Darkridge Reunion

If you really commit to the game and have a full player count, this is a pretty enjoyable evening. I would play again, but it's a tough sell at $61.

I go in to more detail in my video review - but if you have a group that enjoys this type of game, it's worth giving it a look!

Disclosure: I received this game for the purpose of providing my opinions and review. As I write this I have already unboxed, gathered friends, and played the game so I will attempt to keep my initial thoughts separate from post thoughts, although some were as I suspected from the original unboxing. Initial thoughts: Unboxing/Packaging: The packaging was great for store shelves and to ensure there was shelf presence due to making the box larger than needed. The box isn’t big to begin with but there is a large amount of dense foam inside the box. I believe this is mostly to protect the foam knife as well as the various types of cards. Having many board games and collectible card games I would never store my cards wedged in a foam slot. Product Quality: There are three different card types/sizes that are all very glossy and stuck together. I could not find a components list, so I continuously kept checking to ensure I had all the cards separated and accounted for when setting up for the first time. Overall, the card stock is decent and feels similar to standard playing cards, but the finish is bothersome due to them sticking together. The other components appear to be of good quality and designed for repeat playability apart from the foam knife. Having not read the rules at this point I wasn’t certain how this knife would be utilized so my initial impression is based on my own theory and regarded this as something that will get broke rather quickly. Rules: The rules are well written and comprehensive with a narrative script to read between each act. The rules do have a few warnings as well as instructions on how the knife is to be used and this confirmed my concerns about the durability of the knife. The only ambiguous portion of the rules and maybe I misread but I did not see where it defined when scoring occurred but based on some of the cards recommending targeting (killing) a teams high scorer, I assumed the scores would be posted between each act (which is how we played it). An additional note on the rules and my impression of them as I read through them the first time is that this game is similar to a simple card game called Mafia (or at least that is what our youth group and my teenagers friends call it). This certainly adds roleplaying, scoring, and additional mechanics to the game that increases the immersion into a story that doesn’t need generated by the host and allows the host to play as well. Gameplay: Game 1: We had six people during the first round as several others wanted to watch how the first round went. I again fought with the cards sticking together and separated them out to distribute to ensure no one received two. The artifact cards were more difficult to do this as both sides of the cards are unique to the card which made random selection more difficult. We attempted to use the felt bag for the secret missions as described in the rules and encountered the cards sticking together there as well. Once we got past that and everyone was arranging their lanyards, we did have some issues with cards staying in the slots. Those that had issues simply held their cards in hand. We then had all players close their eyes, we turned music on and instructed the slasher to retrieve the foam knife. As Host, I did not play this first round as I wanted to ensure we all had an understanding of the game (and I enjoy overseeing these type of endeavors). Similar to issues I have encountered with our youth group peeking during game play, we had a couple players attempting to see who the slasher was from the beginning so this step took a little longer and I adapted to carrying the knife concealed and with the music still playing I went to each individual player and reviewed their mission card and handed the knife off covertly so the only movement that could be heard was similar for each player. The first act at 20 minutes was a little long I believe and most the players agreed at the end of the first act that their missions were either completed fairly quickly or was unable to complete them due to something happening within the first 10 minutes of the act. We all agreed to shorten the time to 15 minutes for the next round. The second act went smoothly with a single player becoming a ghost and successfully retrieving a ghost card. In between the act 2 and act 3 we encountered a scoring discrepancy which boils down to a player saying they completed a mission and others disagreeing. After a slight interlude it was determined that the player in question misunderstood the three character roles of “Who you are now”. Although this is defined on the card as (Pick One), this player appeared to be changing during the act to a different one based on the easiest way to score points. Not to cause arguments, we reiterated the expectations and continued on. Act 3 went well (I think) with the slasher unfortunately revealing themselves and chasing their potential victim from the adjacent room with the foam knife. Unfortunately, after a climatic encounter and struggle the knife was broken. A little tape and more players interested in having a go at the game we were ready for game two. Game 2: We had ten players with a split of 4/3/3 for teams. The cards were still sticking to each other. I would hope over time that this will subside. I again walked to each individual player and made noise while reviewing the mission cards to distribute the knife to the slasher. Throughout this game the slasher was more successful at concealment and the ghost team grew. The longer ghost cards which I believe is a tarot card format, are much easier to accidentally bend during game play as we had one get creased when putting it in the holder slot. The mechanic of having separate rooms was certainly different and on our second game initiated some questions that as host I attempted to smooth over with the most fun answers. Most of these were in regard to whether each room had to have similar amounts of players in the room to make it less noticeable on who the slasher was immediately, which is why the ghost needs to attempt to return to the center table and retrieve and ghost card unnoticed. Post-game thoughts: I think the game has some good mechanics and I believe everyone had fun trying out this murder-mystery. The group was a mix of seasoned game boarders as well as some newer, less experienced players. Overall feedback from the less experienced players positive with several comparing it to the afore mentioned Mafia. Some of the more experienced players noticed similar issues that I noted above. Plans for future games: My teens are already planning to pull together their friends to get a full twelve player game, with additional friends to play the organizer and read the narrative. Summary: Pros: Replay ability, simple to learn, light role-player for groups that may not consider themselves as role players, good narratives to keep the pace of the game up and the continued game play for those participants that have been “eliminate”. Cons: Card finish causing the cards to stick together (this may subside after a few more games), foam components are not durable enough for a rambunctious group, and various card sizes as well as unique art that inhibits the randomness when distributing. I look forward to having a full 12 player experience in the future as I believe it would only be better with more players, but I also understand the constraint of not all groups having large groups or family gatherings to play. I do hope the developer produces an expansion as I have provided my thoughts on additional scoring opportunities and would like to see a new character for each team. This last is both so there are option when playing the 6-12 player as well as the potential to bump the player count up a little higher…maybe these are a separate team of faculty.

While Darkridge Reunion is somewhat even when viewed strictly as a "game", with the right group of people, it can make for a very fun night of roleplaying. For more details, check out my full review: https://geektogeekmedia.com/geekery/reviews/darkridge-reunion-review/

This was an incredibly fun game! A bit of a mash up between a game like Betrayal at House on the Hill and an outdoor kind of game like Manhunt. Still has fun play value for after you "die," as it's super fun to be a ghost! Think some of the mechanics can be adjusted a little for better replay value, but easy to adjust yourselves. All in all, definitely recommend!

A different take on a murder mystery. Big pluses for no player elimination (you die, you join another team) and being replayable. Minuses being needing lots of space and a high player count. Players are split up into teams. Each has a role and different objectives. There is roleplaying and mind games galore.