Mansions of Madness (Second Edition)

This game gets really great reviews, even for families with teens so I took the bait. My wife and I played with our 13 and 11 year old daughters last night. I will give you information that I would have found useful prior to my purchase of this game. We like to play popular games like Pandemic, and less popular but still fun like Stone Age. This game is a step up in complexity of rules for us. We played the introduction game and it started real slow. Half of the blame is our learning curve. My heart sank as our daughters seemed really bored. I had the app running full screen on our lap top with the music playing. My wife was also not enthralled but was really being a great cheerleader. The pace of the game picks up and the game has a pretty steep learning curve so we adapted to the pattern of what to do and when to do it. I had read that you need to get to the objective and not go on a scavenger hunt. My wife loves treasure hunts so we explored everything. I just let it flow knowing we were probably doomed but we would go down with lots of cool stuff in our satchel. With the universe crashing down near the end, my wife was trying to keep our girls engaged. she wanted to see the end. The girls perked up a lot. The game took some unexpected turns. You could tell that the app was changing up and also trying to force us to the showdown. This morning, the girls wanted a bit of a replay on how it all went down and were talking about it. We had to take some pauses in the game (two totaling about 45 minutes), which worked flawlessly, but that first intro game still took us 4 hours (including paused time). Maybe we are challenged. Those are the facts, now here are some of my opinions. Ignore the carping about poor quality of the figures. They are not museum pieces, but they are fine and definitely get the idea across as to what you are dealing with. They are worthy of painting if you are a modeler. The app was great. It was almost like a real dungeon master (I used to play D&D some 35 years ago). I think that it was adapting to our play style, changing things for us, and guiding us to the grand finale. Even if it wasn't, isn't it great that it felt like a real person was monitoring our game and adapting the game to us instead of vice-versa? The game has a great mix of mystery, treasure hunt, puzzles, and battles. We all want to play that first scenario again and I predict that it will go by in about half the time. I give the game 7/10 so far, but that rating seemed to be rising fast for all of us as the game mechanics became more second nature. The set up phase had us all at 10/10, before it started to drag. I will plan to update this after a few more tries. The instruction booklets are great and I was able to answer most of about 20 questions within one minute. Some relatively detailed nuances required maybe two minutes to find. No unanswered questions so far. Regarding expansions, we started with Recurring Nightmares and Suppressed Memories figure and tile sets. The investigator figures were the biggest hit from them so far. We liked the 16 new possible investigators and two of us used them. Can't comment yet on whether the additional room tiles and monsters (a LOT of them came with the sets) are worth it. My wife adds that kids should get a pep talk at the beginning of the game that the first hour is not reflective of the overall game experience. The game required a solid hour of learning for us, even with having read the instructions first. It's not like Monopoly where you get in and learn and play your first game. This game appears that it will be on our playlist longer, but it requires a training period for us.

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!

For anyone who has been put off by games in the Cthulhu Mythos due to the number of components, massive rules, tedious setup, and so forth, don't be! My gaming group consists of casual players who all like party games with quick-to-learn rules. So, while owning Arkham and Eldritch Horror, these games never make it to the table because my group absolute hates the stop and go nature of these titles due to constantly having to reference rules during the first few plays. Well, Mansions of Madness turned out to be a different story for our group. After convincing everyone to just give it a try, we turned on the app and were very pleased at how this game somewhat holds your hand through the entire process. I only briefly skimmed the rulebook, so our first 30 minutes were a bit bumpy, having to figure out a few major processes such as skill and horror checks, along with attacking, but soon enough, we were going through this game like pros. We used an iPad to run the game, never experiencing a single crash or glitch. On a further note, we had a gamer who was new to our group, only ever having played traditional games like Monopoly or Apples to Apples. While initially having an issue understanding slight word changes (don't know why, but the concept of flipping a card was quite a hurdle for us to teach her), she absolutely had a blast with this game, and has been asking to come back and play again. My only major concern with this game, or any other app based board game, has to with the longevity of the app. Years down the road, I can pull almost any board game off my shelf and play it, however, this game solely relies on the app. Once the app is no longer maintained or updated to new operating system standards, this game becomes a paper weight. And for those who are concerned about lack of content, this package has enough to keep any gaming group busy for quite some time. There are already a number of expansions out, and Fantasy Flight is no stranger to constantly pumping out content for their games for years to come.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

High quality game pieces, companion app helps a lot and gives a real feeling to the game. Scenarios in the companion app are a bit limited but still the game allows you to play for hours for each scenario. We even could play as 2 people and it was very fun. 10/10 would recommend.

Wer Mansion of Madness kennt, wird wissen, dass es sich um ein Spiel handelt, was Geschichten erzählt... Damals durch einen Spielbegleiter den "Bewahrer". Nun wird das Spiel nicht durch Menschenhand geleitet sondern durch eine App. Das heißt man benötigt ein Handy mit Ausreichend Speicherplatz oder ein Tablet oder ein Laptop bzw. PC. Wir schlüpfen in die Rolle von Ermittlern die unterschiedlich nicht sein könnten und versuchen Mysterien auf die Schliche zu kommen und das durchlebte Abenteuer lebendig und an besten nicht wahnsinnig zu überstehen. Es gibt derzeit vier Geschichten die alle gut unterschiedlich sind, jedoch an H.P.Lovecrafts Werke verknüpft sind. Wenn man diese nicht kennt ist es aber auch nicht schlimm. Wenn man Sie kennt freut man sich, dass man die Personen kennt sowie die Kreaturen. Die App hat Sound und das trägt gut zur Horrorstimmung bei. Der Vorteil ist, dass man so auch die Hinweise erhält. z.B wenn es hinter einer Tür schäppert, dann will man eventuell sich das anschauen und die Tür öffnen oder man hat Angst und barrikadiert diese. Das besondere ist nähmlich man kann nicht sehen wie groß das Spielfeld ist und die App wird erst Bescheid geben, wenn man auf die Tür klickt, was für ein Raum mit welchen Kreaturen oder Menschen sich dahinter verbirgt. Die Geschichten selber ändern sich nicht großartig. Jedoch benötigt man bestimmte Sachen um weiter zukommen und muss als Beispiel Rätsel über die App lösen. Die App gibt auch an wie die Kreaturen sowie die Personen in den Geschichten reagieren und das tuen diese nicht immer gleich, genauso sind die Gegenstände immer unterschiedlich. Für mich ist Mansion of Madness 2.Edition das beste Brettspiel was derzeit verfügbar ist. Ich habe es mit Leuten gespielt die nicht oft Spiele spielen und sie waren begeistert. Gerade zu Halloween kommen nun noch zwei weitere Geschichten raus (Hierfür gibt es dann 2 Erweiterungen mit Inhalten alten Erweiterungen für die Erste Edition) und darauf freue ich mich besonders. Wichtig zu wissen: Die Sprache ist zur Zeit Englisch! Aber es ist gut zuverstehen, man sollte geringe Englischkenntnisse haben. Die App selber hat eine Spracheinstellung. Man kann, sobald der Heidelberger Spieleverlag sicherlich die Deutsche Version herausbringt, die Einstellung auf deutsch ändern. In Großen und Ganzen gefällt mir das Spiel sehr gut, es macht noch mehr Spaß und erzeugt mehr Flair wenn man die ganzen Miniaturen anmalt. Volle Punktzahl und eine super Kaufempfehlung! Jeder Euro ist es Wert, da das Material sehr hochwertig ist!

Excelente jogo.

Exceptional, moody atmospheric and integration with the App (which you need!) is very well done. Good quality mini’s as well. Great repeatability as well so good value for money.

Roligt spel som använder AI via mobilen. Tar väldigt lång tid att spela dock, men gillar man det så kan jag rekommendera spelet.