Cthulu: Death May Die

The best board game I’ve played so far. My wife and I love this series. They now have 4 seasons and we own them all. Great to play as a couple or with some friends but can also be fun solo. The game is very difficult and at first you’ll find yourself losing as often as you win until you start learning strategies to stay alive. Lots of replay ability. Especially as you get some of the expansions and new elder ones to add to the base game. Makes fun mix n match

I've been playing boardgames for a very long time, beginning with AH's, SPI's, and Battleline's tactical hexagon and counters. Been deep into MB's forays, Flying Frog and FFG. Cthulu: Death May Die takes the art of boardgame mechanics up another notch, creating a dynamism in play that feels like an excellent, but less repetitive, computer-based game. CMON has been my fave boardgame company since they designed their wonderful Zombicide's product line. Their components are top-notch: beautiful figures, durable thick-cut, board components, cards w great artwork. And C:DMD is right there. The rules are streamlined, simple even, the characters are so fun--in some cases hilarious (imagine Lizzie Borden helping out), and the characters always have creative options and some real power to fight back against the evil ones. The monsters roll out in insidious fashion reminiscent of Space Hulk, crowding you in, and the trick is to finish the scenario off before you have to fight an "elder god" with pistols, serving trays, swords, your pet gorilla, and whatever hocus pocus you can bring to bear. Unhinged and wonderful, and so full of homage to Lovecraft's imagination. Takes about half an hour to set up and the same to put away. Keep the punch-out cardboard to store the map and marker components. For boardgame fans, a must. Enjoy!

Out of the box, this is a super fun game! It has a relatively low learning curve, especially for experience gamers of tabletop adventure games. It has fun episodic adventures, which are different enough from one another to keep the game replayability high. The miniatures are really detailed and well sculpted and as a collaborative board game with a storytelling component, this is one we keep coming back to over and over. And, we haven’t even tried the expansions! I highly recommend this game for anybody who likes dungeon, crawlers or somewhat advanced board games

I’m late to the party on this one, but I finally sat down to play this game. Wow! This one deserves its spot on the BGG top 100. And I can see why more “seasons” keep coming out. It is so good, and that was based on just one scenario! There’s plenty of replay value in the core box with the ability to mix and match scenarios and monsters along with investigators. Lots of tense action, and loads of fun!

First, here's a Pro Tip: take a photo of the way they have all the items packed into your box before you remove anything, because it's almost like expert level Tetris getting everything back in the box without a photo. It takes about an hour and a half to play a game, but at least half an hour to box everything back up. Second, everything they did on this game exceeds expectations. The artwork is awesome. The figurines that come with it are themselves awesome. You get a large Cthulhu, Star Spawn, 2 Fire Vampires, a large Hastur, cultists, 12 investigators, and so many things in all, like maybe 30 things [edit: 45!]. The Episodes give you a different map layout with different monsters and objectives so you can combine both of the big monsters (Cthulhu, Hastur) with each of the 6 episodes for 12 different game scenarios. Third, be forewarned that the game is hard. The rules are complex. The general feel of the game is also pretty dark but hilarious at the same time, because you get stronger by losing more and more sanity, and if you don't defeat the Old Ones in time you go completely insane. I think the game mechanics are tilted so that the Old Ones have an advantage. It's hard to defeat them. Fourth, if you are looking for a family game, this one is perfect (if your family is a little nuts) because all the players work together. You win or lose as a group, there are no individual winners. The investigators each have unique skills, and if you have a younger player, they might want to use Rasputin, who can die 3 times before the final death gets him. This game is a little expensive but once you open it up you'll wonder how they made a profit. It really is a work of love putting this game out in the world. It's a must for any fans of the HP Lovecraft stories or table top games in general.

I bought it a few years ago thinking they wouldn't reprint this. It was the last one Amazon had at the time. The box came damaged and has since needed some tape to repair the lid. Aside from that you get hours of fun with this game, a good amount a variety in the episodes you can play. It's definitely the easiest of the Lovecraftian board games to learn that I've played (Mansions of Madness, Unfathomable, and Arkham Horror). I have only come close to winning one time but it's never been a frustrating experience. The figures a beautiful and awesome to look at. My biggest gripe with this (and all the expansions) is the inconsistent storage. The room tiles are a floating mess in the box. However most of the tokens and figures have either a tray or box to go into. All of those can fit nicely onto the box.