Dead by Daylight: The Board Game - Auris Box is no longer just a popular preview page. When we rechecked the live Gamefound campaign on August 18, it showed $369,192.42 pledged from 1,715 backers against a $60,000 goal. The campaign is scheduled to end on September 1, so this is now a real crowdfunding decision rather than a watch-list item.
That is the meaningful change from our June preview coverage. The old page had attention; this campaign has converted some of that attention into a funding total more than six times its goal. An independent August 16 board-game crowdfunding roundup had already recorded $346.9K from 1,627 backers after five days, which makes the newer official check useful as a continuing-traction update, not a one-off spike.
The Auris pitch is bigger than storage, but it is still collector-shaped
Level 99 Games is not selling Auris as a clean second edition. The live campaign combines a storage solution for the full Dead by Daylight collection with new maps, characters, and play modes, while keeping the core tabletop premise familiar: one player takes the Killer role and the other players try to survive the Trial.
The official campaign lists the game for 1-5 players, ages 17+, with a 30-60 minute playtime. That is a useful fit for the licence. Dead by Daylight works when a table can read the asymmetry quickly: the Killer is trying to control the space, while Survivors are balancing escape, objectives, and each other’s mistakes. Level 99’s own how-to-play video is worth using to understand that format before treating a pledge tier as a blind collector purchase.
The funding heat is real; the sensible buyer question is narrower
The numbers clear the news bar, but they do not answer whether every existing owner needs every new item. Gamefound currently surfaces a tier for returning players who want just the new content, plus larger options for collectors and new players. That distinction matters more than the big total.
For someone who already owns the core game and expansions, the sharp question is whether the Auris box, new Trial material, and extra characters solve a real table problem. For a new group, the question is simpler but more expensive: are you buying a compact asymmetric horror game, or buying into a deep catalogue because the licensed presentation looks great? The official campaign is clear that both paths exist; it does not make the decision for you.
The campaign is also part of Gamefound’s Stable Pledge program. That is a useful protection against certain post-campaign price-estimate changes, but it is not a promise that every tabletop project will arrive without delays or that the game will suit every group.
What changed since the preview — and what did not
The cleanest read is that the June audience signal was real. The campaign launched on August 11, funded that day, and is now well above its target with more than 1,700 backers. That gives it enough current heat to matter beyond the Dead by Daylight fandom alone.
But this is still not a review. We do not have a first-hand basis to call the Auris additions essential, nor do campaign totals prove that a particular group will enjoy the one-versus-many format. The strongest buyer-facing conclusion is more practical: the campaign is live, materially funded, and specific enough to compare against what you already own — but it is still worth buying for the table, not for the pledge counter.
For more tabletop coverage, browse the board-games lane, revisit our June Dead by Daylight preview, read the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners board-game analysis, or catch the Final Fantasy VII board-game reveal.
