Clank Catacombs: Lairs and Lost Chambers - Review
Information:
Mechanics: Deck-Building, Push Your Luck, Exploration, Tile Placement
Player Age: 13+ Player Count: 2 - 4 PlayersTime to Play: 45 - 90 Minutes
Game Designer: Paul Dennen
Player Age: 13+
Game Designer: Paul Dennen
Introduction:
Clank Catacombs is a standalone cross-compatible edition of clank. My original review can be read here. This edition does not have a static map, instead it is a more explorative version with new locations and pathways revealed through tiles. Lairs and Lost Chambers is an expansion that can easily be shuffled into the base game adding two new location types lairs which hide specific monsters and lost chambers which are similar to way shrines from the base game but contain different rewards and costs to placing down a players cube.
There are also more elements in the tiles as well as 50 various new cards. One of my favourites is the burning tome which is a cheaper tome (only one point) but counts as a secret tome for in-game effects.
Trophies:
Trophies are a new mechanism added to this expansion. This will appear on the monsters in the lairs as well as various monsters or devices in the deck. If you pay for this card or defeat the lair monster instead of discarding the item. The meeple or card is placed in front of the player, granting scoring at the end of the game and/or a positive or negative ongoing effect.
Tiles:
Lost Chambers:
Like way shrines in the base game players can only place one cube in these locations. All of these lost chambers are unique and only appear on one tile. The lost chambers through the player entering the chamber they can place one of their cubes (sometimes have to spend a trophy or gold as well) to gain a benefit. These benefits include various things like major secrets, gold, healing, acquiring cards or marketplace items to even prevent a ghost attack.
Lairs:
Lairs bring hidden monsters that will be revealed when their tiles arrive during the game. These monsters are Living Statues, Medusa and the Sphinx. To be defeated the player must be in their location and spend the required attack (the Sphinx can be defeated via seven told instead). Each of these monsters have a when defeated bonus but they also have a trophy benefit which is one point for each, in the case of Medusa the player will be able to unlock the monsters in the tunnels as long as they have her as a trophy.
Other Tile Features:
Tunnels:
There are now green tunnels that when a player selects how the tile will orient, they have to enter onto one of the green tunnels. There is also a tunnel that doesn't allow the player to move through (with boots) if they are holding an artifact, called magic barriers
Pit Traps:
As someone that leans into the Deck-Building side of the game more, this is my favourite part of the expansion. When a player encounters a pit the first time on a turn they either have the option to fall in or evade. Falling in will damage the player by one and stop their movement. Instead the player may evade, by selecting an unplayed card in the player's hand and trashing (removing) it from the game. This card cannot be a stumble, besides this, it is a perfect way to remove the starting cards from their deck.
Final Thoughts:
- Trophies are a great addition to the game.
- Easy to shuffle into the base game.
- There is a lot of content in this expansion, that makes it hard to play this with someone new to the original game. Though the expansion is easy to add I wouldn't with a new player.
- Wish there was a reference somewhere like cards explaining the lair creatures then simply the back of the rulebook.
Clank Catacombs revitalises the original clank game and makes the game more about exploration instead of a clear path down and back. If you enjoyed the exploration side that the original Clank Catacombs has to offer this is a great expansion to add. These tiles make the game feel like there is something constantly fresh to explore. I particularly like the monsters hidden throughout the tile deck in their unique lairs. When it comes to new content my favourite elements have to be the trophies which instead of discarding certain enemies or devices they get placed in front of the player and create either an ongoing positive or negative effect every turn. My other favourite element is the pit traps, these are an advanced Crystal cove that can either hurt the player and stop them or cause the player to destroy a card from their hand, which is perfect for slimming their deck. If you already enjoy catacombs and are looking for a lot more content that is easy to add to the game, then I easily recommend Lairs and Lost Chambers.
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