Dark Reflections: Ugh, this scenario is frustrating. Like 10:50 to Arkham and Astral Alchemy its not terrible, but it could use a lot of polish. Pretty good story though. Altered Fates: Great story and is one of the more unique scenarios as it splits the party yet you can still interact with the other group in. Deep Madness is a co-operative game from Diemension Games for one to six players set in an underwater research station beset by Lovecraftian and other pop culture science fiction horrors. The most obvious thing to say about this game is that the models looks gorgeous. Or horrific, depending on your point of view. Mansions of Madness is a cooperative game of mystery and investigation inspired by the writings of H. During each game, one to five players explore a location to unravel a mystery. Visit the Store Page Most popular community and official content for the past week.

• Mansions Of Madness Wiki
• Mansions Of Madness - Dark Reflections Book

Back in September 2016 I did an unboxing video and review of Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) Mansions of Madness Second Edition. Feel free to have a read over the entire review here, however in summary I was generally pleased with the game and found it for the most part enjoyable.

Since that time I’ve acquired a number of expansions for the game and spent a lot more time playing it, especially recently. I won’t lie, like many other Lovecraft themed board games from FFG (Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, etc) the game is fairly unforgiving and the odds of the players winning are pretty slim. Now… some people enjoy that kind of difficulty. Those are the same people who play video games like Dark Souls. I’m not one of those people and I much prefer the odds slightly tipped in my favour, let’s say a 60/40 split my way.

The difficulty was definitely one that that put me off the game. Setting it all up and sitting down to play only to be completely wiped out an hour or two later wasn’t my idea of fun. House rules to the rescue! By changing one single tiny thing we tipped the entire balance of the game and — for myself and my friends at least — made the entire game much more enjoyable. That rule? Three actions per player per turn instead of two.

With three actions you can actually explore the environment, with two you are in a constant rush and relying on meta knowledge. With three actions you actually stand a chance in combat. With three actions you might actually solve the puzzle before reality comes crashing down. It hasn’t nuked the difficulty entirely, there have been some very close and tense moments which increased the enjoyment even further. But there hasn’t been any party wipes half way into the game.

So, having found a way to enjoy the game, I wanted to explore more of it in the form of expansions.

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When Mansions of Madness Second Edition (MoM2) was released, FFG also released two figure and tile collections. Recurring Nightmares included all the floor tiles and figures from the original Mansions of Madness core game as well as the ‘Dearly Departed’ mission. Suppressed Memories on the other hand included all the floor tiles and figures from the original Mansions of Madness expansions Forbidden Alchemy and Call of the Wild, as well as the mission ‘Cult of Sentinel Hill’. The missions themselves are both enjoyable romps with plenty of action, however the real star of these two expansions is all of the monsters, investigators and floor tiles you’ll add to your available pool. Not limited to just the mission in each box, these new pieces will be randomly inserted into all of your missions both past and future. This creates a lot more variety and ensures even more diversity in your investigations.

These are pretty ‘chunky’ expansions and contain a lot of cardboard and plastic. This is reflected in their price point of $84.99 AUD RRP each.

Okay so that’s putting Mansions of Madness First Edition content into the game and if you do own the original game and its expansions you won’t need those products. Onwards now to entirely new and original content for MoM2. The first expansion was largely cardboard with just a little plastic in the box; the two new investigators are a welcome addition. Two missions are included in this expansion; Gates of Silverwood Manor and Vengeful Impulses. Gates of Silverwood Manor is good, but Vengeful Impulses is great. I’m sure most of you have played or are at least familiar with Cluedo. This is that but taken to the next level. Much like the ‘Rising Tide’ mission of the MoM2 core set, this mission sees a great deal of exploration and investigation, something I really enjoy and it very much captures a pen and paper role-playing game feel without bogging things down too much.

Being that it’s a smaller expansion it also comes with the cheaper price point of $51.99 AUD RRP.

The most recent expansion for MoM2 is Streets of Arkham, which includes a lot more cardboard and plastic than Beyond the Threshold but not quite as much as Recurring Nightmares and Suppressed Memories. It does however include three new missions, of which I’ve only played ‘Astral Alchemy’ so far. This particular investigation saw us racing across the Arkham University campus looking for reagents all the while being pursued by unspeakable nasties. Great fun. ‘Gangs of Arkham’ sounds like a fantastic ‘whodunnit?’ murder mystery while ‘Ill-Fated Exhibit’ appears to really take the mystery and roleplaying to the next level. A special note accompanies the latter mission warning that “Players may wish to take notes while playing this scenario.” Awesome.

Despite the amazing investigations and new board pieces, I felt this expansion was a little expensive at $99.99 AUD RRP, especially when you consider that the MoM2 core set retails for $149.99 AUD. Shop around on this one if you can, perhaps the infamous ‘Australian Tax’ had something to do with it.

While I dearly enjoy playing the Call of Cthulhu RPG from Chaosium, that means that someone has to pen the story or otherwise obtain and ready a mission for the session. Characters have to be rolled up and often rule books consulted when something odd crops up. MoM2 really simplifies the entire experience in a good way and serves it up in a very appealing package. The included application runs flawlessly on my very old laptop; the voice acting and music are very suitable. We’ve taken to hooking it up to a projector or large television and turning the rest of the lights out, creating a really enjoyable atmosphere.

While fighting Deep Ones and Star Spawns can be tense and enjoyable, I really must say I prefer the mystery based missions. Thankfully FFG appear to be including a great variety of missions in each of these expansions and by that I’m really impressed.

A number of missions so far have really taken me by surprise in just how far outside of the core game experience they can push the envelope.

Currently there are also two DLC investigations, What Lies Within and Dark Reflections, both $4.99 USD. I haven’t purchased either yet as my MoM2 team and I are still moving through the missions from the expansions I already own, however these will absolutely be picked up at a later point. Cities skylines - industries plus. All told at the time of writing the game has 13 missions, with each being quite different each play through thanks to some clever randomisation.

The next physical expansion is due for release this month. The Sanctum of Twilight looks to dive head first into the infamous Silver Twilight Lodge. I’m expecting a lot of cultists, wizards and magical shenanigans with this expansion. It’s priced at the same price point as Beyond the Threshold (~$50 AUD RRP) so I’m expecting less cardboard and plastic and probably two investigations, a fair price in my opinion.

There are plenty of examples of FFG releasing content too quickly or too sparsely with their games, but with MoM2 I feel they’ve got it just about right. By the time you’ve got together with friends and played the investigations in the last expansions a few times each, you’re pretty much ready for the next load of content. Being that I normally only get to sit down and play my copy of MoM2 Scythe: digital edition download free. with friends once a month this works out particularly well.

And despite the slightly over priced Streets of Arkham expansion, I’m pretty happy with the price, quality and content of these expansions.

If you haven’t taken a look at Mansions of Madness Second Edition yet, I urge you to do so. Start with the core set and work your way through the expansions. Just don’t leave it too late as FFG have a habit of not reprinting expansions and then prices rocket up on eBay.

Mansions Of Madness Wiki

As such it’s also a very good idea to protect your cards and FFG make appropriate sized sleeves for all the cards included in the game and its expansions.

In summary, what originally gave me concerns and had me finding excuses not to play the game has turned into something I’m very passionate about and look forward to playing at every opportunity. Great expansion content, coupled with a simple house rule, has really made this game something I look forward to playing for a very long time.

You can order your copy of Mansions of Madness Second Edition, its expansions and even the appropriate card sleeves from our friends at Vault Games. Head over to their website here and take a look at their range.

Mansions Of Madness - Dark Reflections Book