Exploring the New Maps in Clank! The Forgotten Vault

September 25, 2026

Welcome to the final week of the Clank! — Cube of Holding and Forgotten Vault Kickstarter! Over 6,000 backers have pledged their support for Clank!’s 10th birthday so far — thank you to everyone who has backed, and if you haven’t, be sure to do so before the campaign ends on October 1st!

Throughout the campaign, we’ve been diving deep into the details of every major release being offered in the Kickstarter campaign. Today, we arrive at our final preview, where we’ll be taking a tour of the new maps in The Forgotten Vault and taking a look at its other new mechanics!

One Board, Two Maps

Just like every other board-based Clank! game, The Forgotten Vault comes packed with a double-sided game board that features a new map on each side. Both maps share a similar motif — exploring the haunted ruins of an ancient library — but as usual, each have their own unique quirks. Say hello to the Ancient Archive and the Clock Tower!

In an earlier preview, we revealed the secrets of Study Rooms, new chambers that can unlock the power of Secret Tomes. But there are other new surprises on these maps, and you’ll have a new starter card in your deck to make use of them!

This Move is Something Special

In The Forgotten Vault, one of your Stumble cards is removed from your starter deck and replaced with Clang!, which sports a new symbol: the special move icon! This fun little ability allows you to move in new ways that are unique to each map.

In the Ancient Archive, see all those ropes strewn across various spaces? The special move here is a “climb,” allowing you to traverse those as if they were tunnels. With ropes all over the map, you’ll have access to different shortcuts each time a special move comes up in your hand! You cannot traverse ropes with Boots, but you can teleport across them.

Speaking of Boots, it’s important to note that a special move is not the same as a Boot. You can’t move along normal pathways with it, but that also means it’s not bound by the rules of crystal caves — in the example above, the player would be able to do a special move out of the crystal cave they’re in even if they entered it that same turn.

Additionally, Clang! isn’t the only card that grants a special move. A handful of new cards come with the ability, which means you can potentially get multiple special moves in one turn! In the Ancient Archive for example, you can traverse across one rope per special move symbol you have.

Let’s now turn our eyes toward the Clock Tower, where the special move is quite different — instead of rope shortcuts placed all over the map, the special move in the Clock Tower allows you to grab hold of that giant pendulum and swing all the way across to another space! There are four sections within the arc of the pendulum, and by playing a special move from a room within, you can swing to another room within the same section!

In the example above, it would normally take this player 5 Boots to reach the Monkey Idols from the market space where their character is situated. But with a single special move — wheeeee! — they could swing right over to that room (or any other in the same section), ignoring all obstacles. However, they would not be able to swing to any of the rooms in the sections above or below.

Special moves create a lot of fun new possibilities — will you take advantage of them to use shortcut after shortcut in the Ancient Archive? Perhaps in the Clock Tower you’ll trick your opponents into thinking you’re chasing an artifact in one corner, only to swing all the way to the other? With a special move in your starting deck by default, you’ll be able to take advantage of this new mechanic in every game of The Forgotten Vault.

Want a shortcut in your pocket? The new Grappling Hook market item allows you to take a single special move at a moment of your choosing. After using it, it flips over and is worth seven points at endgame.

Gargoyles and Monster Tokens

It wouldn’t be a Clank! adventure if there weren’t monsters galore haunting the new venue, and in The Forgotten Vault, you’ll need to defend yourself against stony gargoyles who threaten to stand in your way!

On each map, there are various rooms throughout where you’ll find a gargoyle token. When you enter said rooms, you must immediately vanquish the gargoyle with three Swords, or take a point of damage. The good news? Gargoyles provide valuable bonuses if you’re able to slay them, and with only one token per room, the early bird gets the worm!

Fun with Monster Tokens

As with other new mechanics in The Forgotten Vault, there are new cards in the Dungeon Deck that synergize with gargoyles. Gargoyles count as a monster token, and you may have seen in an earlier write-up that you can interact with monster tokens using various cards:

The Forgotten Vault features colorful monster icons throughout its many tunnels, which means it supports the Wandering Monsters mini-expansion that’s packed into the Master Thief Edition of the Clank! base game. We previously did a deep dive into Wandering Monsters, so be sure to check that out if you’re unfamiliar with the new mini-expansion!

When playing with Wandering Monsters, both wandering monster tokens and gargoyles qualify as “monster tokens,” allowing you to double-up on card effects. This also applies to Wandering Monster-related cards from the base game: Bounty Hunter is a card that’s packed into the Master Thief Edition of the Clank! base game, and is not included with The Forgotten Vault. But, if it came up in your deck, its “monster token” effects would apply to both gargoyles and wandering monsters.

Gargoyles add some thrilling spice to your dungeon-delving adventures, acting either as an obstacle you’ll have to plan your way around, or as a valuable boon to those who arm themselves well, while at the same time offering new deck-building possibilities, especially when paired with Wandering Monsters.

Ending Soon on Kickstarter!

With the final week of the Kickstarter upon us, this wraps up our series of previews — we hope you’ve enjoyed learning all the juicy details about everything that’s coming, whether you’re picking up The Forgotten Vault, the Master Thief Edition line of Clank! games, the Cube of Holding to store everything in, or all of the above!

If you haven’t yet pledged to the Kickstarter, be sure to do so before the campaign ends on Thursday, October 1st! In addition to everything mentioned above, there are also some fun Kickstarter exclusives to those who pledge for The Forgotten Vault or the Cube of Holding: a free key for the digital version of Clank! Expeditions (coming soon!) a shiny 10th anniversary enamel pin, and some fun Clank!-themed stickers to plaster wherever you please! Don’t miss this final chance to secure the ultimate Clank! experience for your tabletop!