Tuesday, March 22, 2022

#50: Claustrophobia (Mark's Top 100 2022)


Claustrophobia

  • rank: 360
  • rating: 7.5
  • published: 2009
Print Status
  • out of print
Why It's On The List
  • Imagine taking the asymmetrical structure of the classic game Space Hulk (hordes of bad guys vs. a small band of heroes) and cross-pollinating it with some very clever dice mechanics (one even borrowed from the much-loved Euro game, Kingsburg)... and then packing the box as full of high-quality components as possible. And there you have it.
Tips & Tricks:
    • Both players (the good guys AND the bad guys) have to carefully manage all of their resources - each of them has some pretty nifty "powers" but almost all of those are limited in their use.
    • Not unlike the original Space Hulk board game, sometimes winning is just taking out as many bad guys as possible before you go under.
    Extras
    • The playing time for Claustrophobia is almost always less than an hour... and, with a few exceptions, it's pretty easy to set up as the caverns will be explored and the game board laid out as you play.
    • Warning: this is probably the "darkest" game I own (thematically)... this is not for everyone.
    • The De Profundis expansion has a lot more scenarios, some new monsters & heroes, and a bunch of new tiles & cards... and, as per the designer's wishes, does NOT make this a multi-player game. (Croc - yes, that's his moniker - was very clear that he'd designed a two-player game and that putting more folks around the table would mess up the design.)
    • The Furor Sanguinis expansion adds a new "faction" - well, to be accurate, giant lizard/demon bad guy. We've had a lot of fun with it.
    • Yes, I know there's a new edition. But this is the one I own.

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