Mansions of Madness (2nd Edition)

The *atmosfear* in the game is *phantastic*- replete with evocative imagery on both the cards and game components. The board state is reasonably managable, while skill checks have enough mitigation to reward player agency. Certain missions are extremely difficult, but it ain't a game if you can't lose. Personally, I find said challenge highly thematic- given its implications of madness and despair and find games wherein loss is rare to be more an excuse for beer & friends rather than dungeons & dragons. My only gripe with this title is the miniature quality, wherein costs were clearly cut. Attaching many enemies to their bases is impossible without glue, while some have a small foot peg that may or may not affix properly due to inconsistent molding. Size was also not properly considered from a design perspective, as many of said figures do not fit well on the board- crowding it at times. Fortunately, this is offset by the game being more atmospheric than combative, and the fact that the investigator minis at least come adjoined to their own bases, requiring no assembly whatsoever. Ultimately, yes. I would recommend this game. The content and mechanics are well written/executed, and if it wasn't for a few fiddly component gripes- I would've given it 5/5.

If you like Chuthulu type mysteries, then this is the game for you. This game is a bit app heavy and in our first game, we found ourselves occasionally forgetting to go back to the board to move our pieces there. It is easy to get used to though and I can imagine that the number of pieces and the amount of board/rule management that would be required without the app would be very cumbersome and could take some of the joy out of the experience. The app acts kind of like a GM, which is nice if you are looking for a game everyone can just jump into without the need for a GM. If you like games where you get to solve a mystery with your friends or role-playing type board games, definitely give this one a try. There is plenty of replayability too, so if you like this kind of game the investment is worth what you get out of it.

Love this game. Love the use of the app with this game.

This is a great game and I highly recommend it. I would give this game an 8 or 9 on the BGG scale but when I look at the categories provided for this review, I realize that the value for money is a bit on the lackluster side. However the gameplay per dollar is amazing! What I mean by these two statements is that you don't really get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of the volume of content, but the content that you do get is of a very high quality and quite impressive! Plus you can pretty much play this game with anyone, even people who know NOTHING about modern board games because the app guides you through so much stuff. That being said, someone should still to know how to play the game and be able to reference the rulebook to ensure everything is on track. I hate that the miniatures are of such poor quality, they look good but are flimsy, rubbery, and would not likely hold a paint job well due to the flexible plastic. Also the minis don't really fit in the base holes so most of the time the minis stay in the box and we just use the cardboard tokens. Aside from the minis, every single component is of the BEST quality of it's time, and I would even say that these components are some of the highest quality even in August 2020. The other negative thing about this game is that there are only 4 scenarios with the core box on the app. You can buy 1-2 more for $5 each but then that's all you get. Now the cool thing is that each scenario you repeat ends up being different, there is a random generator in the app that does change things up a little. After you play each scenario 2-3 times then you have likely exhausted everything new the game has to offer. I have no expansions but as I understand it, adding new enemies, investigators, tiles, and npc characters is supposed to make every scenario you already have feel different and fresh PLUS you get extra scenarios. I believe there are only 10-12 scenarios between all the expansions which seems pretty light however for most people that is plenty of game.

This is a great game and I highly recommend it. I would give this game an 8 or 9 on the BGG scale but when I look at the categories provided for this review, I realize that the value for money is a bit on the lackluster side. However the gameplay per dollar is amazing! What I mean by these two statements is that you don't really get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of the volume of content, but the content that you do get is of a very high quality and quite impressive! Plus you can pretty much play this game with anyone, even people who know NOTHING about modern board games because the app guides you through so much stuff. That being said, someone should still to know how to play the game and be able to reference the rulebook to ensure everything is on track. I hate that the miniatures are of such poor quality, they look good but are flimsy, rubbery, and would not likely hold a paint job well due to the flexible plastic. Also the minis don't really fit in the base holes so most of the time the minis stay in the box and we just use the cardboard tokens. Aside from the minis, every single component is of the BEST quality of it's time, and I would even say that these components are some of the highest quality even in August 2020. The other negative thing about this game is that there are only 4 scenarios with the core box on the app. You can buy 1-2 more for $5 each but then that's all you get. Now the cool thing is that each scenario you repeat ends up being different, there is a random generator in the app that does change things up a little. After you play each scenario 2-3 times then you have likely exhausted everything new the game has to offer. I have no expansions but as I understand it, adding new enemies, investigators, tiles, and npc characters is supposed to make every scenario you already have feel different and fresh PLUS you get extra scenarios. I believe there are only 10-12 scenarios between all the expansions which seems pretty light however for most people that is plenty of game.

Set up is a breeze! download the app, boom instructions STEP BY STEP all the way! You can't go wrong, We haven't made it to the other difficulty levels yet on the app. (3 players- easy mode) We've played twice already, first time we didn't succeed. The second time we won. We wanted to make sure we got a good feel of the first difficulty before moving on and a good understanding of the game. With playing it twice on the same difficulty the game board lay out was different each time, new monsters appeared and different things did happen. Def will get your usage out of this game with the different options of playing.

Set up is a breeze! download the app, boom instructions STEP BY STEP all the way! You can't go wrong, We haven't made it to the other difficulty levels yet on the app. (3 players- easy mode) We've played twice already, first time we didn't succeed. The second time we won. We wanted to make sure we got a good feel of the first difficulty before moving on and a good understanding of the game. With playing it twice on the same difficulty the game board lay out was different each time, new monsters appeared and different things did happen. Def will get your usage out of this game with the different options of playing.

I also own the first edition, which rarely made it to the table. The set up was cumbersome and the game had to be planned in advance (no spur of the moment, “Hey, let’s play Mansions.”) Don’t misunderstand, we enjoyed the game once it was set up, and we were sad not to play it more often. Enter Mansions of Madness 2nd edition. The set up is now a matter of moments. The app streamlines the games, and adds to the atmosphere and immersion in the game world. Game play is smooth as silk. Puzzles feel more authentic. The game gets out of its own way and lets the gameplay shine. The app even allows repeats of the same scenario to be different, so that you can play them again wothout knowing everything! Brilliant! This game is a masterpiece.

I also own the first edition, which rarely made it to the table. The set up was cumbersome and the game had to be planned in advance (no spur of the moment, “Hey, let’s play Mansions.”) Don’t misunderstand, we enjoyed the game once it was set up, and we were sad not to play it more often. Enter Mansions of Madness 2nd edition. The set up is now a matter of moments. The app streamlines the games, and adds to the atmosphere and immersion in the game world. Game play is smooth as silk. Puzzles feel more authentic. The game gets out of its own way and lets the gameplay shine. The app even allows repeats of the same scenario to be different, so that you can play them again wothout knowing everything! Brilliant! This game is a masterpiece.

Game is great, but replay-ability is really low. Scenarios have some changes in the map and in the main events, but you will still need to do the same things to be successful. Great game on the first play for each scenario; it is ok when you already know what to do; definitely boring when you know all the possible events in a scenario and you reach this point with 2/3 plays for scenario.