Boss Monster: My Favorite Mechanism

[@AnimatorVector]

I just played this one last night for the first time, we loved it. Another key element for me is the synergy between dungeons and spells. It is always great to make combos in any game, but here it feels more thematic. We played Here to Slay before, and most of the spells were just modifiers, but in Boss Monster you play with the position of the dungeons, the movement of the heroes, etc. It is very satisfying to have a very low-key dungeon, but with very powerful spells that kill the hero not just because it says +5, but because you used it at the right time to change the setup of your dungeon. It feels that you need a little bit of skill to actually use the spells correctly, or the dungeon effects correctly.

[@jameystegmaier]

Good timing for this video! I agree that the spatial combos are great in this game.

[@tiredsentinel1724]

This is a game the whole family enjoys!

[@ColonelKurtz]

Not quite the same, but I do like that in Horrified, on occasion, you might need to move your characters closer to a monster to lure them away from a villager, location, or another player.

[@janwillem_vl]

Dungeon Lords is a game with the same theme, where the heroes aren't enticed by the contents of your dungeon, but rather by how evil you are. Other than that, balancing survival vs more points sounds a lot like a push-your-luck element like in Incan Gold or Port Royal. There are also games where you can try to 'entice' your opponents to use your action spaces like Le Havre, Keyflower, Ora et Labora, but that's not really the same I guess.

[@jameystegmaier]

You're absolutely right! I think I've only played Dungeon Petz.

[@TalenLee]

It's not an uncommon mechanism, but we normally see it as push your luck - is this a big enough reward, will this get the job done? - versus the actual tension between how much of your game system is there to invite harm and how much of it is to deal with it.

[@jameystegmaier]

Totally, I can see that!

[@vincentskater]

Man, you're making me wish I didn't sell this game xD this is the game that got me into board games. I got rid of it simply because it didn't hit the table anymore. But, I loved loved the room cards, and the Spell card interactions made the game turn hilarious and epic xD I played with a draft at the beginning of the game instead of getting dealt 7 cards and discarding two, so that reduced a bit of "luck of the draw" strategies. Awesome game though , and great designer notes on it too

[@jameystegmaier]

Thanks Vincent! Talking about it (and hearing your excitement) makes me want to revisit it as well!