Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
This review is the third in a new series of reviews. My Comparative Reviews will seek to outline new elements of a design in relation to the original release. I will cover all aspects that are new here and still analyse what I think the game has to offer and how that compares to the original design. Thus my Comparative Reviews will be used when a game series looks to create a new game based upon an original design, with a thematic change and a twist or two.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type – Co-operative Game
Play Time: 25-60 minutes
Number of Players: 1-4
Mechanics – Action Point Allowance System, Set Collection, Point to Point Movement, Hand Management, Variable Player Powers
Difficulty – Pick-Up & Play (Can be learned in 20 minutes or less)
Components – Very Good
Release – 2016
<PERSON> -(The ForbiddenSeries, All thingsPandemic, Roll Through the Ages, Thunderbirds)
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<PERSON> -(Original Pandemiccore concept)
Overview and Theme
"Crazzies...hooded whack-jobs...they live amongst us. Damned cultists trying to bring into this world horrors that you can't even begin to imagine. I am one of the few that have the misfortune of knowing what lurks in the dark and it is all I can do to hold onto my senses and my trusty revolver. Thankfully there are more of us than I imagined...the ones cursed with the knowledge of how close we really are to losing everything we have...and with the courage to attempt to return 'them' to whatever warped dimension they hail from. Welcome to the darkness...welcome to the Reign of Cthulhu."
Okay that sets the backdrop for what is essentially Pandemic...<PERSON> style. If you are not familiar with Pandemic (I couldn't imagine there being too many readers if they are on BGG and reading this article), it was the smash hit that brought co-operative gaming to the masses and by masses I mean that it has gone on to gain a reach that is beyond niche hobby stores and online sites...to be sold in regular department stores.
In addition to outlining how this version plays out I will seek to answer the following questions -
a) Is this different enough from core Pandemic to be worth owning?
b) Is the game any good in its own right?
c) Does this game replace the original as the 'go to' Pandemic title.
To save on repetition I may refer to this game, Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu as (RoC) at times.
Ok grab that box of bullets would you...oh...and that bus ticket, we have some Cultist Bashing to do and we're doing it using Public Transport!!!
The Components
Pandemicis known for very good components and does not disappoint with this version either.
Board – The game board contains the connected towns of Arkham, Innsmouth, Kingsport and Dunwich. 470
Locations within each town are connected by lines and each town has a Bus location or two and a Gate location as well. It is important to note that there are exactly 24 locations on the board, which is exactly half that of the original design.
The artwork on the board is quite nicely done. The towns are presented using an isometric view (think SimCity the computer game - am I showing my age?) and the towns are depicted at night. This makes the board rather dark, with building lights and street lamps providing reason to give some sections of the board suitable illumination. The darkness serves the theme of the game well and the illustrations of the various locales in the towns is very nice to look at.
The reality though is that once you've played a few times, you tend to look completely through the artwork as if it were not there at all. The eye is instantly drawn to the names of the locations and the lines that connect them. In other words, players tend to look at the board more for its functional aspects than its artwork. Such is the nature of this beast.
The rest of the board is a matter of function over form. Across the top of the board are 8 card silhouette locations...spaces to hold the 'Old One' Cards. In the bottom left and right corners are spaces for the Player Deck and Summoning Deck of cards and their discard piles.
In the bottom central location is a space to place Sealed Gate Tokens and a short summary of the main flow of the play.
The board itself is of the same size and dimensions of vanillaPandemic. All in all it is well done. 336