#32: Catacombs (Mark's 100 - 2012)

Catacombs

Mark's Ranking

• 2012: 32nd
• 2010: 54th
• 2005: prior to publication

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 278
• rating: 7.38

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• When you combine the dungeon crawling joys of Descent: Journeys in the Dark with the flicking goodness of Carabande… then subtract 3+ hours worth of playing time – voila! you have Catacombs. It’s a one hour romp through a dungeon with combat resolved via wooden discs.

Tips & Tricks:

• Like most dungeon-mastered board games, the person playing the Catacomb Lord should attempt not only to play well but also work to make sure that everyone is having a good time. In fact, as the expansions have ramped up the power level of the Catacomb Lord and the various monsters, we've found that the most skilled player probably should NOT be the bad guy to allow the heroes a chance to win.
• As in any game with character-driven powers, remember to play to your character's strengths - magic-users should not be charging into melee!.

Extras

• One of the great joys of the Catacombs game system is that it works equally well with two, three, four or five players... one player is the Catacomb Lord and the other players simply divvy up the heroes. 
• There are now three expansions for Catacombs: the Caverns of Soloth (which adds new monsters, rooms & Catacomb Lords), Dark Passageways (a deck of cards that add both benefits & horrors to the rooms), and Horde of Vermin (which adds more new monsters, including a bunch of tiny monsters like rats & snakes). All of them are very good - though if I was only going to buy one, I'd buy Caverns of Soloth.