Horrifying eldritch monsters, creepy and iconic locations straight out of 1920’s New England, and a plethora of items, weapons, and spells to defend not only your physical well-being and health but your sanity as well. All of these and more are something you can expect after you pick up the box set of Mansions of Madness vol. 2. Inspired by the Lovecraftian lore, specifically the Cthulu mythos, Mansions of Madness is a recent entry into the Arkham Horror franchise by fantasy flight games. Is it right for you? Is it the type of game that might be next for your upcoming board game night? Read on ahead and decide for yourself!
To address the last question posed: is it a game that your friends and family would enjoy on your next board game night? The first thing to consider is how long you have. The scenarios that come on the required free app have adjusted time frames for how long an expected game could last based on the depth and complexity of each mission. The first “introductory” scenario, which takes the player into a mansion to attempt to put a halt to a summoning ritual that would invite terrifying and powerful cosmic beings into our world, can take up to 2 hours, and you should give yourself some extra time just in case. That first scenario is the shortest duration so that should give you a sense of just how long the game can last. The last scenario in the free app suggests that it can take up to five hours, which might seem like a lot because, well, it is. The scenario I mentioned before takes the investigators to the hostile town of Innsmouth where a transformation is taking place to sink the city. Perhaps it’s because I enjoy the game so much, but it took about three and a half hours and time flew by.
The length of the game may put some people off, as well as the plethora of cards, tokens, and sheets that are included with the game. Looking at the components and giving the rulebook a once-over can seem daunting, but give the game one player whose familiar with the rules and has played before and you’ll have people understanding the concept and game in no time flat. Suggesting that you have someone who played the game before in a guide to help you figure out if you should buy it in the first place might seem a bit of a paradox but one of the great things about this particular set is that it’s possible to be played single player. Of course, people don’t typically get board games to play them solo, and the game is absolutely more fun with friends, but having a set of rules that allows a person to go into the game and figure things out for themselves before inviting friends and helping them along as the game plays. The thing that seems to daunt people so much are the number and stat systems, many people see all these different numbers and think the game is going to require some kind of complex crunching and memorizing when in reality all the numbers indicate is the number of dice rolled on the test in question. That’s kind of the overarching thing of the game; seems complex, really isn’t.
The game has one of my favorite techniques for looking up rules that board games can do: a separate rulebook of alphabetized terms for quick reference. This helps the game run smoothly and easily and negates the searching and flipping through the entire rulebook to find one specific entry. Enough about the rules, let’s get into how the game runs. You might remember earlier that I mentioned a “Free App” that’s required to play the game. The app runs simultaneously with your game, and updates along with the board – controlling the events and developments as a sort of “virtual dungeon master”. This is what allows the game to be played single-player and how it functions as a cooperative game. For me, that’s why this game is so unique. Of course, there’s plenty of cooperative board games but the use of an external app delivering flavor text and updates creates a nice level of immersion and flow. I could see how some people may not like the idea of having to have an app that’s crucial for the game to be played, though it’s worth noting the app doesn’t need a wifi connection which won’t leave you stranded without a connection or burn through all your data. It’s even better when you have a smart tv or some kind of casting device so you can pull it up on the living room television for everyone to see.
The game operates in two phases: the investigator phase, where the players conduct their investigations and take whatever actions they need to and the mythos phase: where the game progresses and develops the story as well as controlling the NPC’s and the environment around the game. The modular game updates slightly differently each time the scenario is played to keep it from becoming stale and predictable, but for the most part, the game boards are similar and only diverge in a few rooms or locations. As the game goes on the players have to protect their health and sanity, but an interesting wrinkle comes in that keeps the game interesting and bold comes from the player gaining a detriment whenever their health reaches a certain threshold. For the player’s physical health these are pretty straightforward: the player loses the ability to run as far, their melee stats go down, etc. But the game becomes fascinating when a player becomes insane. With this little twist, the player’s investigator takes on a secret quirk or objective. Something that they keep to themselves at the help or detriment of the others. It’s a fascinating mechanic that helps to build mistrust and tension as the game goes on. Some of these effects are strange but don’t hurt the other players too much like the player not being able to talk and only communicating with gestures and grunts. Or it could be something brutal like the player secretly wants to set every room on fire or possibly even have one of the investigators perish in it.
So is this game right for you? Depends on your group. Do you have a long time to sit down and engage with the game? Do the people you play with like getting involved in a rich world and work together to survive the otherworldly terrors stretching out from beyond the infinite abyss of blackness and time? If you’re looking for something quick and straightforward like Catan or monopoly, this game probably won’t be a hit. Perhaps you’re interested in painting and collecting models? The game comes with a large number of plastic figurines detailed enough to point easily enough which can be a fun way to showcase your painting skills to friends and family. The game is a bit of an investment, averaging about $80-$90, but with the time it takes to play and the depth involved in the game you will get your money’s worth out of Mansions of Madness.