Like many others I recently had a chance to attend a preview session of Mansion of Madness. I thought people might like a comparison to Arkham Horror. So instead of your typical review that many have already posted I will breakdown these two <PERSON> theme games and point out the differences and similarities. So here we go...
Components:
Anyone familiar with Fantasy Flight already knows if there is one thing they do well it’s definitely the "What’s in the box!" factor. That being said they really stepped it up in Mansion. In Arkham the player pieces were flat images on a stand which gave the game a classic retro feel. Also the monsters were all represented by cardboard tiles. In Mansion the player pieces are fully modeled plastic pieces. However it’s the monsters in Mansion that really steal the show. Some of the figures are quite large and detailed. One of the folks I had a chance to play with during the demo mentioned that he planned on painting his figures when he got his copy. There are still tiles that list information for the monsters in Mansions but they are inserted into the base of the creature’s figure which I thought was a nice touch.
Setup:
If I were keeping score Arkham would definitely win this category. The setup is huge in Mansion taking close to 30 minutes and that was with someone that had already played the game the previous night. I suspect a little better organization and some familiarity will cut this down but some things will just be unavoidable such as the keeper’s detailed setup. Having the investigators setup the board and pick out their own characters and such will definitely speed things along. Arkham’s setup was basically pick out the main baddie, pick your investigators (and give them their items), plop a gate down and dump the monsters in the monster cup. Due to the story element in Mansion there is a more tedious setup by the keeper in order to preserve the story element of the game.
Playing Time:
Over the years I found the playing time of Arkham Horror to vary greatly. Mostly this was dependent on the familiarity of the game with the players. Obviously the more familiar folks were the faster the game went but it wasn’t the simplest game for newcomers so it was common to deal with a slower player. Another factor that makes it hard to pinpoint a game length for Arkham was the unpredictability of the board. 386
I have personally played games that have lasted 30 min (lucky draws) to some that have taken upwards to 3 hours (not so lucky draws). As for Mansion of Madness once the setup is done it’s some smooth sailing after that. The keeper turns will undoubtedly take the longest but if you have a good one (like any good DM) then things will run along at a nice pace. Any newcomers will likely take the role of an investigator which is quite simple to play. In my first game were able to get through a whole game in about 90 min which I thought was perfect.
Gameplay:
Arkham is a pure co-operative game while Mansion is co-operative amongst the investigators but obviously the player playing the part of the keeper is certainly not co-operating with the investigators. I believe the use of a Keeper (DM like) player really makes the gameplay in Mansion more satisfying. As innovative as the mechanics in Arkham are the game can’t adjust to your strategy and anticipate moves like a human player can.
Another issue I was never fond of in Arkham was the use of dice and I mean lots of dice to the point where you had to reuse some dice because you needed to roll so many. This is a thing of the past in Mansion as there is only one die in the box. Yep, you read correctly only one single lonely lovely die. It’s a 10 sided die to be more concise and it is used to make various stat checks during the game. If your roll is equal to or less of your required skill (i.e. Willpower, Dexterity), than you made a successful roll. It’s that simple.
Investigator turns are actually quite similar between both games. In Arkham you were able to move up to your speed and then perform one of several possible actions. In Mansion you get to move to an adjacent location up to two times and perform one of several possible actions. However these actions can be broken up meaning you can move, perform an action and then make your last move OR action first then move twice and so on... What is nice in Mansion though is that there is much less to keep track of than in Arkham which keeps the turns nice and simple. Arkham horror required you to always keep a track of several things that to be honest with you often got overlooked in some of our games. Things like how many gates are open right now (end game varies by players), how many monsters are in the streets (again monster surge varies with number of players) and don’t forget the monsters in the outskirts. What’s the current horror level at? 884