Note: This preview uses pre-release components and rules. What you see here may be different from the final, published game.
While I wouldn’t call them a small publisher anymore as they’ve been putting out quality games for a decade and a half, I feel like Level 99 Games can sometimes fly under the radar. Yet they are also a publisher where I’m always looking forward to trying out their newest releases as their games are always well-executed and have fun themes.
The latest from them is Spooktacular, now in funding on Kickstarter, it puts you in the shoes (tentacles?) of an old-school, B-movie monster looking to scare and devour terrified moviegoers.
Gameplay Overview:
In Spooktacular, the goal of the game is to score the most points. The massive amount of unique monsters that come with Spooktacular is going to make every player’s experience a little different, but the core loop of the game is similar for each player.
On a players turn, they usually start by playing a card from their hand. Each player has 5 common cards in their deck and a few ones provided by their specific monster. The card you play will let you take an action with the core ones being:
Move: Move your monsters to an adjacent room.
Spook: Move guests in your room out through a doorway. Gain a point per guest that moves.
Devour: Eat one of each color guest in your room. If you ever have all 5 color guests devoured, you can turn them in for a Spooktacular ticket, which will be end game VPs.
Each monster also has their own unique ability that range from simple to complex. These will let you affect the board state in different ways and provide alternate ways to earn points. At the end of your turn, you draw back up to 3 cards in your hand.
The game ends when a player reaches 50 victory points or all Spooktacular tickets have been claimed.
Gameplay Impressions:
Spooktacular feels like a bit of a crossover from Disney Villainous and Horrified. It reminds me of the asymmetrical characters from Villainous that all play just a little differently, with the accessible, quick turns from Horrified. Now, mind you, both of those games are completely different from Spooktacular, so I’m not going to bother comparing the differences. But the general vibes are there.
Where Spooktacular really shines is with the wealth of monsters that come with the game. Our prototype had 20 different monsters, and they range from easy to play to hard ones meant for when you have a solid understanding of the game. However, none are so difficult that you will be banging your head against the wall to understand.
Yet Spooktacular also got really creative with them. Such as Doombox which devours meeples to play tracks, each giving him a special power. Or Devil’s Game, a pinball machine that will be sliding meeples (not dexterity-based) from room to room to earn points. Or maybe the Angler who can create extradimensional doorways to devour any guests that run through. But the sheer variety of them is impressive and I kind of want to try each one out.
Now with my limited plays in this prototype copy, I’m not going to claim any are stronger than others, but some definitely felt that way. However, I’m well aware of my newness to the game, and that this isn’t final. So I think designer Brad Talton, Jr. will have his work cut out for him in making sure each one is balanced against the other. However, considering his track record, I’m not too worried, Millennium Blades had a ton of cards and it’s an amazing game.
But outside of that, the game is really easy to learn. Most monsters only add 3-4 new cards and a couple of new rules. So, especially with the easy monsters, new players should have no trouble learning the game. I was able to explain it to my group in about 5 minutes. The area where I think this game can use some work is with the rulebook. Despite being only 4 pages, the organization was a bit all over the place, and there were lots of questions that came up during gameplay we didn’t have answers for. I’m hoping that there will be a more polished rulebook with a deeper monster FAQ when the final game is released.
Final Thoughts:
Other than a few rules quibbles, we really enjoyed Spooktacular. It’s light enough that you can play with your family or non-gamer friends, but the asymmetrical nature of the monsters made it interesting for even our gaming group. I was also a big fan of the theme, and it’s reinforced by the excellent B-movie style art from Rust Moon Studios.
If Spooktacular sounds infesting to you, the crowdfunding campaign is currently running until Thursday, September 26, so be sure to head over to their campaign page and check out the full offering.
