A Touch of Evil, The Supernatural Game

[mqstout]

So now that I've played a few games of ATOE, I can speak about my feelings for it. I'll skip straight to what you want to know most: I definitely prefer LNOE over ATOE, and not just because of the beloved zombie smashing. It is not a "bad" game. It is "Arkham Horror Light".

ATOE is a slower game, for sure. Contrary to the rules, I would recommend you never play more than one "basic game" to learn the rudiments of the rules. The basic version of the game is, well, dull. It takes MUCH longer to complete (Note that ATOE overall takes longer than LNOE.) than an advanced game. It's also lacking in much strategy compared to advanced game. Advanced mode's full use of the secrets cards on the elders make elder investigation more than "Okay, I'm going into the showdown next turn, I'll investigate everyone this turn." The villains all feel the same in the basic game, without their advanced game abilities and minion charts. I should note that my group has not yet attempted a cooperative game.

The game balance is fun, and nothing feels out of whack yet (but we have yet to encounter everything). We are keeping our eye on one of the heroes though -- she has an ability ("Manipulation") that makes it very, very easy for her to dodge dozens of wounds. The rules have a lot more gray and unexplained parts to them compared to LNOE, and an online FAQ and/or errata will definitely be necessary to iron them out. Many times while playing, certain situations came up and we referenced the rules and came to the honest conclusion of "we don't know, there's nothing in here that says clearly one way or the other". [If you're curious, one of these points is regarding whether moving through a space with a murder of crows can cause you discard; another involves rolling a movement die of 1 and then deciding not to move afterall.]

Thematically, the game's ambiance (I do not include the CD in this at all) is there and it's fun. Katerina is on too many card pictures, though! The town elders are an essential part of the game's feel. Without them, the game would feel stagnant as a period piece. There are a few weird things that can come up with items. You can buy a musket from the town blacksmith, have a musket from one of the corner locations, and also have a rifle from a different corner location -- and all three of their bonuses will apply to you! While I'm admittedly not a fan of changing games for realism, this just makes everyone slap their foreheads when it comes up (and it will!).

I have also come to the same conclusion others have about the board. It's too small and it ages quickly. It's common for someone basically to be able to move clear across the board on one move with no problem. There are also unused tiles on the board. The lack of any interactivity of the 'empty' spaces makes someone more often than not just not move until they roll enough movement go clear to the next named space. The Old Woods is also farther away from town hall than the rest (being Honor based, I understand this from a balance perspective), and it definitely is visited much less than any of the other three corners. The crossroads is NEVER used unless it comes up on a lair card or when The Drifter starts there.

Lastly, it is easy to miss dice you should have rolled. It's not unlikely that you'll be rolling 10+ dice from various sources at different points of the game. The game play slows down a lot when you have to go through and figure out just how many dice you have to roll for any given action ("My combat has 4 base, +1 item, +1 item, +2 event, +1 town elder, +5 fire item, oh damn, I forgot another +1 militia... Now let me count my Spirit to make sure it's not higher and that I'd rather use that instead..."), especially when it often changes from round to round.

Soundtrack: It's better than LNOE's, but still not so great. I'd rather the packaging be arranged for better storage of game pieces than allocating space to the CD.

I may edit this post later if more comes to mind. I just got back from my weekend at the cottage gaming, and I'm tired.