LnoE vs MoM

[Old Dwarf]

MoM has sucked a lot of oxygen out of the Horror Gaming community,
so when I saw this post on BGG by "Sodaklady" I thought
this community might find it interesting as several members
have both Games.It would be interesting to see what those
of you who play both think.

Mansions of Madness» Forums » Reviews
Subject: I'd Rather Be Playing LNoE -- A Knee-jerk Review


"This is not an in-depth review; there are several good ones already if that’s what you’re looking for. This is a knee-jerk, first impression review and you know what they say: first impressions are important.

My friend, Mike, brought Mansions of Madness over yesterday. He’s a Fantasy Flight fan so I am put upon to play many of their games with their wonderful sculpts, myriad quality pieces, and at least a dozen tiny decks of cards. Mansions of Madness is not an exception.

The first thing I notice as Mike is setting up is the lovely artwork on the map boards. The garden caught my eye first, and I wanted to take a lawn chair and a book and sit there enjoying the tranquility it seemed to have. Then I saw the work room next to it, a blood-spattered sheet on the table. Oh, no, there’s no tranquility here, let’s move on. The foyer is classy with its black and white checkered floor and softly colored rugs; a grand staircase leading up and branching off in two directions. The artwork truly cannot be faulted.

The set-up takes quite awhile, as usual, but Mike is a FF pro and has everything well-organized so it’s on the table in about 15 minutes even with my interruptions to show him a video of the next game I want.

I’m then presented with a stack of characters to choose from and take two. The characters seem very simple with only 3 characteristics to deal with. Ahh, there’s more; two other sets of cards to choose from, each with 3 or 4 more characteristics. That’s more like it. The artwork is nicely mood-inducing, and the fonts are easy to read even with older eyes.

Now for the game play, which separates the men from the boys’ toys. As the good guys, I get to move 2 spaces and do one action on my turn. Actions include running (which means I can move 1 extra space), explore (turn over a card in the room), fight a bad guy/monster, use the ability of a card item I might have, drop an item I have, or use an item in the room such as a chest of drawers to block a doorway or hiding in a trunk. This seems very simple. Yet it’s not.

Some doors are locked or jammed so you may have to roll to test your strength, or solve a puzzle, or have a key before you can pass through. If a bad guy appears in the room with you, you can’t just run away. First you have to roll to see if he frightened you enough to damage your sanity, then you have to roll to see if you have the agility to evade him. I found this tedious, but then I’m probably not the target audience since these RPG-style games are not my favorite.

Then the bad guy, the Keeper, takes his turn, throwing bad guys at you or moving the ones already on the board. This is also the time when two good guys can trade items if they’re in the same space. Why? Why is this part of the Keeper’s turn? I found this counter-intuitive.

Another part of the Keeper’s turn is keeping track of the Event Deck, placing a token on it to keep track of the number of turns. After 3 to 6 turns, the Event takes place, moving the scenario along in its specific direction.

The good guys come into this house with only a vague idea of what they are to accomplish and must search the rooms looking for clues and items of importance. At a certain point in the scenario, they are given their objective, and hopefully they have done a good enough job of finding stuff and killing off monsters to fulfill it before time runs out (the last Event card is turned over).

My impression of this game began to blossom after the second Event card was turned over: it’s very scripted. Between the clues I needed to find and the Event deck keeping to its schedule, I didn’t feel like I had a lot of choices but was being shuffled along the appropriate path, like a rail shooter in a video game. By the half-way point of the game, I had decided that this was a lot of fiddly work for very little game play. I could get a better story from Last Night On Earth: The Zombie Game, have more freedom in how I wanted to approach my objective, and the luck factor would be just the same: hope the dice and the card deck favor you this night.

[mqstout]

This blurb reads as though it could have been written by me. I share pretty much every opinion written there. The only [gameplay] part of MoM I did like is the "we don't know what we're here to do, yet". My friends don't get why I'm not a fan of Fantasy Flight... The FF game I've really enjoyed (and thus bought) was Fury of Dracula.

Think you could post a direct link to the original?

[Old Dwarf]

(03-27-2011 02:05 PM)mqstout Wrote:  Think you could post a direct link to the original?

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/6349...erk-review

OD

[gavindowning]

Well, the game is certainly not for everyone. My favorite board game is Touch of Evil, actually, but while I've only played one session of MoM so far, we all really enjoyed it. I can't disagree with his opinion, certainly. There ARE many decks. And this can make things feel tedious to some players. Others won't be so bothered by this, and will enjoy a very immersive story -- which he admits isn't something he looks for in a board game.

As an unrelated side note, I LOVED Tomb of Dracula... and I will never buy it. Mostly because no one will ever agree play it with me again. (I believe the phrase "bag of dicks" was used frequently as they sought to locate me. I don't understand! I was having a great deal of fun!)

[Old Dwarf]

I really love MoM but it's a Game you really need to play for the expierence rather a flat out competitive Game.
I wish they had made Inv.against the Game like AtOE.

Still the first time you play a MoM story the sense of suspense & tension matches a good horror film.
AToE is my favorite as well but MoM is right there with it.

OD

[gavindowning]

I did a couple more games of it yesterday. One, I messed up; the heroes won solely because I dropped the ball and wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing until it was too late to solve it.

I did much better in the second game. I got to pick on my wife quite a bit, as my goal was to drive her character insane and then kill her.

She was cornered in a closet, with Mi-Gos and zombies all around her, when her hired assistant, pursued by one last zombie, rushed into the crypt, found the last clue, and, despite his low intelligence, spent the last of his skill points to solve the puzzle and break the curse, winning the game. It was down to the wire -- there was a single turn left for the whole game, and I would have likely driven her insane and killed her on my next turn.

It was a TON of fun.

[willco]

Really, comparing the two is like apples and oranges, don't you think?

They really scratch very different itches.

I *can* say, however, this:

Shame on you, FFG, those zombie figs suck.

[Habanero]

I have both games, although I have only played each a couple of times now.

In my opinion, they really are different games, which create different play experiences. LnoE seems to provide more of a jump in and have fun game. MoM seems much more serious, like more is at stake.

The hero characters in LnoE seem a little easier to connect with, but also feel cheesy at the same time. The MoM hero's seem more old school, yet more complex. The LnoE characters can die very easily, while the MoM characters have much more life and sanity points to spare. MoM investigators can survive many encounters with monsters, while LnoE hero's can get wacked in 1 turn fairly easily.

As far as the script goes, in LnoE, everyone is aware of the objectives, as they are all described on a 3x5 card. They are direct and specific, and have less to do with the game dynamics. If your mission is to find gas and keys for a truck, or kill zombies, the game experience pretty much functions in the same manner. However, in MoM, the objectives are revealed as the investigator characters advance through the game, and there is a definite perspective of discovery and mystery.

In MoM, the Keeper has such a huge responsibility. They make or break the game IMO. Not only are they responsible that each piece is placed exactly in the correct spot during setup, but they also run the cards and objects on the board, as well as manage the storyline. The Keeper has to know everything that is happening with the scenario in order to bring the story to life. This is where the game will either feel like you are simply following a card to the next clue, or you are heading to a section of the mansion where cultists are performing a ritual where you have to interrupt things before a sacrifice occurs. The little clue card cannot bring justice to the story, so the Keeper needs to add things like this. Then, it feels like the clue cards are supportive of the story that the Keeper is illuminating by their manipulation of monsters, as well as verbal storytelling. I have found that they game itself only provides a few descriptions of the scenario progression, which may not tell much of the story at all, and it is up to the Keeper to tie everything together, and help the investigators better understand what is happening in the story. If you fail at this, the game will suck, as there is not enough information on the tiny clue cards to carry the story.

In LnoE, the player controlling the Zombies does not have as much responsibility or involvement in the story. They are more in charge of placing and moving the zombies, which have some rules to how they must act. You can just review a few rules, and jump in, and place / move zombies. This is easier for people who want to play the evil aspect of the game, but do not have 2 hours to learn the scenario, and setup the board prior to playing 1 game.

I really like both games. MoM is more of an immersive experience for our guests. People take it more seriously, and it can be more freaky. People seem to get serious about not dying, and take more caution regarding their actions. LnoE is more of a fun zombiefest, where the scenarios are catchy, and people are laughing and thinking the zombies are cool. It tends to have a more cooperative feel to it, and is so simplistic, new players catch on in about 10 - 15 minutes. MoM may take a 2 hour scenario for new folks to catch on, and then they will want to play another game once they get it, which will take a while to setup, especially if the keeper doesnt know the scenario.

[Wanderer999]

AMAZING HOW DESCENT WASN'T EVEN MENTIONED!

For those who didn't know, Descent is the father of all fathers for such games where one player is a baddie and pitted against the rest. If you truly loved MOM or LNOE style, wait till you try Descent...

As the Dungeon master, you get to lay traps as you wish, spawn creatures around corners and swarm the players' party.

There was only one major issue - time. The game took an average of 4 hours to complete, though every moment was tense.

Link: http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17226...n-the-dark

P.S: If you guys wanna get it, don't. There is a 2nd edition coming soon by FFG.

[SovTech]

I prefer LNoE to MoM and Descent. Mostly because of the theme, but also because of the replayability and that there are fewer rule flaws in LNoE. However, I immensely enjoyed Descent for many years, but MoM falls between two chairs for me, namely an rpg and a boardgame. Every time I play it I am wishing that I either played Arkham Horror, or Call of Cthulhu...

Cheerio,
ST