So, I sometimes wonder, would someone dare to steal it?

And the answer is invariably no. For board games are not considered precious to most people. But precious gems are.

I presume you can see where I’m going with this. Today, I’m pulling one of my go-to board games off the shelf. It’s a game about ruby stealing thieves, shady smugglers, forging jewelers and crooked cops.

And it’s one of the priciest games I own.

Master Thieves (2004)

Game Design: Czarnè
Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Number of Players: 2-8
Time: 60 minutes
Ages: 8+
Website: www.riograndegames.com

“Master Thieves” is a game of theft, deduction, deception and intelligence.

And it’s actually fairly rare! The fact that the game is hand-made, imported, and expensive combines to make it… a little outside the mainstream. Which is kind of a shame, because of how much fun it is.

On the other hand, it makes playing “Master Thieves” a somewhat rare experience, which kind of adds to it’s appeal. Unless of course you’re like me, and you own a copy for yourself.

Let’s crack this thing open.

Components

First sign that a game is awesome – it doesn’t come in a box, it comes in a wooden chest.

“Master Thieves” isn’t fooling around here. The box is sturdy, heavy, and filled to the brim with fun. And I say it’s filled to the brim with fun – because there’s actually not a lot of components for this game.

You’re looking at an instruction manual, a handful of cards, some pillows, player cards, wooden and plastic tokens, and a puzzle box.

Wait… puzzle box?

Yes. The most notable piece in “Master Thieves” is also the component that makes it such an expensive game.

The puzzle box is the core of the game, and they’ve put care into it’s design. They’re designed to rotate in three sections, with twelve drawers. There are six regular drawers, and six that contain a secret compartment – and they’re all double sided.

But the puzzle box isn’t the only beautiful part of the game.

The story goes that the designer came up with the idea for “Master Thieves” while pondering what to do with all the extra bits of plastic left from making components for another game. Whether or not that’s true, you have a pile of plastic gemstones in three colours: red, blue and white.

You also get some velvet cushions to keep your gems on – black, white and a single red “evidence” cushion.

The rest of the components to the game aren’t as fancy. You get a deck of cards, a player card in one of eight colours, and a matching wooden disk.

Gameplay

At it’s heart, the gameplay of “Master Thieves” is simple, and it’s all based off the use of the puzzle box. Everything you do in a turn is essentially a variation of the following: take something out of the box, put something into the box, then turn and flip the box.

The box itself is seeded with some gems at the start of the game – a handful of diamonds, and the six rubies which are all placed into the secret compartments.

Every player starts with some “fake” gemstones on their white cushion which they’re working to dispose of. These gems will all be worth negative points at the end of the game. Gems can only be disposed of by putting them into the puzzle box.

Meanwhile, anything that comes out of the puzzle box is a real gem. You’re trying to accumulate these on your black cushion, where they’ll be worth points. But you have to be careful! You can only claim gems that you remove from a right-side-up drawer – if you cause anything to fall out of the box from an upside-down drawer, it goes on the red “evidence” cushion, and your turn ends.

At the beginning of each round, everyone selects one “role” they’ll play from the hand they’ve been dealt. Each hand will contain one of each of the roles, numbered 1 to 8. During the round, each role acts in turn – multiples of the same role act in their numbered order.

First to go is the Smuggler. Smugglers try to move fake gems out of town, while bringing in authentic ones. They also act as a team – but are happy to backstab one another for a profit. A Smuggler opens a drawer, takes out any real gems, and puts a fake one in the box. The gems removed go on the red “evidence” cushion, not to the individual Smuggler. If anything falls out – it also goes on the red cushion, but the Smuggler can’t put anything in the box, and doesn’t get a cut of the loot. After all the Smugglers go, the Detectives reveal themselves. If there are more Smugglers than Detectives, any that weren’t caught during the turn get a share of what’s on the red cushion.

Next go the Jewelers. Jewelers keep vaults that are well protected. As such, don’t take anything out of the box, but can set an alarm in an unalarmed drawer, and place a gem with it. If there are already gems in the drawer, so much the better – for when someone else trips the Jeweler’s alarm, the Jeweler gets all the gems that fell out.

Gemologists are next. The Gemologist spots and gets rid of fake gems. She doesn’t take anything out of the box, rather she puts one of her fake gems into it. She can also put in additional gems for each Detective in play – they help her sniff out extra fakes to get rid of. The Gemologist is also the only role that can take it’s action, even if she gets “caught” by making something fall from the puzzle box.

Thieves are next. The Thief is looking to loot drawers, but they’re “caught” if they spill anything from the puzzle box. They also can’t remove drawers from the puzzle box – only open them as far as the main compartment. Anything the Thief finds in a right-side-up drawer, though, is all theirs.

Master Thieves are good enough to find secret compartments. They get to actually pull a drawer out of the box, and hopefully find a shiny ruby in the compartments. Rubies never go on the red cushion, either. Any rubies that spill are put back for another Master Thief to try for.

Finally, it’s the turn of the Detectives. The Detectives are all crooked, but they’ll never get their hands dirty by touching the puzzle box. Instead, they split up the evidence on the red cushion at the end of the turn.

And there you are.

Overall

“Master Thieves” is another game where the gameplay is deceptively simple. The game is fundamentally a constantly evolving puzzle, where everyone is trying to solve it, while simultaneously adding complexity to it.

I’ve seen Thieves rob a drawer they seeded the turn before as a Gemologist. I’ve seen three Master Thieves work to screw each other out of possible secret compartments, while desperately searching for rubies. I’ve watched a Jeweler trip his own alarm by accident, ending up with nothing. I’ve seen a pair of lucky Detectives gain a whole handful of gems after a particularly unlucky turn for everyone else.

What I’m getting at is “Master Thieves” is a tremendously fun game. It’s challenging, intelligent, social and absolutely worth seeking out for the opportunity to play.

And here we are, almost a year since my first game review, and my point is essentially proven.

So, with that, I think it’s time to delve into the collection and blow the dust of another great game.

No vampires this time… but there’s assassins! Assassins are pretty neat!

Today we’re not actually looking at a “board game” per se, and that’s mainly because there’s no actual board involved in it. Instead, it’s a card game. But a card game with some depth and fun bits to play with, so it counts. After all, our goal here is to have fun with friends, and it shouldn’t matter what parts the game has – so long as it has all the parts it’s supposed to come with.

Besides, this game blows most games with boards right out of the water.

Citadels (2000)

Game Design: Bruno Faidutti
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Number of Players: 2-8
Time: 60 minutes
Ages: 10+
Website: www.fantasyflightgames.com

“Citadels” is a game that has seen publication all over the damn place. In it’s current form, it’s published by those crazy awesome board game people at Fantasy Flight Games. The original version of the game came in a large, unwieldy box that I’ve actually heard people complain about. I don’t know if they thought it needed all that extra space, but it’s actually a fairly compact game with few parts.

The current edition comes in a smaller, easy-to-store-and-travel-with box, and as a bonus feature comes pre-packaged with its expansion “The Dark City.” Yeah, main set and the expansion in a smaller box than the original main set. This box also has a handy divider for keeping parts separate.

At its core, “Citadels” is a bluffing-based, city building card game. It’s about as nerdy as you think it is, and about ten times as fun. Let’s get into the guts of this thing.

Components

We’ll start by getting into the components that come in that little “Citadels” box. Compared to many other Fantasy Flight Games, “Citadels” doesn’t come with much – but that’s fine; it doesn’t need much. And frankly, a common complaint I’ve seen about Fantasy Flight is that they sometimes go a little too far with their production.

Here, we have a fairly simple, elegant, deep game.

The game comes with an instruction manual, a deck of district cards, a deck of character cards, a handful of gold counters, and a little royal meeple for the king. It also comes with some handy reference cards that run down what you can do on your turn and the reverse has the rules for scoring.

Foolishly, I didn’t snap a photo of those reference cards – but I do want to take a second and say that reference cards are a super handy tool for any game. A quick glance and the player has all the basic information they need for the turn, without have to slow down the game by reading the instructions. I wish every game came with one of these, literally. Every game.

As I mentioned above, the most recent edition of “Citadels” also comes with its “The Dark City” expansion. The expansion includes 14 new optional districts for the city, and 10 alternative character cards.

We’ll get into who the main set characters are in a minute – and I’m not going to delve too deeply into the “Citadels” expansion in this article – but I will say that the new characters do add quite a bit of new strategy to the game. The new characters are actually used instead of the main set character of the same number. They have a similar power to their main set counterpart, but different enough to give it an entirely unique spin. Very cool way to expand the game with new options.

I should also point out that the artwork in “Citadels” is really well done. The cards are all pleasing to the eye, and very colourful.

Gameplay

“Citadels” is, fundamentally, a very simply game. You are a medieval lord, and you’re trying to build the most awesome city in the land. You do that by amassing gold and spending it on districts – but the way in which you go about doing that depends on what role you play in the kingdom that round.

This is where “Citadels” moves into the realm of genius: the addition of a bluffing element. At the start of every round, the players shuffle up the deck of 8 characters. With fewer than 8 players, 1, or 2 cards are then randomly cut from the deck and revealed to all the players – the King will get put back into the deck if he’s picked, and replaced by someone new. You always have to have a King.

Now, starting with the player who was King last round, each player takes a turn going through the characters and selecting one in secret. Generally speaking this means that every player can deduce a little bit of information about which role one or more of the other players selected. But you don’t have all the information – and what you don’t know can drastically affect the way your turn unfolds.

Let’s meet our cast.

The game has 8 roles, numbered for the turn in which they act. In order, they’re the Assassin, Thief, Magician, King, Bishop, Merchant, Architect and Warlord.

The Assassin names another role to kill that round – when that role is revealed, that player’s turn immediately ends. The Thief names any role but the Assassin, or the Assassin’s target – when that role is revealed, the Thief steals all of their money. The Magician can swap hands with another player, or discard and draw new cards. The King earns extra gold for noble districts, and gets to choose their role first next turn. The Bishop earns extra gold from religious districts, and is immune to the Warlord. The Merchant earns extra gold for trade districts, and makes money for every action they take. The Architect can draw extra district cards on their turn, and build multiple districts. The Warlord earns extra gold for military districts, and can pay to destroy another player’s district.

The role you play on your turn will greatly affect your strategy – from helping you get more money, to giving you a chance to stop someone from making a final push to victory. But the trick is trying to figure out what everyone else is, so you know who you can act against, and how.

When the players aren’t working to screw each other, they’re trying to build up the best city in the land. And they do that with their district cards.

There are five types of district – noble (yellow), religious (blue), trade (green), military (red) and special (purple). The rule of thumb is you can only have one version of any card in your city – you can have any number of trade (green) district cards, but only one Market. Generally, districts give bonuses to certain roles, with the exception of special districts. They give a special power to the player who controls it.

Your goal is to build up eight districts, at which point the round ends, and everyone scores. Your score equals the total value of your city, and you get bonuses for being the first to go out, building 8 districts, and having districts in every colour.

And that’s it! Sometimes it’s the simple games that are the most fun.

Overall

“Citadels” is fast, portable, and it’s very easy to teach and play. The game has surprising depth, and there are numerous roads to victory. And with the expansion, you have even more options to play around with – some of them fairly complex.

I really can’t recommend this game enough. It’s one of my favourites, and I honestly think it should be a mainstay in the collection of anyone who considers themselves a serious board game player or collector.

Many people want to sign up with a gym in January. You see these people on tours or signing papers at member’s services every year. This can be an excellent option. A gym offers you variety and a social environment. Some have pools, climbing walls, squash courts, group classes, or multi-purpose gymnasiums. Still, the most important factor in selecting a gym is location, location, location. Will you be more likely to go to the gym before work, during your lunch break or after work? Depending on when you plan to go, that should help you select a location. I’m able to go to the gym in the morning or after work. If I go home first, I’m not likely to get up and go to the gym, and I know that. So, my facility is on my way home from work. You need to be honest with yourself, or you may struggle with your goals. Most people who go first thing in the morning find the most sucess making this a habit and putting their time in. If its done first thing in the morning, when life throws a wrench in your plan on unexpected plans come up later in the day it doesn’t interfere with your workout plans.

Don’t go overboard when you start. We all have these ambitions of going from the couch to running a marathon in a month, but that’s not a healthy or realistic goal. If you start out in January it’s likely to be very intimidating and busy. Don’t go on Monday nights. I know that that sounds counterproductive for me to say, but everyone feels guilty for their weekend indulgences and wants to start the week off right. If you are put off by crowds of people and waiting to use equipment, don’t go on Mondays for the first while.

Don’t make it a goal to go every day of the week either. This is a great way to incur an injury. Ease yourself into things. Maybe you want to go once or twice a week for the first couple of weeks. Taking a scheduled class that runs once or twice a week might be just what you need. You will feel you should go and it’s offered at specific times, not whenever feel up to it.

Go with a friend. This sounds easy but never is. You likely also have a friend who would like to be more active. You decide that this is something you can do together, and you can. The trouble is usually finding a time and location that will work for both of you. However, if you can, this may be a great option. No one seems to see people as often as they would like to. If you have a workout buddy you may be able to socialize while you work out together. Also, you will have a commitment and might feel that you are disappointing or letting your friend down if you don’t go or cancel on them.

Maybe the gym isn’t for you. Do you like to ride a bike, walk or run? You can do all of these things outside or even in your home with the right equipment. Once again you need to be realistic on how often you will do these activities. Make things comfortable and easy for yourself. If you feel this is a chore, you won’t want to stick with it. If you want to, you can still involve a friend or a partner to help you with your pursuits for fitness at home. This may also be a great way to involve your friends or see more of your neighbourhood or the city. Fitness doesn’t have to be expensive, it can be free.

If you want to do something socially, but not a gym, you may also want to consider joining a sports team. There are many indoor teams year round at various costs and for all ranges of abilities. There is both the Edmonton and Calgary Sport and Social Clubs where you can sign up as an individual or register a team. These are supposed to be a chance to be social and active, but do sometimes end up being competitive. Each sport and team is different though.

Perhaps you need the one on one of a personal trainer. If this is you, I advise you to look into their certifications. If you have specific health concerns, you might want to find a trainer who has expertise with your specific concerns. Personal trainers may have certification through the AFLCA (the governing Alberta fitness association) in the form of a short training course. Some have a diploma or a degree through a post secondary institution. If this is something that is important to you, you might want to learn what the letters at the end of their name stand for.

Now comes the hard part, what do you do to achieve your goal and make it a habit? Some people need to see a calendar filled with gold stars or smiley faces tracking what they’ve done. If this sounds like something you need, get a calendar, put it on your fridge. The visual affirmation might be just the reward you need for yourself. Some people need to make their goals to be made public knowledge. If everyone knows that your goal is to run 5km in 25 minutes you might push yourself harder to achieve this goal. Otherwise if you don’t work at it, you might feel like you misrepresented yourself. You can also reward yourself with a new outfit, a new gadget or a trip. If your overall goal seems too much, try setting a series of mini goals that will eventually get you to your end goal.

Try not to get discouraged when you have setbacks. Life happens and you have to be able to adapt. Don’t ever beat yourself up over bumps in the road, it just makes it that much more difficult to get into the groove again.

On behalf of Adam and Scott, I wish you all a happy healthy new year!

At the end of the show, during the Fast Sixteen segment, Sean threw down the gauntlet and asked me among all the characters in Starfleet in the Star Trek Universe, who would I want to staff a bridge crew. Who is my Star Trek dream team? Of course a question so complex as Sean’s requires a great deal of thought. So, as promised, we’re taking the discussion to the website to sort it all out.

Our Prime Directive(s)

As with any such challenge, we need to establish a set of rules for everyone to follow. You can’t just stack the deck without structure. So, Scott and I hammered out a few simple “prime directives” for this little exercise:

1. Your crew should be structured like TNG’s bridge crew. So: Captain, First Officer, Ship’s Counselor, Chief Medical Officer, Chief of Engineering, Science Officer, Tactical Officer, Operations Officer and Navigator/Pilot (am I missing anything?).
2. All crew members MUST be Starfleet officers. You can’t just decide you want General Martok to be your fearless leader. If they aren’t in Starfleet, they can’t be on your crew
3. You will be allowed one civilian crew member – bartender, hairdresser, tailor… whatever key creature comfort you think your crew will need.
4. You will be allowed one red shirt – this is your opportunity to kill a character you just don’t like. Though they’ll be wearing a red tunic, you can pick an officer of any rank to occupy this position

So, conceivably you could have Reginald Barclay as the captain of your crew. You could have that science officer with the musical talents Picard fell in love with (Nella Daren was her name, btw). Hell, you could have Captain Jellico steer the mighty Enterprise, if you so desire. Feel free to leave your picks in the comments.

Fill these chairs!

My ideal crew

This wasn’t easy… Not only did I take into consideration the individuals I considered to be the very best, but I also tried to assemble a crew that would work well together. Granted, it’s not always going to be ideal – people are going to have conflicts; that’s just humanoid nature – but I’m confident that this team of seasoned officers would steer the Enterprise to glory.

Let’s begin:

Captain: I’d be remiss if I didn’t select the First Captain of the Enterprise, as television viewers the world over knew him – those who didn’t watch the TOS pilot episode, anyhow. James T. Kirk is a proven leader, and not only on the bridge. Sometimes pushing the envelope, but always with the best interests of Starfleet and the Federation in mind, Kirk is fiercely loyal to his crew, his friends, and the women in his life – no matter the colour of their skin.

First Officer: A first officer provides the sober second thought when it comes to command decisions. Not only that, but when a captain makes up his or her mind, a first officer is responsible for carrying out those orders. I can think of no one better than Commander Worf to be Kirk’s right-hand Klingon. Now, I know Kirk wasn’t particularly fond of Klingons, but I think he and Worf would come to understand and deeply respect one another, both as colleagues and as friends.

Chief Medical Officer: When the quantum torpedoes start flying and shields are raised, you need someone who’s strong-willed and smart enough to fix the crew’s bruises and broken bones. And although you might expect me to choose Leonard “Bones” McCoy for this task, I’m going to turn this one on its ear and go with Dr. Katherine “Kate” Pulaski. I’ve come around to liking this character. I used to find her irritating and useless, but that’s because I was so focused on her abrasiveness. As Scott will [rightly] point out, she’s essentially the female equivalent of McCoy. And I think she’s just contrarian enough to get Kirk out to his medical appointments. She’ll keep the crew in tip-top shape.

Chief Engineer: Though he’s not technically an officer, I think that’s an oversight on the part of Starfleet, so I’d happily bump Starfleet’s only non-commissioned officer, Chief Petty Officer Miles O’Brien, up the chain of command so he could ensure the warp core isn’t overloading and that my transporters are always functional. O’Brien was able to keep Deep Space Nine from deep-sixing itself, which I would argue is a greater feat that Scotty’s upkeep of the Enterprise and Enterprise A. That station was a complete mess, and Miles’ technical savvy and good, old-fashioned gumption kept it in orbit around the wormhole. I’ll take Ireland over Scotland on this one.

Tactical Officer: Combat tactics are of paramount importance on any crew worth its salt. You need to be prepared to do battle with… well, anyone. And you need to be ready for any situation where your crew is at risk. That’s why I’d bring in Commander Shelby as my tactical officer. (You’ll remember her from “The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I and II.”) Shelby wasn’t accepted by the Enterprise D crew right away, but she proved she had her head on a swivel and was able to make the tough tactical decisions to see the crew through the Battle at Wolf 359.

Science Officer: Scientific exploration forms a massive part of any Starfleet mission – unless there’s total war going on. And even if there is, I’d want an officer who can drop mad science in the event of a battle or the discovery of a new life form. So Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax would grace the science station on my bridge. She has a winning personality, and seven lifetimes of knowledge and memories aren’t something you’d want to shake a stick at (or a sonic stick, as I imagine they’re called in the 24th century). You might be thinking her marriage to Worf would complicate things, but I would argue the risk was similar on DS9, and it didn’t cause any major problems in the operation of the station. It won’t be a problem here either.

Operations Officer: When you have an asset made from the finest materials, and with the computational power of 70,000 ship-board computers*, you don’t just leave him in space dock when you first set sail. Lieutenant Commander Data is the ideal operations officer. He has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to ship-board and Starfleet protocols, and can work very quickly. I think being able to lock down the Enterprise E‘s computer with a fractal encryption code alone proved Data’s worth in a stick situation. Besides, is that Crystalline Entity ever shows up again, or – god forbid – Lore decides to pull another ridiculous and deadly prank on the crew, Data will be needed. My dream crew would be incomplete without him working his fake-skin-wrapped fingers to the bone.

Pilot/Navigator: I wasn’t a big fan of the Voyager series, but there were a few characters that were definitely strong in their roles. And since this crew would no doubt be launching missions of all types – on planets, on shuttlecrafts and on the Enterprise itself, I’d want to make sure I had Lieutenant Tom Paris piloting the big show. Despite his odd proclivities and obsessions – as well as his sordid past – Paris is one of the best pilots in Starfleet. He had the avionics knowledge to develop the Delta Flyer, which proved to be a vital piece of equipment aboard Voyager, and I think his rogue ways would be something Captain Kirk could really tap into.

Ship’s Counselor: You know, there isn’t a single Starfleet officer I can think of who I’d want in this position. Counselor Troi just wouldn’t fit in with this crew, I don’t think. And Ezri Dax is out of the question, since Jadzia’s still alive – Ezri would lack some of the key ingredients that made her a half-ways decent counselor on DS9 because she wouldn’t be joined to the Dax symbiont. I think I’d leave the counselor position vacant, and maybe create a Starfleet Peer Support group. Failing that, there’s any number of historical psychologists and psychiatrists that can be accessed on the Holodeck. If you can have sexy-time on the Holodeck, surely you can use it to sort out your personal problems as well.

Civilian member: I think the entire cast of the original series proved that time isn’t kind to waistlines. And as these Starfleet missions now tend not to have time limits (five-year mission my eye!), the crew is going to need a good tailor. That’s why I’d want Garak as a civilian member of the crew. His training in the Cardassian Obsidian Order would also be a huge asset. Garak seems to have information on all manner of individuals and alien species that might be useful. And I wouldn’t dare give Kirk some other civilian to accurately measure his inside leg. Properly-fitted slacks are essential aboard a starship.

Red Shirt: I really disliked Chakotay. He was more useless than Riker. He was Janeway’s doormat, and a ham-handed attempt at introducing some Native American diversity into the Voyager universe. I’d have him see a fitting end, on my crew’s very first away-mission. Chakotay, you are phaser fodder.

Now it’s up to you…

That’s right, 60s of readers. We want to know what YOUR ideal Starfleet crew would look like. Leave us a comment with all the key players and your reasons for choosing them.

*Number is approximate

ADAM: Scott, you magnificent bastard. You have a whole room full of board games.

SCOTT: Yes. Yes, I do.

ADAM: You should review all of them.

SCOTT: That’s insane. I have way, way too many of them. It would take years.

ADAM: Do it anyway!

So here we are. Welcome to Scott’s Game Review Corner. And our first subject of review is the remake of the 1987 board game “The Fury of Dracula”, now called “Fury of Dracula.”

Fury of Dracula (2006)

Game Design: Stephen Hand & Kevin Wilson
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Number of Players: 2-5
Time: 2-3 hours
Ages: 10+
Website: www.fantasyflightgames.com

“Fury of Dracula” is a fantastic and very thematic board game by the amazing team over at Fantasy Flight Games. In fact, I should preface by noting that I have yet to actually play a FFG game that I haven’t enjoyed. They’re big into games that are atmospheric and story driven, and we’ll be looking at more and more of their games as this series goes on.

But that’s a little off topic.

“Fury of Dracula” is, essentially, a continuation of the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. Dracula has returned from the dead, and looks to get vengeance upon the hunters who defeated him once before, while planting the seeds of an empire of undeath across Europe. Now, Dr. Seward, Lord Godalming, Professor Van Helsing and Mina Harker have come back together to put an end to the count’s evil once and for all.

Components

Lets start with a look at the various components that come with the game. “Fury of Dracula”, like most FFG games, is beautifully designed, with high quality components and art.

The game comes with five character cards, various tokens, several card decks, dice, and five wonderful plastic character tokens. I wanted to include a picture of the player tokens, but unfortunately my shitty camera couldn’t manage it. I did manage a picture of the excellent board.

The play area is a map of Europe, broken into west and east. There is also an area to keep track of the time of day, counters for the hunters and Dracula to monitor their strengths, and a track where Dracula lays out his location cards.

While we’re on the subject of game components, here’s a little something I wish more games came with.

A sectioned plastic insert in the box. This makes keeping various tokens and card decks separate a snap and makes it easier to put the game away. Take note other game designers – you should all be doing this.

Gameplay

The game itself is fairly straightforward. One player is Count Dracula. His goal is to score 6 points, at which point he will win the game. He earns points by creating powerful vampire thralls, defeating the hunters in combat, and just surviving long enough. The other players are the hunters, who are on his trail. They win the game with nothing less than Dracula’s death – by reducing him to zero blood tokens.

The Dracula player, as he is competing with up to four other people, is much stronger than the mere mortals who hunt him. He has a lot more health, is stronger in combat – especially at night, more on that in a moment – and has access to some fairly devious and terrible vampiric powers.

So terrible that my camera can’t even take a proper picture of them!

But the Count is not omnipotent. He has limitations, and weaknesses. Crossing water is taxing to the count, costing him a point of blood. He is also distrustful of modern transportation, preferring his carriage – he will not make use of the train, giving the hunters the ability to move around the board faster than him.

Dracula is not stupid, though. He knows his enemies are many, and that they are formidable in their own ways. For this reason, he moves in secret across the board – leaving a trail of clues for the investigators to follow, and perils to harass them along the way.

Each of the hunters has their own strengths and weaknesses. Lord Godalming is tough, granting him a bonus in combat, and can use his family’s wealth to catch the fastest trains across the county. Dr. Seward is ever prepared, giving him the ability to hold an extra item or event card, and can help his allies recover faster. Van Helsing is motivated getting extra actions, and is wilful enough to shrug off a vampire bite. Mina Harker is well organized, and can go through the decks faster finding useful items.

Play starts with Dracula’s turn. First, time progresses. There are six phases of the day, 3 daytime and 3 nighttime. The hunters have the advantage in the day phases, while Dracula is strongest at night. Next, the count choses a location to travel to using a deck of location cards. He can only follow the path from one city to the next, and cannot double back easily. Dracula then takes an action, by either laying a trap for his pursuers, or attacking them directly.

Next up, the hunters each take a turn, moving along the board after the elusive count, and taking actions to search, rest and resupply.

The game proceeds, with the hunters and Dracula playing a game of cat-and-mouse until one side has claimed victory.

Combat is a common element in the game, as the hunters do battle with either Dracula or his various minions. The mechanic is a sort of rock-paper-scissors, combined with die rolling. Both players involved in the combat draw a tactics card, revealing them at the same time.

They then each roll a die, adding any modifiers that may be in play. The winner of the die roll looks at their card, and determines the effect that happens next based on what their opponent’s card was.

The game is also affected by events. Any time a hunter resupplies they may draw event cards, and any time they rest they must draw two of them. Event cards add an element of risk. The majority of them are cards that are to the benefit of the hunters, but mixed in are events that are actually beneficial to the count! Event cards are drawn from the bottom of the deck, so the hunters never know if they’re about to draw a card that could help them, or hinder them. For the hunters, events can be anything from a helpful tip, a useful ally, or a daring escape in the nick of time. For Dracula, events could be a fearful horse or terrible storm that leads a hunter astray, or the devilish power to foil their best laid plans.

Theme

I’m going to talk for a moment about the overall feel of the game, too. I, personally, prefer games that are little more “immersive” – games where the theme and atmosphere help to draw me in. Now, for many of you, this is going to result in some head scratching. “How do you have theme and atmosphere in a board game?”

Well, you add flavour text, art, and you design the gameplay elements in such a way that they almost tell a story.  A good board game is fun. An excellent board game is fun, and has a discernible beginning, middle and end. And by the endgame, it should feel like things have come to a climax.

Contrast with “Monopoly”, where by the endgame you want to slit your wrists. “Can we just say Dad’s the winner and go do anything else?”

"Like shove this pencil in my eye?"

Well, “Fury of Dracula” is an excellent game in this sense. The design of the gameplay is elegantly interwoven with the Vampire hunt, and the feel is desperate and dark whether you play as Dracula or one of the hunters. And the drama of the game definitely builds, creating some desperate, exciting moments, and building to a strong endgame scenario as either side makes a push for victory.

A special shout out here goes to the wonderful art in this game. It’s dark, haunting, and effective – and surprisingly sparse. Few of the cards have pictures on them, but what art there is beautiful and very appropriate.

This coupled with appropriate flavour, and a clear understanding of the “Dracula” story by the designers. The game really does follow a narrative that is a believable continuation of the classic novel.

Overall

“Fury of Dracula” is a fantastic game, with a great deal of replayability. The theme is carefully woven into the game play, and most importantly it’s fun. The hunters must work together to bring down Dracula, who smugly watches them plan while secretly planting the seeds of their doom. The strategies available to the Dracula player are many – he can be a cautious creature of the night, always a step ahead of the hunters while leaving vampiric thralls in his wake; or a bold aggressor, hunting his foes just as they hunt him.

Likewise, the hunters have many options available. They can spread out in search of Dracula and his minions, or stick together to bolster their strength. They can make haste to hunt the count quickly, or risk biding their time to gather the tools that can give them the edge.

In the end, I highly recommend “Fury of Dracula.” It’s got a great Gothic feel, and it’s damned fun to boot. Especially with a full five players.