[Board/Tactical Game]: Monsters Menace America, reviewed by Matt Drake (4/2)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11299.phtml

Matt Drake's Summary:

Pitch giant B-movie monsters against the USA and each other until only one city-crushing monster is left to rule the nation!

Go to the full review for more information.

Post originally by Matt Stevens at 2005-06-01 19:32:09
Converted from Phorums BB System

Thanks for the fine review, Matt. Oddly enough, I've played this with serious gamers and they've enjoyed it thoroughly. These were the same gamers who disliked _Betrayal at House on the Hill_ (one of the other AH/Hasbro games you reviewed, and one you were far happier with).

Part of the reason could be that MMA's very randomness, and it's simplicity, ensure that the game is *balanced* and each player always has a shot at winning the game.

We had problems with the rulebook, though. Some critical information is hidden in the sidebars, which aren't always next to the relevant section of the rules. We missed the rule that you do an extra point on damage on a "6" for example.

Post originally by Matt Drake at 2005-06-02 07:20:42
Converted from Phorums BB System

I think the problem we had with the game was the fact that once the challenge starts, it doesn't seem to matter in the least what happened for the thirty minutes leading up to it. In one game, my son was positioned to be the odds-on favorite, with full health, considerable infamy and two powerful mutations. He cleaned up on my daughter in a hurry, but then he rolled so poorly against me that I was able to use my own pile of infamy to take him down before he could use any of his bonuses to stop me. By all rights, the boy should have killed us all, but I swept in because he got unlucky and I didn't. When all your strategy goes completely to pot because of poor dice rolling, I consider that a failing of the game.

And you're also right about the rulebook, a point I should have mentioned. The book is attractive, but it takes such pains to be entertaining that it fails to hand out all the rules in a concise manner.