Claustrophobia 1643 Review - A Dense and Breathless Dread

In the years that followed, a siege besets the town...

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Also, in case this sentiment got lost amongst all the doomprose, this game is really fun.

A review of epic prose!
Well done.
Did you play the 2009 original? The expansions?
I enjoy Monolith's interpretation with one large exception.
Literally. I find the dashboard unnecessarily large.

My limited experiences with Claustrophobia have been positive. But I am always shocked at how much table space it demands.

Of note: Michael Barnes "made" me buy the 2009 edition. Thanks NOHIGHSCORES

drewcula wrote: A review of epic prose!
Well done.
Did you play the 2009 original? The expansions?
I enjoy Monolith's interpretation with one large exception.
Literally. I find the dashboard unnecessarily large.

My limited experiences with Claustrophobia have been positive. But I am always shocked at how much table space it demands.

Of note: Michael Barnes "made" me buy the 2009 edition. Thanks NOHIGHSCORES

Thanks for reading! No prior experience with the original, no. I had been curious about both editions for awhile but this is the one that came up for trade so I pounced on it.
The table space issue is no joke. Once the dashboards are laid out it leaves precious little room for the map to sprawl, but some judicious use of the tiles means it can usually be managed. The dash for the abyssal player troglodytes could have easily been half the size, although there is a strange satisfaction to be had in perching behind it like some kind of demonic mission-control.
Apparently this only incorporates one of the original expansions which I failed to note in my review, although apparently there are still plans afoot for the property, including a novel so who knows what may yet lie in wait. There's plenty to dig into here as is though. It's one of those rare instances where I can see myself working through all the scenarios too. Thoroughly recommended.

Great article Andi.

One of my favorite games. I think this is better than Space Hulk. I still don't absolutely love the new edition, but I think I've settled on it being marginally better than the original. Definitely some excellence (the new deck of cards for the good guys) and some awful (iconography without text is terrible, lack of a player aid is downright shameful, and worse dashboards overall).

I kind of miss the prepaints too despite the new sculpts being vastly superior.

charlest wrote: Great article Andi.

One of my favorite games. I think this is better than Space Hulk. I still don't absolutely love the new edition, but I think I've settled on it being marginally better than the original. Definitely some excellence (the new deck of cards for the good guys) and some awful (iconography without text is terrible, lack of a player aid is downright shameful, and worse dashboards overall).

I kind of miss the prepaints too despite the new sculpts being vastly superior.

Cheers man. Yeah the iconography had us reaching for the rulebook with alarming frequency at first. I printed some player aids and that helped a lot. It never derailed the game though and it's approaching second-nature status at this point. Prepaints always look kinda fugly to me. I think I'm just gonna base and wash these to highlight the details. I simply don't have the time to paint anything properly these days. Not owning the first edition I can't really compare but I think this one straddles form and function really well, the monstrous trogo-dash notwithstanding.