It started with the classics of film land such as Dracula, The Mummy, and the other Unviersal Monsters launched that launched the popular Horrified board game series. The game’s follow up Horrified American Monsters tried to add more nuance and complexity to the game in an effort that leaned into too much tedium. Now, Ravensburger’s third entry in the series unleashes the lore of ancient Greece in Horrified: Greek Monsters.
Once again you and up to five players team up to try to save a game world. This time it’s the Isle of Elysium in ancient Greece you’ll need to save from rampaging monsters such as the three headed Cerberus, the Minotaur, Medusa, and more. The object of the game is to defeat a set number of monsters by completing actions specific to them across Horrified’s greek themed game board. As with other Horrified titles, players will move around the board saving villagers, collecting items, and figuring out the best strategy to complete your objectives before the monsters overrun you.
As I mentioned the previous series entry American Monsters had a bit more tedium in the objectives players needed to do in order to defeat some of those monsters. This new chapter feels more inline with the original Universal Monsters version where each monster objective felt very distinct from the others and truly required unique strategy for each. One of the more notable additions to Greek Monsters is the use of lairs which players will need to gain requirements to reveal in-game. The lairs reveal specific locations or portals needed to defeat certain monsters and adds a bit more challenge to the game in a way that stops short of becoming why bother monotony.
What I’ve loved about each of these games is the visual design choices. The original’s use of Universal Monsters speaks to the horror collector in me from it’s color scheme use of the mini figurines to the evil dead feeling you get as the punctuation of details throughout the box and pieces felt like an exploration of the lore those characters have. Greek Monsters has an aesthetic charm unique to it but some of the design choices in the monsters just don’t have that visual cool factor. Even the American Monsters had a striking visual presence that drew your attention into the game board.
Playing through Greek Monsters, we experienced the fun return I expected from American Monsters. While I don’t feel the same way about this one as I felt with the original, it’s still a solid build that brings back the fun factor earning it a place in your game night. However, with a third chapter now in this series, it may be time to start asking how can you make the experience feel fresh and unique other that skinning the same game in a different IP. Whether that’s doing a competitive version or a version from the monster perspective, the future of the Horrified series has to explore new territory before it becomes the latest version clearance bin Monopoly.
Greek Monsters will be available for pre-order on Amazon and Target on September 5 and go on sale nationwide on October 1.
