Insanity, in the context of Lovecraft, is the human mind breaking and coming undone from the realization that nothing can stop the inexorable and ineluctable cosmic horror brought into being by the elder god in question. It is the total obliteration of psyche as one gradually realizes their own insignificance in the face of such an ontological rewriting of reality.
As always a great review. You really know how to show the components and explain every aspect of a game. Much appreciated ... now I want to buy this one because I really trust your reviews. Great job!
Just played this for the first time this weekend. I really enjoyed it. Definitely a blend of Mansions of Madness and Zombicide. Great review! You bring up some interesting thoughts about the sanity meter. I think considering the context of reading Lovecraft helps put it into perspective for me. Some of his characters are pursuing power or knowledge from other worlds and gain it at the cost of growing increasingly mad. Ya know, sorta like the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Kate Blanchett's character can't handle all that alien knowledge! She takes a mighty big gulp all at once though.
Don't forget that insanity is no longer a medical term. I always think of insanity in these games as an existential destruction of your psyche when confronting things your character had never imagined possible.
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age." (H.P. Lovecraft - "The Call of Cthulhu")
awesome, thanks for the level headed review. A) So, I have both Hellboy and Mansions of Madness (complete collections), and this game kinda seems like it's somewhere in between the two. What I'm wondering is if there's a valid space on my shelves for all 3? B) funny you brought up the deal with insanity, since I've had to on-the-fly explain away the sanity-pool to friends as more "will to fight" in other games. And I appreciate that you were able to talk about it as it is.
It’s most like Hellboy. I think it will vie for shelf space and table time. Mansions is it’s own thing really imo with much more involved narrative than Hellboy or this.
I can not imagine that. If I read the section "Attack of opponents" it is written to throw the number of the dice specified on the monster card. Even at the final fire check, only one die per fire is rolled. Maybe I need to read the english manual (have the german version)...
@@DriveThruReview Pg. 16: "When an enemy attacks you, roll the number and type of dice as shown on their reference card." Hard stop. Also, on pg. 11: "When investigators make a roll, you always roll 3 standard black dice (and may also be allowed to add bonus green dice). Enemies roll a specific number and type of dice for their attacks, as indicated on their reference card." It doesn't say anything about enemies also being allowed to add bonus green dice.
As i play solo id love these games more if they did a standee version, everything they have made for this game would fit in one box then as well, i dont need a room full off minis. CDMD is so confusing now, so they have no season 3? but are releasing season 4 and at the same time they are releasing a version 2 off CDMD???
Thanks for very interesting review! Just one question regarding rules- when monster attacks you, rolls two hits and you use your additional companion with one health as a target to protect your main character. He dies obviously but remaining hit still takes your life or it is lost?
Remaing hits do not carry over I believe. So they kind of act as a shield. That also applies to when you defeat a stage of the eldar boss. remaining damage doesnt cross over to next stage
@@M00SHTY Thanks for the reply! In my opinion in this case we need to take remaining hits ourselves. Other way information about life in NPC's cards would be useless. Anyways I'm trying to find any official answer on bgg.
@@baryb83 rechecking my rulebook ive changed my mind lol It was a bit unclear but it seems damage is always initially dealt to your investigator but you can divert any of it to a companion, then if they take too much they die. So for example an enemy may do 5 damage to you which would kill you but you decide to apply two of the damage to a companion and remaining three to yourself. Taken from rulebook = "Any wounds you take may be applied to Companions you currently have instead. This still counts as you taking wounds for card effects. Companions can never be healed. If their wounds equal the number on their card, the Companion is discarded and any benefit they give you is immediately lost. "
Great in depth review, as always! but...wait, wait, wait....so are you saying that when you get the bonus green die on the Sanity track, that applies to EVERY roll you make, even when you roll against yourself during Monster attacks?!?
@@DriveThruReview holy...manual indeed says you're rolling those bonus dice for every roll you make, but so far we considered that only for the "good" rolls you have to make and not the bad ones. That skyrockets the difficulty to brutal levels lol. I'm not completely sure about this one, but now I have to try it :D
That's not correct. Bonus green dice only apply to the Investigators rolls. As stated, once you unlock Green bonus dice they then apply to ALL of the INVESTIGATORs rolls. Monsters only use the dice that are printed right on their card. When you are fighting the Elder One... it's dice are cumulative. You add the dice from ALL the stages, and it uses those when you are fighting it.
Great review! Ordered this off the strength of your review as I've been fixing for a coop dungeon crawl and love me some Cthulhu. The plug and play chapters, Great Old Ones seems super neat; how different are the actual chapters?
They’re all basically “assemble the pieces” to complete the ritual but each of them throws a different puzzle at you. One even has “pieces” that mess with you.
All chapters have unique mechanics that add to the flavour. A personal faves are the sorcerer's hiding amongst the dancing party goers & the elders of the two rival families. Our best game was Bert and Ernie (Einstein & Hemingway) vs Cthulhu, saving the family elders.
@@Bleuchz Season 2 is available from retail and is worth getting. If you can get The Unspeakable Box & Shub Niggurath from anywhere BUY THEM. Shub is a great extra Elder God & TUB contains 18 extra characters (Including Al Capone, Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein.) plus 2 more elder gods with Dagon and Yog Sothoth. ...and 3 stand alone Episodes
According to the Cthulhu Mythos, Hastur’s name should not be spoken as it is meant to be summoning him. Pretty much Voldemort stole the idea from there! I am off to be sacrificed under the yellow sign now...
I'm late to the party, but a good alternative to insanity would be desperation for this game. The more desperate you become, the more insane/nuts the situation becomes. Narratively you become more powerful the more desperate you become, but you make mistakes...hence the monsters get stronger.
Yep, they're small. Most of the times that's not an issue, actually they save a lot of table space...but we had some situations, expecially near the end of the game (which gets very chaotic :D), in which the Great Old One, some tokens, some monsters and 1-2 Investigators had to be crammed in a small room...and the Great Hold One basically covered it all by itself.
Not really an issue, it can get crammed at times, but not often and this game is already a table hog. For some of the other monsters and the old ones I just put the damage on their cards. Cultists and weaker monsters are usually killed on single rolls, especially as the game progresses.
@@DriveThruReview You see, i can't engelsk soo very well. Had been nice to found this game in my language, Norwegian. It may be possible that i arrange this game anyway, whether there is a Norwegian version or not.
Awesome review! I love that you updated the description, it really shows you care! I really hope you'll do a review of the other stuff for this game!
Insanity, in the context of Lovecraft, is the human mind breaking and coming undone from the realization that nothing can stop the inexorable and ineluctable cosmic horror brought into being by the elder god in question. It is the total obliteration of psyche as one gradually realizes their own insignificance in the face of such an ontological rewriting of reality.
As always a great review. You really know how to show the components and explain every aspect of a game. Much appreciated ... now I want to buy this one because I really trust your reviews. Great job!
I just brought this today. I hope I enjoy it as much as I hope so.
Just played this for the first time this weekend. I really enjoyed it. Definitely a blend of Mansions of Madness and Zombicide. Great review! You bring up some interesting thoughts about the sanity meter. I think considering the context of reading Lovecraft helps put it into perspective for me. Some of his characters are pursuing power or knowledge from other worlds and gain it at the cost of growing increasingly mad. Ya know, sorta like the end of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Kate Blanchett's character can't handle all that alien knowledge! She takes a mighty big gulp all at once though.
I love This Game is Broken! Neat to hear you reference them. Wonderful review, glad to hear people are liking the game.
Don't forget that insanity is no longer a medical term. I always think of insanity in these games as an existential destruction of your psyche when confronting things your character had never imagined possible.
Yep. I was trying to make that point, but probably not efficiently or clearly :)
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age." (H.P. Lovecraft - "The Call of Cthulhu")
Have 6 games under my belt, they play very differently depending on which Old One you match with the episode. Dagon with Episode 2, watch out.
I am so excited! I have the shipping notification and a tracking number. The KS will arrive next week! (Oz)
You mentioned minions getting extra dice with the investigators level. I don't believe that is the case, unless I'm missing something in the rulebook.
Correct. I clarified in the video description. :)
@@DriveThruReview AH okay, i guess i missed that. Thx, great video as always. Prompted me to get a KS copy and found one for a great price :D
awesome, thanks for the level headed review.
A) So, I have both Hellboy and Mansions of Madness (complete collections), and this game kinda seems like it's somewhere in between the two. What I'm wondering is if there's a valid space on my shelves for all 3?
B) funny you brought up the deal with insanity, since I've had to on-the-fly explain away the sanity-pool to friends as more "will to fight" in other games. And I appreciate that you were able to talk about it as it is.
It’s most like Hellboy. I think it will vie for shelf space and table time. Mansions is it’s own thing really imo with much more involved narrative than Hellboy or this.
@@DriveThruReview Awesome, thanks a ton for the candid advice. =)
Holy!!! This intro and this video are amazing!
Thank you! I can't take credit for the intro. A viewer created it for me years ago. I love it too though :)
Hey, great review! As far as I understand, however, the opponents only throw the dice indicated on their cards, no bonus dice!
That's not correct from my understanding.
I can not imagine that. If I read the section "Attack of opponents" it is written to throw the number of the dice specified on the monster card. Even at the final fire check, only one die per fire is rolled. Maybe I need to read the english manual (have the german version)...
@@kalamari4316 Honestly, the game would be too easy if that was the case :)
@@DriveThruReview Pg. 16: "When an enemy attacks you, roll the number and type of dice as shown on their reference card." Hard stop. Also, on pg. 11: "When investigators make a roll, you always roll 3 standard black dice (and may also be allowed to add bonus green dice). Enemies roll a specific number and type of dice for their attacks, as indicated on their reference card." It doesn't say anything about enemies also being allowed to add bonus green dice.
Sometimes cards will direct you to add bonus dice to the monsters depending on game conditions.
As i play solo id love these games more if they did a standee version, everything they have made for this game would fit in one box then as well, i dont need a room full off minis.
CDMD is so confusing now, so they have no season 3? but are releasing season 4 and at the same time they are releasing a version 2 off CDMD???
Why did you name he who must not be named?
You didn't spring for the ridiculous 3ft tall Cthulhu statue that becomes the game board at some point?
I did not. To be clear, this is a review copy (and also the version that will be available at retail).
Great review, Joel.
Thanks Tom.
Thanks for very interesting review! Just one question regarding rules- when monster attacks you, rolls two hits and you use your additional companion with one health as a target to protect your main character. He dies obviously but remaining hit still takes your life or it is lost?
Remaing hits do not carry over I believe. So they kind of act as a shield. That also applies to when you defeat a stage of the eldar boss. remaining damage doesnt cross over to next stage
@@M00SHTY Thanks for the reply! In my opinion in this case we need to take remaining hits ourselves. Other way information about life in NPC's cards would be useless. Anyways I'm trying to find any official answer on bgg.
@@baryb83 rechecking my rulebook ive changed my mind lol It was a bit unclear but it seems damage is always initially dealt to your investigator but you can divert any of it to a companion, then if they take too much they die. So for example an enemy may do 5 damage to you which would kill you but you decide to apply two of the damage to a companion and remaining three to yourself.
Taken from rulebook =
"Any wounds you take may be applied to Companions you currently have instead. This still counts as you taking wounds for card effects. Companions can never be healed. If their wounds equal the number on their card, the Companion is discarded and any benefit they give you is immediately lost. "
Gates and Mythos phases, and spells don`t really figure in Lovecraft...just saying
Great in depth review, as always! but...wait, wait, wait....so are you saying that when you get the bonus green die on the Sanity track, that applies to EVERY roll you make, even when you roll against yourself during Monster attacks?!?
Correct. :)
@@DriveThruReview holy...manual indeed says you're rolling those bonus dice for every roll you make, but so far we considered that only for the "good" rolls you have to make and not the bad ones. That skyrockets the difficulty to brutal levels lol. I'm not completely sure about this one, but now I have to try it :D
@@Democosoh Honestly.. it makes the game! :D
That's not correct. Bonus green dice only apply to the Investigators rolls. As stated, once you unlock Green bonus dice they then apply to ALL of the INVESTIGATORs rolls. Monsters only use the dice that are printed right on their card. When you are fighting the Elder One... it's dice are cumulative. You add the dice from ALL the stages, and it uses those when you are fighting it.
Justin Gibbons exactly how I interpret the rules.
Great review! Ordered this off the strength of your review as I've been fixing for a coop dungeon crawl and love me some Cthulhu.
The plug and play chapters, Great Old Ones seems super neat; how different are the actual chapters?
They’re all basically “assemble the pieces” to complete the ritual but each of them throws a different puzzle at you. One even has “pieces” that mess with you.
@@DriveThruReview was hoping for a bit more differentiation with Daviau involved but looking forward to exploring those boxes all the same :)
All chapters have unique mechanics that add to the flavour. A personal faves are the sorcerer's hiding amongst the dancing party goers & the elders of the two rival families. Our best game was Bert and Ernie (Einstein & Hemingway) vs Cthulhu, saving the family elders.
@@cutthr0atjake thanks for the reply! Copy finally arrived and very excited to get this one to the table. A lot of regret that I didn't back it :(
@@Bleuchz Season 2 is available from retail and is worth getting. If you can get The Unspeakable Box & Shub Niggurath from anywhere BUY THEM. Shub is a great extra Elder God & TUB contains 18 extra characters (Including Al Capone, Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein.) plus 2 more elder gods with Dagon and Yog Sothoth.
...and 3 stand alone Episodes
You said H*st*r far too often. :P
Am I the only one that shakes their head when they use the "H" word for He who is not to be Named.
I don't get it
According to the Cthulhu Mythos, Hastur’s name should not be spoken as it is meant to be summoning him. Pretty much Voldemort stole the idea from there! I am off to be sacrificed under the yellow sign now...
I'm late to the party, but a good alternative to insanity would be desperation for this game. The more desperate you become, the more insane/nuts the situation becomes. Narratively you become more powerful the more desperate you become, but you make mistakes...hence the monsters get stronger.
Don’t you think the tiles are too small?
Yep, they're small. Most of the times that's not an issue, actually they save a lot of table space...but we had some situations, expecially near the end of the game (which gets very chaotic :D), in which the Great Old One, some tokens, some monsters and 1-2 Investigators had to be crammed in a small room...and the Great Hold One basically covered it all by itself.
Everyone does!
Ya, it's not often an issue. Really, it's the small square tiles that cause issue. The larger rooms have never been a problem in our games.
Not really an issue, it can get crammed at times, but not often and this game is already a table hog. For some of the other monsters and the old ones I just put the damage on their cards. Cultists and weaker monsters are usually killed on single rolls, especially as the game progresses.
Is this channel associated with drive thru RPG at all? Sorry if this gets asked that a lot. Thanks.
It’s not. Just a coincidence :)
Is this game only on engelsk? 😕😕
Not sure honestly. Check on the BoardGameGeek.com page for the game.
@@DriveThruReview oki
@@DriveThruReview You see, i can't engelsk soo very well. Had been nice to found this game in my language, Norwegian. It may be possible that i arrange this game anyway, whether there is a Norwegian version or not.