Review: Monsters on Board

ON YOUR TURN

In Monsters on Board the dice are literally loaded with so many different opportunities to weigh. It’s your challenge to determine the most efficient course to use this wealth of options. It starts and ends with 6 different colored dice. Each die has a specific color, value and series of icons that will be activated at various points on your turn to earn different benefits. Scoring throughout the game is very fluid, so it will be up to you to devise and stick to a plan that supplements your pursuit with the right upgrades and scoring opportunities.

To begin each round, players draw 4 dice into their personal Spookmobile, drafting 1 and passing the rest along to the next player. This is repeated until each Spookmobile is exhausted. While choosing a single dice seems simple enough, the versatility of the dice create so many interesting options and paths. It’s critical to formulate a plan of attack while also attempting to perceive your needs in order to achieve your goals. Goals begin with a drawn prophecy card showing the pattern you’ll need to match on your Spider Jack dice tracks in order to gain the most spook juice. Each lord track is made up of 3 rows, each able to fit 6 dice. It’s inevitable that you will fill all the lord track spots before the end of the game… the real question is: What will you do with the dice you place? These track goals may mean one row is required to be the same color or value while another may need to be in ascending or descending value or perhaps you’ll need to execute a string of mathematical equations with your die. Whatever the goal might be, this will require foresight and intentionality on your part.

When I say “versatility” in the dice, I mean that each will benefit your cause in a series of seemingly unrelated areas that all eventually work to benefit one another. After exhausting the Fearmobiles by drafting 4 dice in the round, players will use each dice color to move the corresponding grunt along the town track. Thematically, this is the path to scare up some spook juice. Each grunt has their own colored journey and moves individually through the neighborhoods earning bonuses specific to their path.

From there, players choose 3 of the 4 dice to transfer to one of the 3 Spider Jack tracks. This is where players will need to consider any end game bonus cards as well as the values and icon bonuses on each die. When placed, the player will get to activate every icon on the dice (typically 2 or 3). These bonuses may further the progress of the grunts in town, change additional die values or activate a number of other benefits.

Players also have access to additional tracks called Summoner tracks as well as minions that can help grunts move more quickly through the town.

The lone remaining drafted die will be used to gain malice, which is essential money based on the die value to be used on the upcoming spook phase. This is the cherry on the top of an interesting push-and-pull between gaining bonuses, targeting dice to meet your goals and earning malice. This all might seem complicated and time consuming, but it’s all done simultaneously and flows really smoothly.

During the spook phase players can choose to purchase cards providing a variety of point scoring conditions. These may alter your lord track strategy or change up the pace you want your grunts to travel the towns. Alternatively, players can purchase ghost tokens that act like landmine bonuses, upgrading spaces throughout the towns that are triggered when activated.

This cycle repeats over the course of the game’s 6 rounds—drafting dice, pursuing wider goals and continuously refining your pursuit. Scoring comes in the form of points earned during the game, completed objective cards and grunts who completed the trek through the series of villages. The player with the most spook juice (points) at the end of the game is declared the winner.

EXPAND THE PARTY

Monsters on Board: Monster Mixer provides 4 new modules you can incorporate into the game. The first has you hosting a dinner party and attempting to cater to the guests food preferences. The second has players entering a “body” building contest attempting to piece together a Frankenstein monster. The third has players attempting to solve a murder mystery before the murder takes place. The 4th allows you to enter a drunken marathon. Each expansion is relatively simple to integrate into the game—essentially providing an additional mini game. The real value is in the thematic addition to the game since the mini games are so silly and preposterous. So… not essentially, but a fun addition for fans of the game.

COMPONENTS & ARTWORK

Monsters on Board is a colorful hodgepodge of silly illustrations, dark, yet vibrant colors and quality components. The colorful dice alone could be the attraction if it wasn’t for the crazy monsters and variety of tokens and markers. I had the opportunity to play the deluxe edition that came with a small army of miniatures. They added a lot to the game’s tangible aesthetics, but I can see plenty of value in a retail version where these minis are replaced by cardboard standees or colorful tokens.

The individual player boards are a little bit of a mixed bag. While I like the detail, the town track comes across a little convoluted and hard to follow. While there are icons to provide direction, I had to correct a couple people on the proper way to travel from town to town. The central board holding the items available for purchase harkens back to some of the fun pieces from Final Frontier’s previous game: Merchant Cover. In fact, much of the game’s production—while completely unique on its one—has a bit of a Merchant’s vibe to it. This rings most true in the 3-D Spookmobile models. These are a delight to put together, serving as their own special craft projects.

Overall, the artwork has tons of personality and brings loads of value to the game. There is plenty of it too. Many of the cards available for purchase at the market have unique, quality illustrations featuring a variety of ghouls and creatures.

The game isn’t super complex, but I did find the rulebook to be overly simplified. I would love to have a bit more instruction and examples to help drive home some of the mechanics. We got there, but I would have felt a little better with a more expansive rulebook to guide me.

PROS & CONS

➕ The theme is a big draw for me. I love the idea of a monster mixer and I enjoy tying in the grunts and the pursuit of spook juice. It definitely elevates what could have been a more standard dice-drafting euro.

➕ I’m a big fan of the dice in this one. There are tons of different choices to make with each drafting round and the benefits feel substantial.

➕ Like a good euro, the game’s different tracks all potentially benefit one another—providing unique ways to build combos and execute your strategy in interesting ways.

➕ Final Frontier Games always brings the production and artwork and this is no exception.

➕ The iconography is clear and thematic. There are a number of symbols, but the board does a good job connecting each to their benefit and it all comes together fairly quickly.

➕ Setup for this is surprisingly quick for a game with this many pieces.

➕ The game works well at each play count and length doesn’t change too much for higher player counts

➖ Despite the dice drafting element, player interaction is relatively low.

➖ The monster boards feel a little congested and hard to move with the monster miniatures

Neutral – This is a mid-weight game that might feel a little light for hardened gamers, but a little more challenging than some gateway players want to take on.

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Players looking for a mid-weight dice drafting game who are intrigued with the silly, halloween theme will get the most enjoyment out of this one. That might seem a little niche, but that’s pretty much 75% of all gamers I’ve ever met.

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about this game are the multi-purpose dice. They are colorful and provide lots of interesting decisions. While it’s easy to get lost in all their benefits, carefully planning to maximize these benefits as you draft is the difference between winners and losers.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Monsters on Board is a neat dice puzzle where plays have to manage a number of moving parts to effectively and efficiently maximize their spook juice score. It seems to take the central idea behind games like Segrata and Roll Player and attempts to bring it to the next level… And for the most part it’s successful. The mechanics aren’t super complicated, but efficiently maximizing your resources to build valuable chains and achieve your personal goals can be a bit of a brain burner. The theme and beautiful artwork by The Mico really bring tons of life and enjoyment. Each grunt is silly and fun, upping the engagement factor with each turn.

This isn’t a serious game for grumpy gamers. If Monsters on Board was applying for a job, his middle name would be “fun”. While there is an engaging puzzle central to the game, the theme, artwork, colorful components and silly setup obviously want you to have a good time. I think Monsters on Board is a great experience and I look forward to seeing reactions from a larger audience beyond the Kickstarter campaign. I can definitely see this one sitting alongside Horrified and a few select others as choice Halloween essentials.