Fearsome Floors Review
Fearsome Floors is a humorous, horror boardgame for 2-7 players in which the aim is to guide as many of your counters out of a large hall before darkness falls or they are eaten by the monster which roams within.
During each turn, players alternate in moving one of their characters a number of squares up to the value indicated on the character token face. The token is then flipped over to reveal the other side, which has a different value. The sum of both faces is seven and each player has four characters marked 1/6, 3/4, 4/3 and 2/5. So characters will move slower on one turn and faster the next, meaning a little bit of forethought is required in planning moves.
Once all the players have moved their tokens it is the monster’s turn. The movement of the monster is controlled by a deck of cards, each of which has either a number or one or two crosses on it. The number indicates how many spaces (between 5 and 10) the monster will move, whereas the cross tiles cause him to move up to 20 spaces or until he has eaten one or two characters. The actual movement is handled by the game. Before he moves, the monster ‘looks’ left, right and straight forward to see where the closest player token is, then takes a step towards them. This happens for every step he takes, so clever planning can lure him towards your opponents… or a wrong step can lead to disaster! The movement deck contains 8 cards, only 7 of which are drawn before it is reshuffled. The game lasts for two runs through the deck (14 turns). If a piece is ‘eaten’ during the first 7 moves, it can be brought back into play. If it is eaten during the second 7 turns, it is out of the game for good.
Complicating matters are a series of tokens placed randomly across the gridded playing area. These represent obstacles such as pillars (which the monster cannot see through), teleporters (which move him to another space on the board), and large blood smears (which the monster and character tokens slide across when they step upon them!). All of these keep the game varied and add depth and strategy which the game would otherwise be sorely lacking. Another twist is that each edge space has a letter next to it. If the monster is moved off the edge of the board, he reappears at the other space with that letter. Not keeping an eye on this can spell disaster.
Being a German game, the components are all of the highest quality. Player tokens are wooden discs with stickers on which have comic-book style depictions of the character’s heads. Each group has a theme, such as the Addams Family, college students, or sci-fi geeks. The card obstacles and monster movement deck are both durable and pretty to look at. The monster deck cards are all shaped like gravestones, and the numbers on the other side are written in blood, often accompanied by a set of footprints! The artwork is great throughout, with a nice tongue in cheek feel (the box art is a parody of 1950s EC Comics (i.e. Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt etc)). One other thing that deserves a mention is that the monster is a 3D model made up of card pieces for arms, feet, body and head. With the game are pieces to make three types, plus a few additional heads and arms, and all the pieces can be mixed-and-matched to create your own beast! It is touches like this which make the game stand out.
Although not the deepest or most strategic game, replayability is high due to the sheer fun of the whole thing. Seeing a cunning move pay off, or groaning when you have failed to anticipate where the monster is going is a great joy.
If a criticism has to be levelled at the game, it is only that it improved significantly with more than two players. The two player game is fine, and still worth playing, but the increase in player tokens on the board when it is played with more makes it a lot more entertaining.
If you are looking for a light, fun, comic-horror themed game, then this comes highly recommended.
9/10
Review by Chris Walkley
During each turn, players alternate in moving one of their characters a number of squares up to the value indicated on the character token face. The token is then flipped over to reveal the other side, which has a different value. The sum of both faces is seven and each player has four characters marked 1/6, 3/4, 4/3 and 2/5. So characters will move slower on one turn and faster the next, meaning a little bit of forethought is required in planning moves.
Once all the players have moved their tokens it is the monster’s turn. The movement of the monster is controlled by a deck of cards, each of which has either a number or one or two crosses on it. The number indicates how many spaces (between 5 and 10) the monster will move, whereas the cross tiles cause him to move up to 20 spaces or until he has eaten one or two characters. The actual movement is handled by the game. Before he moves, the monster ‘looks’ left, right and straight forward to see where the closest player token is, then takes a step towards them. This happens for every step he takes, so clever planning can lure him towards your opponents… or a wrong step can lead to disaster! The movement deck contains 8 cards, only 7 of which are drawn before it is reshuffled. The game lasts for two runs through the deck (14 turns). If a piece is ‘eaten’ during the first 7 moves, it can be brought back into play. If it is eaten during the second 7 turns, it is out of the game for good.
Complicating matters are a series of tokens placed randomly across the gridded playing area. These represent obstacles such as pillars (which the monster cannot see through), teleporters (which move him to another space on the board), and large blood smears (which the monster and character tokens slide across when they step upon them!). All of these keep the game varied and add depth and strategy which the game would otherwise be sorely lacking. Another twist is that each edge space has a letter next to it. If the monster is moved off the edge of the board, he reappears at the other space with that letter. Not keeping an eye on this can spell disaster.
Being a German game, the components are all of the highest quality. Player tokens are wooden discs with stickers on which have comic-book style depictions of the character’s heads. Each group has a theme, such as the Addams Family, college students, or sci-fi geeks. The card obstacles and monster movement deck are both durable and pretty to look at. The monster deck cards are all shaped like gravestones, and the numbers on the other side are written in blood, often accompanied by a set of footprints! The artwork is great throughout, with a nice tongue in cheek feel (the box art is a parody of 1950s EC Comics (i.e. Vault of Horror, Tales from the Crypt etc)). One other thing that deserves a mention is that the monster is a 3D model made up of card pieces for arms, feet, body and head. With the game are pieces to make three types, plus a few additional heads and arms, and all the pieces can be mixed-and-matched to create your own beast! It is touches like this which make the game stand out.
Although not the deepest or most strategic game, replayability is high due to the sheer fun of the whole thing. Seeing a cunning move pay off, or groaning when you have failed to anticipate where the monster is going is a great joy.
If a criticism has to be levelled at the game, it is only that it improved significantly with more than two players. The two player game is fine, and still worth playing, but the increase in player tokens on the board when it is played with more makes it a lot more entertaining.
If you are looking for a light, fun, comic-horror themed game, then this comes highly recommended.
9/10
Review by Chris Walkley
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