Today I got the chance to play-test the new Fantasy Flight game called Mansions of Madness. The game is based on Cthilhu by H.P. Lovecraft in the horror genre. I am only going to give my thoughts on the game play and not the rules (since I only got to look at them quickly).
What I liked
The character and monster molds are beautiful and begging for some paint. The molds are detailed and a decent size. The monsters have a base that allows the information card to be slid in and hidden from the investigators. After damaging the monsters, the investigators can look underneath to see the vital information.
The board consists of dual sided art so the house can be redesigned for the scenario to be played. The art is dark and moody with blood splatters and creepy shadows. Some of the rooms have transparent white lines to divide larger areas.
The Characters are customizable. You have several options on which traits you want your character to have through out game play. Anyone familiar with Arkham Horror will recognize the characters in the game.
Puzzles are done with actual pieces you have to solve based on your characters intellect. There were three puzzle types that appeared in the game. A circuit with red and blue wires, a picture puzzle you had to slide pieces and a suitcase locked with color runes.
What I did not like
The game boards suffer warping issues. The game I played was unboxed today and when I arrived for the second play test group, the boards were already curling after 4 hours.
The combat is determined by flipping cards based on the creature type. It is a pass or fail scenario based on a skill role. What I didn’t like was the lack of attacks for unarmed combat. Our keeper (the person controlling the evil) flipped half the deck to find an unarmed attack. They should have included more cards.
I enjoyed the game and wish we had more than the two hours to play. The game reminds me of Descent: Journey into the Dark. The keeper gets tokens every turn based on the number of players. He also controls a timed deck of 6 cards that move the story line along and pressure the investigators to solve or stall the end scenario.
For anyone who would like to see more, I included two links. One is a official video from Fantasy Flight, a teaser. The second is a video review of the components by Drakkenstrike, a reviewer from Boardgamegeek.com
All photos provided from Fantasy Flight games.
