At the same time, we are trying to finish our 10x10 Challenge as well as helping my mother complete hers before the year is over. With our list, we have a few games left that are longer to play so we are attempting to find the right balance in time to learn new games and get complete others.
Oh yeah, did I also mention that our 3-year-old is on high-octane energy most of the time now so finding moments to relax is becoming harder too. Even as I typing this she is climbing all over me wanting even more attention.
MONSTERS ON BOARD (2022)
BGG Description
It’s close to midnight...one week before the Blue Moon Monster Mixer at Spook Manor. To throw a proper monster mash, you only need one thing—Spook Juice—and you’re gonna need an awful lot of it for these party animals. Spook Juice is a powerful spirit distilled from human fear, and the main ingredient in every popular monster drink. The bad news is that you’re completely out of it. The good news is that the nearby town, Startleton, is a great place to scare some up.
You need to send your Monster disciples to scare up some of that sweet Spook Juice. So dust off your Fearmobiles and get your scariest Monsters on Board!
Monsters on Board is a dice-drafting game that takes place over six rounds. Each round, players will draft Monster Lords (dice) arriving from out of town in Fearmobiles, trying to fulfill their Prophecy cards.
After each player drafts four Monsters, they will send them to the Order of Spider Jack. Monsters sent here will give players actions, as well as Spook Juice when Spider Jack is summoned. The higher the die’s number, the scarier the Monster, which means the more Spook Juice they will scare up for you. However, scarier Monsters have fewer and less powerful actions, while less frightening Monsters have more powerful actions (they try harder)— so choose wisely!
Drafted Monsters also move their matching colored Grunt (Monster miniature) through the Town of Startleton, scaring the townspeople with the help of their little Minions (miniatures). In doing so, Grunts will award players bonus actions. If the Grunts terrorize the town well enough, they will grant bonus Spook Juice during final scoring.
Additionally, players will draft Arch Monsters and Ghosts that will help them achieve their goals.
During final scoring, players will gain additional Spook Juice based on how well they completed their Prophecy cards, scared the Town, and appeased the Arch Monsters. The player with the most Spook Juice wins!
—description from the publisher
Weight 2.79/5
A Little More Info
The BGG description provides a good overall summary of the game. There are only a few things I would further expand on to help understand more of the game.
First, you need to earn malice which allows you to gain the Arch Monsters (for end game scoring) and Ghosts (that help your Grunts to move through town). You earn malice in various ways such as an action icon on the Lord die you drafted, a bonus space in the public areas of town, and more importantly using the remaining Lord die drafted to gain malice base on the number on the die (a 1 or 2 earns 1 malice, a 3 or 4 earns 2 malice, and a 5 or 6 earns 3 malice).
Second, any Arch Monster card you take can be used for either end game scoring or you can flip it over and do one of the six available actions on the back of the card (returning the used card to the game box).
Next, when placing your Lord Dice in the Order of Spider Jack area, you must remember what you need to do on your prophecy card. At the end of the game, if you complete everything on the card you earn the maximum 50 points available, which can heavily assist you in winning the game.
The last thing that we want to mention is that if you are noticing that you are drafting more dice of one color, you want the monster of that color to reach the last space through town because you earn three spook juice per die of that color (this has provided my wife the win a few times now).
What we like about the game
The artwork by "The Mico" is again wonderful. There is just something about his style of artwork that draws us in. If you are wanting a non-scary looking Halloween theme, this game satisfies the need.
Next, Final Frontier Games is known for their dice-worker placement. This one is another successful game with that mechanic. We love that the dice in the game have multiple uses. From the color (moving your Monsters) to the number (used for the prophecy cards), and to the various action options on them (for progressing in the various tracks of the game).
The rule book is easy to read and follow. The back page which contains the glossary of all the symbols in the game is clear and concise. We had no issues understanding what they all mean.
The amount of time the game takes is right on par. Because the first four phases of the round is taken together, the only downtime is with the last step when you can use your malice to purchase Ghosts and Arch Monsters. But this is even minimal because you can plan while others take their turn.
We do like the looks of the deluxe components (the version we own) and they are done very well but we do have some issues with them too (see next section). We do love the pumpkin Spider Jack dice, the monster and minion miniatures, and even the plastic Fearmobiles (very durable). The first player and malice markers are also really cool looking.
What we don’t like about the game
What we don’t like, which will apply to the standard and deluxe versions is that the coloration on the ghosts are faint pastel colors which can make it difficult to identify the pink and red ghosts.
The rest apply to the deluxe version only….
The deluxe wooden Spookjuice (victory point) markers are a little large for the tracks and the scoring tracks only goes up to 99 and every game we played we have scored beyond that. What needed to be added is a 100+point indicator.
Next, the minion miniatures and a few monsters should have been just a hair smaller to better fit on the town tracts. The summoning markers in the deluxe edition are tall and a bit awkward and can be tipped over with a slight nudge of the table (but they are very cool looking).
Also, a few of the plastic Fearmobiles are a little deep and can make taking out the dice a bit difficult.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This game is a hit for us. We love the theme, we love the game play, and we love the art work.
We do have the expansion to the game which adds multiple modules to the gameplay. We hope to try them out soon.
The game also comes with instructions for a more family friendly version for younger kids to sit and play. This is something we have not seen with our other games and will look forward to teaching our daughter the game when she is a little older.
So, if you love dice worker-placement games this game is for you. Even with all the symbols in the game, everything is easy to understand and is a fast learn.
FAMILY GAMER VERDICT
We give this game an 8 out 10.
We would recommend this being added to your collection not only for Halloween time but for throughout the year as well… so much so that this is one of my wife’s picks for our 10 x 10 challenge for 2023.
Either the standard or deluxe versions would look great on your shelves.
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