Evil Dead 2: The Board Game

I should start by saying I’m a novice gamer, so I can’t say “This is a not as good rip off of (other game)” I got this as an Evil Dead fan and I feel it captures the movie better than a lot of license tie-in games. More important to what I can contribute, I love painting miniatures so that will bring up some good and bad points. The good: Some are fantastic looking. Ash with the chainsaw and shotgun has great detail to it and I can’t wait to paint it. I also love how menacingly large the Rotten Apple Head is. Quick summary for people who have not seen the movie but it deals with possession and once a human is possessed, they become a “deadite.” So additional bonus points for deadite versions of Bobby Joe and Jake that were never seen in the movie but cleverly inspired by it. Also for figure painters, they’re good hard plastic that should take to paint well. The downside: Some of the other human characters have soft details that won’t pop as well when painted. More egregiously, storage in the box was clearly not designed with painting in mind. The figures are just stored completely loose in a cardboard box. It might be possible to throw together some custom internal storage, but I haven’t had the time to figure that out. For what little I can contribute about gameplay, it’s a secret traitor game but you don’t know you’re the traitor from the beginning. I’m relatively new to that mechanic, so I’m not tired of it yet. Returning to how I feel it captures the spirit of the movie, you have the cabin in the woods that only features one spawn point for enemies, but your objectives are predominantly outside the cabin, so it nails that fear of heading out into the woods. Can I recommend this to players who have never seen the movie? Sure but like I said, I don’t have many games under my belt to compare it to. I can easily recommend it to fans of the movie if for nothing else than for being able to explore the iconic cabin. And yes you can go into the work shed.

First things first, this game won't be as enjoyable if you haven't seen the movie its based on. That being said, this isn't a reskin of some game that can masquerade as any number of themes, this game has unique bosses and a unique setting. The combat is simple, with most checks being handled by just three or less dice (there are modifiers). Player characters are a mix of skills, with some being better at certain things than others. There is a betrayal aspect to this game, and that is truly where it shines. Players are assigned a corruption card at the start of the game but can't see if they are human or deadite until after picking up a necronomicon page or getting another corruption card. There are ways to check a players cards to expose them, or flip their affiliation card. The entire game centers around humans and the betrayal deadites trying to gather necronomicon pages, and then score them at a set point on the map. Players will spend the entire game doubting each other, robbing each other, and fighting the evil deadites trying to bank enough pages to win before the event deck runs out. Both teams can lose if the event deck runs out, which adds some pressure to both sides to get things done quickly. There are some problems though, the player boards while nice, are incomplete in the information they provide, this means that you will need to reference the manual for clarification on everything. While the rules are simple, the 3 dice system can be confusing when the mechanics of the dice get changed around depending on what you're rolling on. I would have liked to see a unique set of dice for virtue checks for the price. If you are not a fan of the movie, then there is not a lot of value here for you. However if you enjoyed the movie and like partial cooperative games with a rather interesting betrayal aspect, then you will move likely enjoy this game.

First things first, this game won't be as enjoyable if you haven't seen the movie its based on. That being said, this isn't a reskin of some game that can masquerade as any number of themes, this game has unique bosses and a unique setting. The combat is simple, with most checks being handled by just three or less dice (there are modifiers). Player characters are a mix of skills, with some being better at certain things than others. There is a betrayal aspect to this game, and that is truly where it shines. Players are assigned a corruption card at the start of the game but can't see if they are human or deadite until after picking up a necronomicon page or getting another corruption card. There are ways to check a players cards to expose them, or flip their affiliation card. The entire game centers around humans and the betrayal deadites trying to gather necronomicon pages, and then score them at a set point on the map. Players will spend the entire game doubting each other, robbing each other, and fighting the evil deadites trying to bank enough pages to win before the event deck runs out. Both teams can lose if the event deck runs out, which adds some pressure to both sides to get things done quickly. There are some problems though, the player boards while nice, are incomplete in the information they provide, this means that you will need to reference the manual for clarification on everything. While the rules are simple, the 3 dice system can be confusing when the mechanics of the dice get changed around depending on what you're rolling on. I would have liked to see a unique set of dice for virtue checks for the price. If you are not a fan of the movie, then there is not a lot of value here for you. However if you enjoyed the movie and like partial cooperative games with a rather interesting betrayal aspect, then you will move likely enjoy this game.

Game had troubles years ago on KS and was eventually saved by Jasco games after many thought their money was lost. The game shows this in the rules. It definitely feels like it was saved by taking what a company had originally and making it work. If this was a game I bought in the early 90's then it would be great, but board games have come too far to rate this one higher than a 2 out of 5. The game is simple combat, with simple combat mechanics, with pick up needed items and taking them to a place while being attacked by baddies. The minis are ok but nothing to write home about. Finally the game is priced at $80 which is absolutely ridiculous. Too many other games out there that does this better AND are cheaper, don't get sucked in by nostalgia.

Game had troubles years ago on KS and was eventually saved by Jasco games after many thought their money was lost. The game shows this in the rules. It definitely feels like it was saved by taking what a company had originally and making it work. If this was a game I bought in the early 90's then it would be great, but board games have come too far to rate this one higher than a 2 out of 5. The game is simple combat, with simple combat mechanics, with pick up needed items and taking them to a place while being attacked by baddies. The minis are ok but nothing to write home about. Finally the game is priced at $80 which is absolutely ridiculous. Too many other games out there that does this better AND are cheaper, don't get sucked in by nostalgia.