Catacombs (3rd Edition)

Catacombs is a game where one player takes control of the overseer and one to four choose a party from a selection of DND-esque characters. The goal of the game is simple: the party needs to slay all the monsters that the overseer throws at them and the overseer needs to stop them from descending the 8 rooms of the dungeon they create by killing party members through fun and (in the best way) finicky flicks of the discs that represent everyone! The game starts with the overseer picking from a deck of room cards of varying difficulty, and selecting any number of them to use. You’ll usually do this based off of the monsters shown on the cards, which have another deck of cards for representing their stats and abilities. In addition to picking baddies, you’ll also have to select any number of room cards that are beneficial to the party of adventurers trying to get through the dungeon (i.e. merchant, healer, alewife, etc..). A lot of nuance for the overseer comes from the balancing act of trying to win the game while also making the dungeon you design fun for the party to play through. If you’re playing with five, you won’t be everyone’s favorite friend after putting seven really hard battle rooms before your final showdown in the boss room! The party start by picking four unique characters from a small deck of cards. Each have different health amounts, abilities, items, and other special stuff. The base game has six to choose from: the wizard, barbarian, thief, elf archer, chicken, and skeleton explorer. They are all really different but you’ll have fun no matter how you build your party. I find that this aspect helps the game shine with any amount of players. Whether it’s just one person controlling all four members of the party or having each piloted individually it feels just as good. Recently I played a game with three party members and another friend ended up joining late. It was great getting to just pass one of the two characters I had to him so he could play too! Now to the biggest draw of the game… flicking colorful pieces of wood with great art into other colorful pieces of wood with great art! They’re all different sizes to represent how big the monsters would be in comparison to the party, and my personal favorite: the slime cube (it’s cube shaped)! It’s way more addicting than it sounds. Plus if you’ve got friends who you’re trying to bring into the wonderful world of tabletop games this is an absolute gateway to the hobby. Overall I’d recommend this game to anybody interested in buying it. It’s such a joy to play and share with other people. I also find that when a box says “2-5 players” there’s usually a perfect number of players to balance the length between turns, the ability to plan your next moves, and stay engaged in other people’s plays. In catacombs I’ve played with 2,3,4, and 5 and it was enjoyed by all each time! Love the game, you will too!