Reaction: Monsterpocalypse

After a few weeks of browsing the manual from the starter set and picking up boosters are random, I was moderately ready to demo the game with Weirdguy. Here are my initial reactions as a complete n00b to this game.

First, it's a pretty hard sell as far as CMGs go. The requires that each player picks up a “starter set.” This means between 2 people to play, they invest $50USD (at MSRP) up front for the absolute minimum playable equipment. Considering the requirements of the game (each player needs a set of the specialty dice, a Monster figure, a group of Units figures, a map, and at least 4 buildings on the map), this is, quite frankly, the most affordable way to get startered. That's because if one were to acquire the dice and an absolute minimum of miniatures to play, one would spend a lot more on individual products in the line.

On the other hand, if you're lucky enough to be Weirdguy and know me, then you get to check out the game for free because my OCD tendencies have made me purchase enough stuff to allow 2 players stage a very simple game.

Secondly, it's a very young game. Game evolve over time. Revisions get added to subsequent additions. Rules get tweaked with official errata. Clarifications are provided. None of this seems to exist for Monsterpocalypse. The rulebook is all you get and you really need to read it very carefully to understand every nuance when it comes to the little things that Privateer Press seems to assume you should grasp right away.

The box came with a fold-out helpfully marked “Read this first!” in large bold print. This seems to be a trend – they are eager to get you started with a run-down of the game mechanics. However, like my experience with the AT-43 Initiation Set, this introduction won't help you set up the an actual game. In the end, you still need to read the thick full-colour 60-page rulebook.

Once we set up, we got down to spawning Spawning our Units and trying to Advance them towards each other. I did the obvious things like paying Action dice to move each figure and rolling attacks. But sooner than later, we started to come across the little not-so-obvious questions. Like what to do with the Power-Dice (could we use them to supplement any rolls we want?). Do Power Attacks cost the required minimum 1 Action die and 1 Power die in addition to the dice-in-play specified on the Monster's base? All this information can be had in one way or another, but it's not easily found. We spent a lot of time reading and rereading the rulebook's text, trying to gleaned the implied information out of the example situations cited.

My final reaction having tried it is that while I like the game, I still don't particularly care for this game's distribution system. Other than the start-up costs, the game harkens back to the old days of games like Magic: The Gathering. There are no “army sets”; figures come in boosters at random. To date, only 2 products in the regular line-up contain any fixed figures: The starter set gets you 4 specific support Units. If you're lucky, the random Monster figure will be of a corresponding faction to one of those. The other is a map-pack which comes with an exclusive “Government Building” miniature.

I've already won my first auction for a matched lot through eBay. I'm looking forward to trying to play again with a group of figures that can take advantage of their faction's abilities when they work together rather than the confused bunch I had to demo with.