Mansions of Madness

My notes on attempting to play Mansions of Madness

“It’s the kind of game where you need someone who can explain the rules.”

- Jason Ward

Mansions of Madness is extremely complex and only for an audience who are up for the challenge. My first experience consisted of hours of organisation and game set-up which at completion was satisfying.

Complete setup of one of the scenarios. After this picture was taken I noticed that some of the map tiles were the wrong way round.

Player Roles

The basic game is a player takes on the role of ‘the keeper’ and chooses a scenario which a group of investigators have to solve. The keeper will use spells and monsters to try and achieve his objective. The investigators search for clues and items to progress to reveal their game winning objective.

Objective

The winning objective is unique to the story options chosen.

Rules

I found myself flipping through two rule books and handing about 8 pages of in depth rules to my investigators to read. This is supposed to happen simultaneously so some effort has been made to keep both players active.

This is only suitable for a ‘hardcore’ audience.

Mostly confusing play where I wasn’t sure if the game was being played correctly. I believe the game became too easy for my investigators and ended abruptly. I think I would enjoy the challenge of playing again sometime as the rules are some what clearer now.

Game pieces/ cards

There are many cards of various sizes, separated into about ten different decks. There are models to represent the investigators and many monsters, tokens to track damage and obstacles.

Large focus on story.

You’re provided with a background story for each scenario. This was good because players can choose a story that sounds interesting to them. There’s a few options within the scenarios so there is some replayability. There’s some indication of increasing complexity as the amount of play tiles used for the map increases to be more suitable for more players.

Players can see their character’s background story on the other side of their stat card.

The Keeper also begins the game with a short intro story with clues on where the investigators should look first.

‘The Keeper’ chooses a scenario which determines a unique layout of the board and building decks with key clues and items. The keeper also keeps track of time and when to reveal key game changing events.

Story elements on attack cards describing in detail what is happening to the player.

The story parts on cards are all italicised, this consistency allows the player to know what parts are to be read aloud.

The winning objectives are hidden from the investigators. By listening carefully to the unique narrative provided at the beginning of the game, players have a short term objective to work towards.