Mansions of Madness
Players | 2 to 5 |
---|---|
Setup time | 30-60 minutes |
Playing time | 2 min-4hrs |
Chance | Medium |
Age range | 10 and up |
Skills | Problem Solving |
Mansions of Madness is a competitive strategy game by Fantasy Flight games[1]. The players must explore a mansion filled with Lovecraftian horrors and solve a mystery.
Gameplay
Mansions of Madness is played with 2-5 players. One player takes the role of the "Keeper" who is responsible for all of the monsters and creepy happenings of the game, while the other players take on the roles of investigators trying to solve the mystery. At the beginning of the game, the players pick one of five scenarios to play and begin setting up the map. The keeper reads his own special rule book to make decisions about the story and to place the clues and traps across the manor. After setting up, the players begin at the starting place of the mansion and take turns exploring. After the heroes complete their turn, the keeper then gets to react. He accumulates "threat" each turn, a resource required to use any of the keeper's insidious abilities. he may move monsters, cause eerie noises, or generally freak out the investigators with a number of Mythos cards in his hand. Playing these cards is a large chunk of the keeper's abilities, and they, like the keeper powers, often cost threat to use.
The goal of the game is hidden from the investigators until near the end of the game, while the keeper gets to know the objective right off the bat. While the keeper has different goals for different scenarios, but most of the time they are seeking to kill or otherwise maim the heroes. Each investigator has a Health and Sanity total that depletes as they are wounded or scared. Each time either of these stats goes down, the keeper may play "trauma" cards that give the investigators permanent penalties to their actions. For instance, after being hit with an axe from a maniac, a hero might get a broken leg and be unable to move as quickly as they could before. Or, they could develop kleptomania after having an exceptionally gruesome encounter with an eldritch horror.
The Investigators
Each of the investigators originates from another of Fantasy Flight's horror titles: Arkham Horror.[2]
- "Ashcan" Pete
- Gloria Goldberg
- Harvey Walters
- Jenny Barnes
- Joe Diamond
- Kate Winthrop
- Michael McGlen
- Sister Mary
Included in the Forbidden Alchemy Expansion[3]:
- Carolyn Fern
- Dexter Drake
- Darrell Simmons
- Vincent Lee
Expansions
The complete list of official expansions.[4]
- Season of the Witch
- The Silver Tablet
- Forbidden Alchemy
- Til Death Do Us Part
- House of Fears
- The Yellow Sign
- Call of the Wild
References
External links
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=136&esem=2 - All of the MoM products