Special Post: Game Review of "Catacombs" by Elzra Games

I know that this isn't the type of review I normally do, but today I want to highlight the innovative dexterity game by Elzra Corp -- Catacombs. The company recently announced the kickstarter for their latest Catacombs spinoff, Catacombs Cubes, and I thought that now would be a perfect time to share my thoughts about the original game.

NOTE: This review is not affiliated with Elzra Corp. I receive no payments for any links followed.

The Rundown

Game play: 4/5
Difficulty level: 3/5
Enjoyablity: 4.5/5
Overall: 4/5

My Review

Catacombs is a fantasy quest-style board game that involves the use of dexterity and skill to play. Every player is given a wooden character disc, and this disc is then used to bash around opponents or send allies in as reinforcements. The game reminds me a lot of a video game in many aspects -- a lot of similar ideas, such as slaying monsters, gaining and losing health points, and collecting gold to buy upgrades and armor for your character, is very reminiscent of a video game. It's also incredibly fun to play.

Set up usually takes about ten minutes, sometimes longer if players are having a hard time choosing which character to play (which happens more often than not, honestly!) One person elects to be the Catacomb Lord, who controls the monsters and chooses the boards on which each "room" is played. In the basic game, there are six different, randomly selected "rooms" to battle through, increasing in difficulty as the game progresses (almost like the "levels" in a video game.)

This game is challenging, but not so hard as to become frustrating. It doesn't take much to pick up the rules, though for the first few matches, I would suggest keeping the rule book close at hand! The entire game from setup to finish takes about one to two hours, depending on the difficulty of the campaign.

I also liked the fact that the game includes a lot of cooperative elements. The heroes opposing the Catacomb Lord have to work together closely in order to win. Oftentimes, my siblings and I would pause the game to discuss strategies, trying to figure out how best to use our individual characters' powers.

And, of course, it's just plain fun to play! Flicking around the character discs, groaning at a bad shot or cheering at a great one, inventing personalities to go with the characters -- it is always incredibly entertaining.

For more information about Catacombs, follow the link to Elzra Games' website and check it out!
For more information about Catacombs Cubes, check out the Kickstarter.