Boss Monster Expansion
I was actually one of the lucky few to first play this game way back in the day when it was still in Kickstarter. My brother had pledged and got one of the first copies of the game. We were reminiscing for a long time before we even made it to our first game. We used to play a lot of Super Nintendo games, and one of our first games was Castlevania for SNES.Boss Monster is a treasure trove of nostalgia. In Boss Monster, players get to become the dungeon boss, defending their lair from pesky heroes looking to make a name for themselves by raiding all of your hard-earned loot. Table of Contents.A Brief Overview of Boss Monster: The Dungeon-Building Card GameIn Boss Monster you get to be the big bad evil guy hiding at the back of a dungeon filled with traps and monsters. As the boss, you get to plan out your dungeon and set traps, and every round you get to sit back and watch the chumps (heroes) try and sneak through.Players gain victory points by killing heroes in their dungeons and will get bonuses if they build their dungeon to specifically counteract the invading heroes abilities.
If a hero shows up that’s too strong, you can always manipulate heroes into invading your opponent’s dungeon. After all, you didn’t get to be the boss monster by being friendly.
Versions and Expansions. $7.95 Unboxing Boss MonsterBoss Monster is primarily a card game, so the shelf space it takes up won’t have you running down to Ikea to buy tons of new storage bins to hold everything.
The box is designed to look like a retro SNES box. I was having some serious Nintendo Power magazine flashbacks when opening it up the first time.The cards are standard card stock and well done, so you won’t have too many issues with warping or flimsy cards. If you’re a sleever, it shouldn’t be too difficult to sleeve everything.The artwork is what originally drew me to this game.
Jun 09, 2016 THE PLAYER'S CHOICE: Get the Key to the Dungeon AND access to the Player's Choice Pack, a mini-expansion for the game that includes digital versions of 11 cards only available during the Boss Monster Kickstarter campaign.
Everything is gloriously done in pixel art-style and looks fantastic. Each trap room is inspired by some room from the bygone days of SNES and NES. The hero cards remind me of early Final Fantasy games and have 1 of 4 treasure type and individual stats.
The bosses are just plain cool looking, not to mention each one has an individual power that can boost a particular play style.How to Play Boss MonsterBoss Monster is a fairly simple card game.Players will build a dungeon and heroes will sneak into the dungeon to loot. It’s the boss’s (player’s) job to kill adventurers in their dungeons so they can steal their souls. Ten (10) souls wins the game. If a hero manages to make it all the way through the dungeon into the final boss room, the boss takes wound damage. Five (5) wound damage kills the boss and the player is eliminated from the game. $24.99 $14.99The first player to 10 souls or the last player standing wins.Players pick their Boss Monster to control their dungeon, or a simple shuffle will randomize the bosses to keep everything fair.
Each boss has its own special level-up ability and experience point listed on their card. When a player completely fills out their dungeon with rooms, the boss is considered to have leveled-up and then can use its special ability. The experience point cost on the card determines which player gets to go first in a round.Each player gets a starting hand of 2 spell cards and 5 room cards.Room cards are used to build up the dungeon to make it deadlier for the thieving heroes coming into the dungeon. Spell cards are one-shot cards that can use special abilities to attack other players or heroes directly.
Room CardsRoom cards have a treasure type in the lower right-hand of the card and are usually color-coded to the treasure type. In the lower left-hand corner is a shield icon showing how much damage a hero will take if he/she walks into that room. Cards will sometimes have special abilities written in text on the card showing abilities you can use to cause more damage or manipulate the dungeon.Rooms are built to the left of the boss and up to 5 rooms can be built in any dungeon. Advanced rooms can only be built on top of existing rooms of the same treasure type, but usually, cause significantly more damage than regular rooms. Regular rooms can also be built on top of any room to replace an old room. Rooms cannot be moved around after being built. Spell CardsSpell cards are one-shot items that can be used to attack opponents or heroes who have entered your dungeon.
Each one is different but can quickly change the flow of the game and save your boss if they’re about to get hit (or snatch victory away from an opponent).Treasure typesThere are 4 treasure types:. Cleric.
Fighter. Thief. MageEach room will have a specific treasure type located at the bottom right of the card and each hero card has a treasure type printed on their card.The total treasure types located in a dungeon affects what kind of hero cards will enter your dungeon. If you have more mage treasures than any other players, then a hero that wants mage treasures will enter your dungeon. If 2 players are tied with the same amount of treasures, the mage hero will wait in town until the tie is broken. $24.99 $14.99 LEVEL UP!The first time a dungeon reaches 5 rooms, the Boss levels-up and can immediately use their level-up ability. They can choose not to use it, but it does not save or carry over to the next round and they cannot level-up again.The game rotates through a sequence of actions every turn.Beginning: Hero cards equal to the number of players are placed aside forming the village/town.Build: Players take turns building a room in their dungeon and resolving any effects.Bait: If a dungeon has more treasure types, check to see if a matching hero is in the village and place those heroes at the beginning of the dungeon.Adventure: Heroes move through the rooms and take damage.
If they survive, the boss takes damage. If they die, flip the hero card and gain the number of souls indicated on the back.Ending/Cleanup: Reset dungeon rooms and return any heroes that didn’t die to the village.
Your First Game of Boss MonsterIn Boss Monster you don’t get a starter scenario to work with, but it’s also not really necessary. Your first game of Boss Monster will just be a bit slower than later games while you work out the kinks of the rules and play around with the system.Since nobody is going to be an expert, I wouldn’t worry too much about which Boss you pick to control your dungeon, and just pick one that you think is cool.To get the most out of your first game I would suggest going in blind. Get the basic rules down. The rules section I wrote up above is enough to get you started right away. If a rule question comes up later then go ahead and grab the rules to clarify. Don’t look at any of the room cards or spells.
Just shuffle ‘em up to get a game ready and start playing.If you’re playing Boss Monster it’s likely that the nostalgia factor originally drew you to the game. Play it blind and reminisce as all of the retro game-inspired rooms come up. You’re going to have a fun time. The Pros and Cons of Boss Monster Pros. Retro art style is really cool.
It’s a quick game that doesn’t require much setup. NostalgiaCons. Can be highly unbalanced/random depending on the starting hand of cards. Players can be eliminated early in the game. Not a lot of player interaction.
Low strategyThe reason my brother bought the game and the biggest reason I still enjoy the game is the nostalgia factor. If you grew up playing NES/SNES or pixel art games from that era you’re going to love this game. It has an interesting mechanic and I personally think it’s fun planning out the dungeon and strategizing on how to kill the heroes. The swap-up playing as a bad guy is a lot of fun. $24.99 $14.99I legitimately think Boss Monster is cool, but it does have some glaring mechanic flaws.The starting hand sometimes determines who wins. If you are lucky enough to get rooms that don’t match up well, you can sometimes be overrun with heroes in the first few rounds. It does happen sometimes that a player is eliminated through no fault of their own, simply from bad draws, and that’s not fun for anyone.I put low strategy as a con because you sometimes feel forced into your actions with the base game.
This is especially true if you get a bad opening hand. Often times you’ll find yourself playing whatever card in your hand has the most damage, regardless of all other factors. That becomes less of a strategy and more of a forced exercise at that point. That coupled with the fact that the majority of the game is watching heroes bust through rooms in your dungeon without much interaction makes the game very passive.Player interaction is also rather limited. Players can use spells to interact with other players but that’s basically it. There’s also a limited interaction with the board itself.
The game becomes building a dungeon and watching the board A.I. Push the heroes through. It’s not the most innovative thing I’ve ever seen in a game. Some players may be left wanting more out of a game.
The hit game Boss Monster returns to tables with an all-new, 165-card, standalone expansion. It’s the biggest Boss Monster ever!The Bosses are back, but this time, there’s a new challenger in town. Powerful minibosses can be hired to enhance your dungeon by permanently modifying rooms. Earn coins through effective use of all-new rooms and spells. Spyparty. Use those coins to power up your rooms, or use them to promote your minibosses to learn even deadlier abilities. Rise of the Minibosses gives players more options than ever before to craft the deadliest dungeon they can—and become the baddest boss in the land! Boss Monster: Rise of the MinibossesPublisher: Brotherwise GamesItem Code: BGM017MSRP: $24.95Brick-and-Mortar Early Release: July 11, 2018Releases August 8, 2018Boss Monster: Rise of the Minibosses introduces two new mechanics to the world of Arcadia!
Promotable miniboss cards permanently enhance rooms and give you, the boss, a new set of nefarious abilities. All new coins are earned from certain rooms and used to promote minibosses and activate dangerous effects in other rooms. Rise of the Minibosses also includes new bosses, new spells, and all new heroes, including a new group of challenging dark heroes and hybrid heroes.Contents.