was created by Space Otter Games, a company that previously created and published a board game called DecKarnage!, and consists of game designers Marco Baglioni and David Trambusti, editor Francis Green, layout designer Beatrice Lenzi, crowdfunding advisor Mattia Di Strasi, as well as the aforementioned Giulia D'Urso and Sara Marino, with music by Deborah Scott.

There is currently a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for Dance of Muses running until May 28. To get a copy of the game in May next year, a pledge of €20 (£18/$21.50) is needed. A print-and-play version is also available for €11 (£10/$12).