At a recent games day with friends, we had the rare opportunity to be a group of five. As usually it is four, we put our thinking caps on for board games that accommodate that number and would allow us to play multiple games in a day. We settled on the following four games:
- King of Tokyo. (iello)
- Forgotten Waters. (Plaid Hat games)
- Cthulhu: Death May Die. (CMON)
- Horrified. (Ravensburger)
I was excited as this would give me a chance to put some cardboard on the table that until this point I'd only played solo (with the exception of King of Tokyo). I've put some thoughts down below.
Cthulhu: Death May Die
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| 'Hah! A few cultists? This should be no problem...' |
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| '...er, the end of the world is nigh!' |
...or 'Cthulu: Death Comes Quick'?
I'd played the opening episode 'Blasphemous Alchemy' a few times solo. It was perfectly possibly to run playing two characters, but I'd never managed to get very far without being overwhelmed...
...annnnnnnd, playing with a group of five characters was no different! We are all experienced board gamers, but in our first run we quickly lost (thanks to my character - Sister Beth - quickly losing her heath due to a Mythos card). The good news is that it is very easy to reset the scenario, pickup a new character and start again, so a couple of minutes later we were trying to disrupt the cultist ceremony once more.
The second time, we did much better as we had a better handle on our character's special abilities, insanity and stress. This also gave us the chance to better appreciate the little touches of humour in the game, character backstories, and varied player powers. Cthulu (AKA the big fella!) appeared on the board before we had finished disrupting the ceremony to make him vulnerable, and we didn't manage to take him down before the end of the world arrived, but we were starting to do him damage with handfuls of dice, which was heartening.
The known issues with the game reared their ugly heads:
- Map tiles are just too small for the number of characters, monsters and elder gods in game. A single model like Cthulu fills a smaller room! Sure, you can just move models to the side, but it is a pain to manage this.
- The game ramps up really quickly and if you are in the wrong frame of mind definitely feels like you are getting beaten down - quick (...but hey, its a Cthulu game!?)
I'd like to try this again in a group as we find our feet and the rhythm of the game. Key is finding the balance of managing how quickly you lose your sanity vs. the greater power that increasing insanity gives you. Add to that having more mental space to think about how to support your team mates through trading and tactical management of your psychosis and I think winning is a possibility!
Forgotten Waters
Released in 2020, this light-hearted narrative 'Crossroads' game from Plaidhat games features pirates, adventures on the high seas and (very) light RPG elements. It is all packaged together around a solid web app with a very well-acted and fully voiced story.
I'd played the first half of the starting story to get to grips with how the game mechanics work but hadn't played as a group before. This was a great opportunity to play, as the game plays up to 7 players!
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| Ocean map, gamebook, app and tokens |
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| Character sheet, character, and First Mate job board/ tracker |
The app works well, the humour is good, and despite the simplicity of the mechanics exploring the story, traversing the ocean and deciding how to tackle each event is fun. With a full slate of games to get through, we stopped and saved the game at the halfway point. My group enjoyed themselves and I think we will look forward to getting it to the table again soon.
If you like a 'story', then Forgotten Waters is well worth a look.
Horrified
Published by Ravensburger in 2019, 'Horrified' is a simple co-operative game for up to 5 players. It looks great, plays quite quickly, and is a beautiful homage to the black and white horror movies of the 20th century.
You will choose to be one of many townsfolk (each with a different special ability), trying to save your town by defeating some monsters who have descended on your little community to create havoc.
There are a couple of differently themed boxes, including 'American monsters' and 'Greek monsters', but in the original version here you'll face off against Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and his bride, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Invisible Man, and the wolf man. To defeat them, you'll need to complete different mini-games/ set collection activities (e.g. for Dracula, you will need to destroy his four coffins.)
In terms of co-operation, you can play cards from your hand to support your team mates on their turns, replenishing those by rescuing the hapless townsfolk before they blunder into the arms of a monster!
The production here is lovely and thematic. Also, as monsters don't 'die' and the art and feeling is very friendly, this is highly recommended for family and kids too, not to mention as a gateway game for new gamers. Be warned however - the game becomes very challenging depending on the number of monsters and players you have!
King of Tokyo
Ever wanted to be a giant monster and stomp around a city? Happen to have 3-6 players in your group? Godzilla come to mind? Or any other 'Kaiju' movies? If so, this 2011 dice game by Richard Garfield and published by iello will be right up your street.
Roll some really, REALLY, chunky dice, and attack any other player who is currently 'King of Tokyo' (they are in the middle of the board). All the while you are purchasing new powers (cards) to help you (and your monster) in your quest to be the biggest, baddest, monster.
Very easy to learn, very satisfying dice-rolling, and a wonderful roster of monsters (Giant space penguin? Giant cyber kitty?) make this a game I'll always be happy to play.
Isn't it great that there are so many games that accommodate higher player counts!
:-)
