In a standard round a monster is flipped over and the players communicate what they are going to do, or at least what they want people to think they will be doing. Everyone picks a card to play from their hand. Cards are flipped simultaneously with any instant effects being resolved then the monster lashes out.
Monsters are rated Green, Yellow and Red, progressively having the potential to do more damage. Roll the corresponding dice to the colour of the monster and each player takes that much damage. If they die they don’t get to inflict any damage in return. Those still alive whom played a weapon card take the number of Blood Echoes equal to the weapons damage from the monster’s health pool. This goes clockwise from the starting player until either no Blood Echoes remain or all players have had a turn. If the monster still has Blood Echoes and is basic it flees instantly; if it is a boss monster the round starts again without unveiling another monster as the boss monsters must be defeated to carry on. If the monster was defeated every player to inflict damage that round takes a Trophy, that grants bonus points, matching the monster card. This continues until players have passed the 10 monsters and then they must take on the final boss. Past the pummelling of the final boss, players count collected Blood Echoes and bonus points from collected trophies and whomever has the most points wins!
If 3 players are playing the blood symbol on the monster cards is spot on. If 4 or 5 players take on the dungeons for each monster their health is the number on the blood symbol plus either 1HP or 2HP respectively. This is a nice balance feature as otherwise additional players would make the game substantially easier. My only issue with this is for the first couple of times you play it is relatively easy to forgot the additional health as the cards say a specific value on them. Past 2-3 games and adding the extra health on becomes second nature but it is just something to watch out for on your first playthroughs.
Just like when players found themselves in the Chalice Dungeons in the video game of Bloodborne, players must face the creatures of the tombs. Plenty lay waiting in the labyrinth for the team, whom are competing to slay the most monsters while vying to stay alive. This twist means despite on the surface seeming co-operative players will eventually have to decide whether to hinder another player. Naturally, this leads to tension of when not if a player may “accidentally” deem another member of the team to be collateral damage. Commencing the blatant and obvious attempts to hinder one another.
Component wise the game has been well designed with only one slight niggle. the Blood tokens which are of two different sizes to represent either 1 or 5 are of good quality. These could have done with having slight more variation in size, or a number being visible on them, as when piled together they merge a bit. This would just help to make the distinction between the two easier at a glance.
Other than this it is hard to fault. The player boards of Bloodborne are made from thick card, the same material normal game boards are made from, making the game seriously robust. I’d love to see more games doing this rather than the thin card often utilized which rather quickly gets bent or marked at the corners. The first player token which stands upright is fit for purpose and more impressively fits in the box without being unassembled each time. Thought this save mere seconds each time you set up it is the attention to detail which I like. Even the player dials are nicely designed: rotating as you start to take damage to show your current health points.
The stuff of nightmares fills the tombs below the fallen city of Yharnam. These gruesome creatures now adorn the cards of Bloodborne The Card Game. Is the world a better place for it? Probably not as the artwork has been awesomely drawn with hellish details all the way down to a plethora of eyes, teeth and tentacles. Note that this is not the sort of game you’d want kids to find laying around if you want them to sleep at night. Each of the monsters is unique in artwork, as well as attributes, all adding up to make a horrifying deck. Thankfully you ‘ll only need to surpass 10 monsters and then one final boss in a game. Although I guarantee “only” doesn’t feel like it is the best word for it.
Overall, Bloodborne The Card Game offers a backstabbing filled, entertaining experience. Some may be put off by the semi-cooperative nature of the game, with the game feeling closer to competitive than cooperative. If your gaming group is used to being nice to each other this might not be an experience for you, unless you want to spice things up a bit. The game has remarkably taken the theming and concepts of the video game and has transformed them into a cutthroat, monster killing, card game. The strength of the theming isn’t a surprise but I was impressed by how well it moved medium. Bloodborne The Card Game certainly offers something different because of how it handles the semi-cooperative mechanics and for that reasoning along, regardless of the great artwork and video game theming, it will often be hitting my gaming table and deserves a play on yours!
[Editor’s Note: Bloodborne The Card Game was provided to us by CMON for review purposes.]
