Let's review: MANSIONS OF MADNESS

Board games are cool.

And I don’t mean monopoly.  While they’ve been around for thousands of years, only in the last 20 or so years have they grown into their own funky subculture. Innovation and unique experiences abound. On this blog, I plan to try to convey to you through words why I think some of them are awesome, and if not at least give you an idea about what it’s like playing some of the more sweet ones. One of the more thrilling games I’ve been playing lately is… MANSIONS OF MADNESS

The game is a thematic mystery game taking place in the world of Arkham Horror, a terrifying 1920’s New England inspired heavily by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The gameplay itself plays out as sort of competitive dungeons and dragons – instead of the Dungeon Master gently shaping the story guiding you to a hard-fought victory, he has other plans. He wants you dead.

The game comes with several scenarios which you put together using the beautiful pieces included, which includes figurines for all sorts of gross monsters, as well as for the neat characters which are, admittedly, taken directly from Mansions’ spiritual complicated monster of a successor, Arkham Horror.

And holy shit there a lot of pieces. With over 200 tokens and even more cards, it’s easy for even an experienced board gamer to feel overwhelmed the first few times of going through the prolonged setup, which at times took my admittedly rocky understanding of the rules more than 30 minutes. This isn’t a game for those who hope for a quick game that has no chance of dragging on for over three hours.

But if you can get past the fact that this is not by any means a casual board game, it has the ability to create intense situations which require deep teamwork to overcome. At its best, both sides are neck to neck, one side chasing clues while the other throws zombies and worse horrors at them. As I learned playing the Keeper (AKA DM) role in the game, there are few things more beautiful than the muted resentment of your friends as you slowly murder them and drive them insane.

Let me ask one of the players of my most recent game some questions about their own experience:

What did you think of the game?

It was fun I liked to kill zombies I was the strongest person.

Which character did you play as and why did you like them?

I played as Joe Diamond and I liked him because he was rugged and so hard boiled.

What was your favorite part of the game?

I’ll tell you my favorite part of the game.  It had to be when I was shot in the chest because of a made up rule which was complete bullshit.

Despite the complexity of the game, did you find it difficult to understand it the first time you played?

Yes because the person who was supposed to know all the rules didn’t, and was in fact learning alongside us. Further on, the DM continued to struggle with minor rules, which often would have made a difference in the game, giving us or him an advantage.

Any final thoughts on the game? Would you play again?

It was fun. It would be nice to know the rules better. If played properly, it’d be more challenging for the players because they could work together in certain ways in which the keeper can’t. Yes.

Thank you for your time …I suppose.

In the end, despite the complexity of the rules I would recommend Mansions of Madness to any fan of board games or pen and paper roleplaying. With 6 scenarios in-box with some variations in the objective based on what choices you make, there is a moderate amount of playability you can get out of the game. In addition, four expansions have been released so far, each adding new missions for investigators to complete.

For more information, I’d suggest going to board game geek, specifically:  http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/83330/mansions-of-madness.

There you can find places that sell the game and its expansions, and see what others have to say about the game. – In addition, some players have made their own scenarios and modifications which you can download and print out. Overall, Mansions of Madness is one of the most interesting games I’ve ever played.