As the name implies Necronomonopoly is a twisted version of Monopoly with a Cthulhu Mythos theme. For fans of the Cthulhu Mythos, the fact that this game is a variant of the often belittled Monopoly matters not at all. A Cthulhu Mythos game will be added to the collection, regardless of how bad a game it may be. If you are not a fan of the Mythos, do not try to understand. There are somethings that Man was not meant to know...
Necronomonopoly is designed by John Wick and Annie Rush and published by Wicked-Dead Brewing Company. It is a DTP (Desk Top Publish) game which means it is a "Do It Yourself" game. The game is provided as a set of PDF files (game board, cards and rules) and the owner must print the files, assemble the board and cut out the cards. The players must also provide tokens to represent the players (and monsters) as they move around the board, and something to represent the Sanity of the players. Sanity is the "money" of Necronomonopoly.
The similarities to Monopoly are obvious. The game board has a "Mi-Go" space, a "Moment of Silence" space (equivalent to "Free Parking"), and the "Arkham Asylum" space which serves more or less the same function as the Jail. Instead of Railroads there are the "Great Books." The familiar property spaces (or "Lots" as they are called in the game) consist of well known Cthulhu Mythos locations and serve much the same purpose as they do in Monopoly. "Mythos" spaces replace the "Chance" and "Community Chest" spaces and in place of spaces like "Income Tax" and "Luxury Tax" will be found the "Gate" spaces.
The basic game play will be familiar to anyone who has played Monopoly. Each turn the player will roll the dice (two six-sided dice) and move the token clockwise around the board. If the player lands on an unowned Lot, the Lot may be purchased. If the player lands on a lot owned by another play, a fee (or "Rent") must be paid to the owning player. Upon landing on a "Gate" space the player will roll two dice and consult the gate table which will move the player to a new location and often have additional detrimental effects. Landing on a "Mythos" space causes the player to draw a Mythos card and follow the instructions on the card.
The "currency" of Necronomonopoly is Sanity. Each player starts with 150 Sanity and the game ends when all players but one have lost or spent all their Sanity. The winner of the game is the last Sane player. Sanity is lost quickly. Players use Sanity to purchase Lots, pay rent and cast cast spells. Players also lose Sanity each time they encounter a monster.
Monsters enter the game via the "Mythos" cards. When a player lands on a "Mythos" space he draws a card and follows the instructions on the card. The cards consist of Allies, Artifacts and Spells, all of which can help a player, and Monsters. When a Monster card is turned up, a monster is placed on the board. Each turn, in addition to moving his own token, a player must move one monster (if any are present on the board). Monsters move counter-clockwise (or "Widdershins") and stop when they encounter (move into the same space as) any player. When encountered, each Monster causes a loss of Sanity. This sanity loss can be small or large depending on the Monster encountered. (As a player, you don't want to run into a "Great Old One!") In most cases, when a Monster reaches the "Mi-Go" space it is removed from the game (but not before inflicting a Sanity loss on any players also on the "Mi-Go" space.) Monsters can also be removed from the board by the use of spells and artifacts, so the players aren't completely defenseless...
As in Monopoly, players can buy property (Lots). The cost to purchase is paid in Sanity. When landing on a Lot owned by another player, the moving player must pay "rent" in the form of Sanity to the other player. Just as in Monopoly there are "sets" of Lots and owning more than one Lot in a set causes the "Rent" on all owned Lots in the set to increase. There are no House or Hotels to be bought in Necronomonopoly. The Lots in the game cannot be developed. Nor can the Lots be traded or sold between players. If a player chooses not to buy an unowned Lot when he lands on it, nothing happens. The Lot is not auctioned off to the other players as happens in Monopoly. Also, Lots may not be mortgaged. If a player owns all of the Lots in a "Locale" (set), he gains an advantage. These advantages may allow a player to increase his movement, take cards from other players, avoid monsters, etc. The "Great Books" also offer some advantage to the owning player.
And so the game goes. Each turn a player moves a monster, moves his own token and then can take actions (buy Lots, use cards, etc.) As the game proceeds the Players will lose Sanity. When a player loses all of his Sanity, he has lost the game. But an insane player is not out of the game! An insane player becomes a "Cultist". A Cultist is a monster and will move counter-clockwise each turn, just as the monsters do. But a Cultist is not removed from the game when he reaches the "Mi-Go" space and a Cultist can collect Allies, Artifacts and Spells just as the players can. Cultists can also collect and own "The Great Books" but may not own or purchase any of the other Lots in the game. When a cultist crosses paths with another player, the player will lose sanity. As the game goes on, it gets harder and harder for sane players to retain their sanity. The downward spiral into insanity is inexorable, just as it should be...
A few additional comments:
The components of the game are cheap, as is to be expected from a "print it yourself" game. It is basically a two color game, black and white. There is a splash of color on the game board, but it small and easy to miss, so this is basically a monochrome game. The artwork on the cards is crude, but functional. This game won't win any graphics awards, but I've seen plenty worse as well. There are a lot of cards in the game. Mythos cards and Lot cards. The hardest part of assembling the game is cutting out all of the cards. The board is printed on four standard (letter size) sheets of paper. I recommend printing on card stock to give the board some rigidity. Assembling the board is as easy as putting together a four piece jigsaw puzzle. A little tape and you have the board.
The game is good for a laugh or two, especially for fans of the Cthulhu Mythos. It is not a deep game by any means and there isn't a lot of strategy a player can employ to improve his chances of winning. It is a "roll and move" game and highly luck dependent. This is a game to play for laughs, not a game to play if you want a meaningful challenge.
Thanks for reading.
