RavensburgerHorrified: American Monsters Strategy Board Game - Engaging and Scalable Gameplay | Classic Cryptids Adventure | Perfect for Family Game Nights | Ages 10 & Up

Junk or Jive: Review after five playsI never played the original Horrified board game, which has Dracula and Frankenstein. I was interested in this version of the game, because it has Bigfoot. I'm not a usually interested in cryptids, but my recent visit to Washington peaked my interest in Bigfoot.I really liked the production of the game: the artwork is fantastic, the plastic miniatures are nice, there is diversity in the characters in terms of race and gender, the cardboard tokens are clear, distinct, have nice artwork, and are thick so they don't feel cheap or flimsy and should last a while. The game is easy to learn and play - we were able to set up the game and start playing. I mostly had my 15-year-old cousin set up the game and basically manage everything for me. We did make some errors in the rules and some of the rules are not clear. The last time I played, we played everything correctly and won with 2 players and 4 cryptids. We did try one game with all 6 cryptids and I don't recommend that.I think that this game might be harder for some to learn from the rulebook and start playing right away if they have only played games like Sorry! or Monopoly. Maybe if they have played Axis and Allies, which has a more complicated set-up and lots of pieces. I think that the rules make assumptions that the people reading them understand everything. Not to worry, there is a Watch It Played video on the original Horrified and I'm assuming that most of what is in that game translates here.The main mechanisms in the game include action points (i.e. a player has 4 action points - they can take 4 actions on their turn before the monster phase) and pick-up-and-deliver (i.e. a player can spend an action to pick up items, then spend other actions to move to a location to "deliver" the items). The starter monsters, the Banshee and Mothman, are great to start with because they don't add mechanisms to the game. The other monsters add more complexity:1, Bigfoot takes a different order of actions during the monster phase: he moves then rolls dice if a character did not end their turn with him or "babysit" him as we call it. When Bigfoot moves, he leaves footprint tokens behind. Players need to collect his footprints and when they do, a photo is revealed/flipped over. Then players need to go to the High School to spend tokens to swap/slide the photos into the correct order. The rules were not specific in saying ALL photos need to be turned over, but instead it says in the correct alignment, but you can deduce that the photo is in the correct alignment even without flipping over the last photo. A minor point, but something that could have been avoided in the rulebook by saying all photos need to be turned over.2. The Ozark Howler seems easy at first, because all you need to do is go to the Abandoned Mine and spend an action to flip over a path token which lists requirements (i.e. yellow tokens totaling 7), then return to the abandoned mine and turn in the requirements (items) and remove a path token. However, in the monster deck, the Ozark Howler event can replace completed pathway tokens so I would not attempt completing this monster's objective until you already have enough tokens among players or even enough tokens on the board. The Ozark Howler event cards also gives a death omen to players and on subsequent turns, the death token acts as an automatic "hit" regardless of the monster activated. Thankfully, your death omens go away after you're sent to the hospital and have a "near death experience".3. The Jersey Devil I thought was the most interesting, because when he is in play, all of the citizens are removed from the Monster deck, which means that every single turn ends with a monster phase in which a monster card is revealed which is less favorable for players. Less tokens are also added to the board when the citizens aren't around. This changes strategy - do you want to postpone working on the Jersey Devil so that citizens don't get revealed and possible eaten by a monster thereby increasing the terror level? But if you wait too long, you can run out of cards and lose the game. Whenever we play with the Jersey Devil, we postpone complete=ing his objectives until we are out of monster cards that way the monster deck will be mostly all citizen cards in the second half of the game. This sometimes induces stress.What I did not like about the Jersey Devil, is that you would think there is some mystery to figure out who is the Jersey Devil in disguise (it's one of the citizens) but it comes down to figuring out the mystery citizen using three trait tokens. Then you look through the citizen card pictures and figure out who has all three traits. Then you go to the location where that citizen starts to turn in items. So there isn't really a unique or thematic mystery; more of a checklist of things to do. And it is possible that the location/citizen could change due to a monster card. We had several instances where we uncovered three tokens/traits and none of the citizens fit the bill. One game, we revealed nearly all the tokens following the rule in the book which is to replace the third token in the "rare" situation in which a citizen doesn't match the 3 traits. It was more of a common situation for us.We watched "In Search of Monsters" episode on the Jersey Devil to learn more about this cryptid. It was entertaining to supplement the board game with a tv show to bring more life to the characters.4. Mothman is the only other cryptid I had heard of besides Bigfoot, because of the 2002 movie Mothman Prophesies. We never had much issue with completing the Mothman objectives and have easily avoided him or his negative effects.The gameplay has two phases:I. Player spends their action points - moving around, shuttling citizens, collecting items, avoiding monsters, doing special actions, etc.II. A monster card is drawn, which has an array of actions that are done from top to bottom. First, any items that need to be added are drawn from the velcro bag and placed on the board. Then the event takes place if that monster is in play. Then some of the monsters take actions. The Frenzy token is initially placed on the lowest rank monster and it is possible for a monster to be activated twice in one monster phase. The activated monster will move unless they are already in a location with a player or a citizen. Then a number of dice is rolled as indicated on the card. Stars are hits and "!" refers to a special action on the monster card.I enjoyed our plays of Horrified: American Monsters. The theme comes out in this game because the characters have one unique special action and distinguish the players. The monsters have different objectives and ways to defeat them, though some of them feel the same, because essentially you turn in tokens and then you turn in tokens. Which may be why I liked the Jersey Devil, because he changes the game set up, and you have to successfully deliver citizens to their safe zones, and THEN you can turn in tokens. I like the artwork, the layout of the board is mostly clear and thematic. I like that you can level up the game to meet your needs: You can have an easier game if you are just learning the game or you have new players, or you can add in the most difficult monsters for a night of mayhem. I liked the game more than I expected and it is an approachable game that a lot of people can enjoy. Just be warned that there may be a lot of small tokens that are necessary for the game and you may want to make find some way to easily organize and take inventory of your game pieces.In the end, I decided not to keep this game, because for me, I think that the item collecting becomes repetitive and I already have several co-operative games that I prefer. I would be interested in trying out the other Horrified games (the original and the Greek monsters). I would recommend this game for people who enjoy the theme, enjoy cooperative games. I am passing on my copy to family because I think that this game can be enjoyed by a large range of people.

Horrified: American Monsters is a cooperative board game for 1-5 players that was first released in 2021. The game is designed by Prospero Hall and published by Ravensburger. It is a well-designed game that's easy to learn. This game has great production quality, a vibrant look, and multiple difficulty levels. It can also be played as a solo adventure.The rules from Horrified: American Monsters are basically taken verbatim from the original Horrified. If you're familiar with the original Horrified, save yourself some time and just read up on the monster section in the rules for this game. This time you face The Jersey Devil, Mothman, Chupacabra, The Banshee of the Badlands, The Mothman, and The Ozark Howler. (they called it "American Monsters," not "U.S. Monsters") A new map with a refreshed layout and unique monsters offer new (and actually fun) challenges.The gameplay is quite straightforward: players must move around the towncollecting items and weapons that can be used to defeat the monsters. Each monster has unique abilities and weaknesses, and players must use strategy to figure out the best way to defeat them.One of the strengths of Horrified: American Monsters is its theming and presentation. The game board, player pieces, and monster miniatures are all beautifully designed and well-crafted, capturing the classic horror movie aesthetic perfectly. Cooperation is definitely needed to defeat these beasts. Communication is essential and sometimes unconventional choices will work the best.But despite the great gameplay of cooperative play, the reason to purchase this game is for its solo mode. It excels. The rules are nearly identical to cooperative ones, with only a few changes needed. When playing solo, the rules have you playing as a single investigator, but try using a pair, it works so well. (think Skully and Muldaur). You probably will never go back to playing as a single investigator again. Its replayability is also high because of the different monster combinations and difficulty levels that can be chosen.Above all, it’s the feel of the game that matters, and this has more of a sense of place than the original. The risks of losing are just as great as ever, and the monsters can be every bit as terrifying as the movie villains of the main game. The combinations of unique monsters and random elements will make each play experience completely unique, and allows for a wide range of challenges.Overall, Horrified: American Monsters is a fun and challenging game that is well worth playing, especially if you are a fan of solo/cooperative board games and/or classic horror movies. Get this game. You will be glad you did.

Horrified, a co-op game inspired by classic monster movies, showcases clever thematic design and a sense of urgency through various objectives, limited actions, and a race against time. Yet, it falls short in delivering unexpected surprises due to the lack of a mechanism akin to Pandemic's Infection Cards.Player agency and strategic depth also suffer in Horrified. Decision-making often feels straightforward and lacks complexity, while the limited number of board locations simplifies travel. The game's linear nature may leave seasoned gamers wanting more.Despite these critiques, Horrified is an accessible entry-level co-op game, simplifying the complexity of games like Pandemic. Its classic monster theme and thematic mechanics make it appealing to those looking for a straightforward, thematically rich co-op experience.