Mansions of Madness

I used to play D&D 5e, but could never hone the necessary DM skills to put a game together, so I figured I'd give Mansions of Madness 2nd Edition a try--I just love an immersive RPG /dungeon crawl experience, and this game pulls it off BEAUTIFULLY! While I am a huge fan of This War of Mine, Waste Knights 2nd Edition, Fallout and similar rpg games, this is the first app driven rpg which I've had the pleasure of experiencing, and I keep wanting to play it again. While the game is intuitive in many respects, you'll definitely need to study the rules and do a few playthroughs during which you write down questions you have, so you can keep notes on what you'll have to share with other players. For me, I needed straightforward notes on: 1) which skill checks are needed for various actions (Strength Test for Heavy Weapons, Agility for Bladed Weapons, etc) 2)How to use the app during the Mythos Phase when Monsters will spawn and attack you/how Horror Checks are done 3)how to attack monsters using various levels of weapons and spells 4)Understand how Damage and Horror cards function. Once you understand these elements, you're ready to play--Remember, the app times you, and if you're taking too long when taking actions/making decisions, you will risk losing the game--so learn the rules! Mansions of Madness second Edition is worth the money spent on it, worth the time you invest learning to play it--it is a solid, well crafted story experience which will challenge you and entertain you. If you're unable to read the app text on your phone because it displays too small, download Steam on your laptop, and download the app for free there. My one complaint about this boardgame, it is that the app doesn't really allow you to go back to look up certain things--if you don't pay attention to some text, don't try to go back or the game will at times restart, asking once again for the investigators being used, while new starting items will be generated. Other than this, I'm loving this game, and can't wait to play it with friends!

Fantastic game. A total blast to play. Dying horribly has never felt so fun! Be forewarned -- the shortest scenario is going to take you close to three hours the first time you play it, because it takes a few playthroughs to get a firm grasp of the rules. Once you get a feel for the game, play times will be closer to the estimates. It's absolutely worth sticking it out, because this game is beautiful, smooth, engaging and entertaining. It's the closest feeling yet to being inside an RPG. There are several scenarios included with the basic game itself, five or six I think, and each scenario has TONS of elements that change randomly, so you could play the same scenario in back to back games and have entirely different plots, antagonists, layouts, items and conditions of victory. There's no rush to buy any of the expansions; you're not going to run out of game for a long time. The game CAN be played on a smartphone, but a tablet will make the experience significantly better. Everything is easier to see, and having more room to manipulate the various puzzles is a good thing. I do wish the game came with a hard-copy book of different scenarios to allow play without a smartphone or tablet (like Betrayal at House on the Hill), but I suppose there are just too many variables to properly reproduce in a booklet, and letting the device handle the crunching of numbers and variables does let everyone focus more on the Star Spawn plowing through a wall instead of the effect of two successes on trying to pick the lock on a safe. As such, I'm not docking this game a star, because I think the tradeoff of ease of use vs. offline playability is acceptable and likely for the best. Very happy with this game, as is my gaming group. It makes for a fun night when nobody has an adventure ready to run, and everybody still gets an RPG experience!

Love love love this game. So much fun, and a complex game that’s very simple to explain. The app feature is really cool and gives an immersive experience. It’s also a game you can play solo (and keep yourself entertained for hours!). Price point is high but the board game itself is great quality, and I know I’ll play a lot so it’s worth the money. If I could give only one suggestion, I’d love to see different editions with different genres outside of Lovecraft. Don’t get me wrong, love the Lovecraft theme, but would love to try this same concept with a different setting :)

There are other, very comprehensive reviews of this game out there (including some great video reviews on YouTube) so I'm just going to give a quick summary. This is a cooperative board game that you play using an app that you can download for your tablet or computer. The app allows you to choose a scenario to play and then tells you how to set up the board and tells you what happens each turn as your characters explore the setting. I love this because it allows each scenario to be more unique and surprising. You and the other players work together as a team to figure out what you have to do to win in each scenario, never knowing what's behind the next door or when another monster will show up. The app also really adds to the moodiness with voice over and creepy music. The pieces of the board look great - very high quality. The miniatures are well crafter - though unpainted. I don't like the monster miniatures because you have to attach them to the bases yourself and the bases are really large. Instead I've just been using the square monster chips, but I'm in the minority here. Most people don't seem to mind the size of the monster bases and love the figures. My only real complaint about this game is that the scenarios are VERY DIFFICULT. As your characters are still trying to figure out what the real threat is and how to stop it, you're being attacked by monsters and having your sanity eaten away my random events that the app throws at you each turn. As you take more health and sanity damage, you can become injured or deranged so that it's even harder for you to accomplish your goal. I don't mind a challenge, but when you're playing the same scenario for the third time and losing yet again it can be frustrating. However, by introducing house rules so that each character gets more actions per turn or you have more methods for healing damage you can adjust the difficulty level to match your preference.

If you aren't familiar with Lovecraft this may be more like a 4 out of 5, but still really good. The thing to keep in mind is the scenario structure. You're going through all the scenarios (20+ in this box I believe) and trying to "beat" each scenario. In other words it's not like a traditional board game where you're playing against each other using the same boards and the same pieces every time. The map, enemies, items, etc. are all different depending on the scenario. This is a cooperative game as well so the players work as a team trying to solve a mystery. The rules aren't easy but they're by no means hard to learn either. A large chunk of it is just learning to use the companion app, which does half of the work for you honestly. There are definitely some weird situation where you won't be sure what the ruling is but I don't mind looking these up on the internet occasionally and the rulebook often has them covered. The structure kind of reminds me of a video game in how you can sometimes get stuck on a scenario but then eventually beat it and move on to the next one. Don't worry if you don't like video games though. It's just a comparison I drew because the progression is similar. You don't have to be stuck either. You can play whatever scenario you want. Overall the game takes a little bit of dedication but it's not intimidating to play by any stretch, and you'll have even more fun if you've read a few Lovecraft stories but it's not required.

I finally got around to getting this game, and I'm VERY IMPRESSED! With all due respect to the other Arkham Horror Files games I've played (the board game, the LCG, Elder Signs, Final Hour), this one was straightforward to learn, and the app creates a wonderfully frightful atmosphere. The only downside is that it's a very expensive one to collect and play, but there are plenty of adventures out of the box. Also, FFG is giving away the conversion kit for the first edition for free on their website so you can add more investigators, monsters, and unique items. You still need to supply the miniatures, but being a TTRPG player, I have plenty lying around. I highly recommend you play this with friends because the presentation is amazing and really gets you into the horror adventuring experience.

I love this game! First of all, I never really knew much about Lovecraft (the writer) or his universe that he created with his genius brain, until I tried this game. It is amazing! Take any mansion-based horror movie, and turn it into a board game, and you have the basic gist of this game. But then, they made it even better! My favorite part of how they improved this game was the inclusion of the app. Yes, an app! It's genius! You tell the app which characters are playing, you choose a scenario, and then you hit "GO"! Boom, you are in game, and this app is directing you and taking all the guess work out of the finesse and details, and just letting you enjoy the story and adventure. And boy, is it fun! We've invited many people over, and this is always the game I recommend if people are interested in an adventure. At first, they don't know what to expect, but then they really start to get into it! Five minutes in, and we are all arguing about what to do next, where to go, who should go, etc. No spoilers, but eventually you get to the point that you are yelling at each other, trying to convince them of the "right" way to survive. And it's great! Love this game, love the app, love everything about this! Highly recommend!

My crew and I love this game! There are four scenarios of various lengths and difficulties. The players try to solve the mystery of the scenario together. If enough bad things happen, some of the players may go crazy which gives them a secret win condition that may or may not go against the rest of the players. The game is pretty hard! This game requires a companion app to play - we cast the app to a big TV so everyone can see and hear as they play. My favorite part about the game is how it provides a good amount of variety by mixing up various parts of it and outcomes. I've played the first scenario about ten times and it's been a different experience each time, even though the storyline is the same. I'd say it's about 60% the same, 40% different. My least favorite part about the game is that despite the variety mentioned above, the game could use more scenarios. Each of the scenarios takes a specific amount of time ranging from 2-8 hours so unless you are willing to dedicate a longer amount of time, you'll be restricted to the first two scenarios. Although there are expansions and DLC that help expand this, it would have been nice to get more scenarios by default.