Players take on the role of explorers thrown into dreadful halls, scratching for survival and progressing through the chapters from one of many horror stories.Even if they manage to stay alive till the end of the story, they will face a special mini game at the finale of each scenario. The unique environment, interactive inventory, combat mechanics and tactical diversity are all enveloped in an integral storytelling experience that provides both total immersion in the world and full replay value. So… a true sense of horror in boardgame form? That prospect remains tantalisingly out of reach and is perhaps a unicorn we’ll never truly harness. A cool, atmospheric adventure complete with enough tactical agency to engage and morbid motifs to enthral? That’s perhaps a more manageable ambition, and Machina Arcana realises it in a puffy jet of eldritch steam, even as its boots fit snugly into the well-worn footsteps of its many progenitors. Machina Arcana is a cooperative game for 1-4 players runs between 40 and 120 minutes per player (depending on the mode). Machina Arcana plays best with 1-4 players. Game Overview: Horror Phase – One player rolls a d10 and compares the result with the horror value of the current chapter. If the roll is equal or greater a horror event is drawn. These will always harm or harass explorers and some even cause ongoing effects. Monster Spawn –Every player rolls a d10 and compares the result with the spawn value of the current chapter. If the roll is equal or greater a monster card is drawn and that monster is placed on a spawn monster icon on the map.

It goes without saying that the neophyte is expected to perform proper banishing rituals and invocations before using the aforementioned Manuals.

Fabulously moody, their two-tone impact also served to stand out when perched atop the gameboards, where they seemed to pop out of the murk, rendering them both thematic and practical whilst simultaneously standing out from other offerings in what is a crowded genre and brainspace. MarloweSpade wrote: I agree entirely with preferring the 1E art to 2E; I think it contributed greatly to the whole atmosphere, which clearly was of primary importance to the designer. It still runs long though. The story cards that bookend each chapter form the rhythmic punctuation of your tale and can flit along in both rapid or glacial fashion depending on the whims of card and dice. The prose here is full-on double-ply velvet royal purple in style and succeeds in setting the scene whilst simultaneously failing to offer much of a framework or motivation for who any of these people are or what they hope to find amidst the abyssic debris of these embroidered brass mazes. When played as intended, the game is very hard. There's no way around that. Additionally, there are lots of things going on - understanding the mechanics is crucial to wield Her properly.

We partnered up with a UK based game development studio to bring you Machina Arcana applications. These will include Online card database, Online map editor, Adreama Forge and many more. The addition of larger cards and sturdy double-layer player boards is a fantastic addition, but in what may be a contentious call – I’d trade them in a heartbeat for the reinstatement of the first edition’s art. The game itself was difficult when you play it as intended but any gamer worth his salt isn’t looking for a cake-walk. If you want to be challenged and battle horrors from beyond then I highly recommend buying this game. If you don’t want to be challenged then pass on this game and regret it. The world of tabletop gaming has been peculiarly enamoured with this particular goo-drenched touchstone, revisiting it with an insistence that verges on the compulsive as the well-worn cobblestones of Arkham surrender to a volume of foot traffic that weathers its edges and chokes its byways. Now, that being said, I have to be honest and admit that I don’t know much about steampunk but I did go into this review with an open mind mainly because I understand that the Mythos cross and compliment many genres and themes. So how well does Machina Arcana pair these two genres into a horror game you should to add to your collection? Read on!

Final Score: 4.5 Stars – A well-built game with huge replay value. A must have for any gamer that enjoys a challenging horror themed tactical dungeon crawl.

As I previously mentioned in my review of Rise of Cthulhu, I love the Cthulhu Mythos. So, when I was offered the chance to review Machina Arcana, a co-op board game that mixes steampunk & my favorite Lovecraftian nightmares, I jumped at the chance.Our US representative got delayed with sending the US replacements. We are given the reassurance that these will be sent shortly. But beware! A horde of unique and terrifying monsters are bent on destroying your party. If that isn’t enough, horrific events emerge from the darkness, conspiring to disrupt and hinder any remaining hope in these comfortless chambers. Had my regular Cthulhu Wars crew over today. We usually try to start with something else (we've been playing a fair amount of Tiny Epic Crimes lately) and when talking about a couple other games, I... There are two things to note about the rules and game manual itself. First, the number of players is directly related to the number of monsters spawned so the game scales up and down accordingly. This aspect of the rules really balances the game well. So, no matter the number of players you use should give you a fighting chance to win the game and not be too over or underwhelmed during the game play. Monster Action – Meat & potatoes for monsters: players will now act and move monsters following the monster action rules outlined in the game manual. These rules are straight forward to play. Monsters either have abilities they can use if they are able to and if not then they are to move towards the nearest explorer. There’s a variant rule (Puppet Master) this suggests allowing a fifth player to be the game master and has control over the monster (think Overlord in Descent), I like this because then you can add another player and not have the players do silly things with monsters.