Overview
Released in 2018 (latest edition), 2-5 players, 120-180 minutes
Designer(s)
Frank Brooks, Stephen Hand, Kevin Wilson
Why We Love It
Eight years after Bram Stoker's Dracula, the Count has returned to un-life and seeks to make the story's protagonists pay for what they had done to him.
Fury of Dracula in a one-vs-many game where one player takes on the role of Dracula while the rest play as characters from the novel (Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, and Mina Harker). Much like the story, Dracula's whereabouts are often shrouded in mystery and Dracula if usually never on the board which is a map of Europe. Instead, Dracula moves about the continent by secretly playing cards from his location deck to a card row called the trail. If a hunter enters a location on the trail, they gain some knowledge about where Dracula at least has been and possibly which direction he may have been heading if they can reveal 2 cards in a row.
Dracula's goal is to produce 13 influence points during the course of the game. This is a challenging task as it often comes from defeating hunters which can be a dangerous challenge, and by producing vampires which involves keeping them hidden from those nosy investigators. The investigators win by dealing 15 damage to Dracula.
Dracula is probably most powerful when he is hidden as he can lay traps for hunters and sow despair which makes defeating hunters generate more influence. He can also create lesser vampires in his wake which he can use to ambush hunters that stumble onto their location or hope that they "mature", meaning they eventually leave the trail card row and earn him more influence. Dracula may also play cards that let him move a little faster, feed to regain health, or even break up part of the trail by replacing a location in the trail with a false lead.
Conversely, Dracula is probably at his weakest, though still a formidable foe, when directly confronted by the hunters which happens if an investigator ends their movement in Dracula's location. Quite this often this happens once a hunter has had a chance to prepare themselves for the confrontation.
Combat is resolved through Dracula and the hunter secretly selecting and then revealing a card from their hand, each of which has a number of symbols on them. If any of the symbols on the 2 cards match, Dracula's action is canceled, and the hunter gets to resolve their card without consequences. The hunters often have access to traditional tools like crucifixes, silver bullets, and holy water that can do some serious damage. If Dracula's card gets resolved, it can often result in the hunter taking damage, having their action canceled, Dracula regaining some health, or even escaping from the hunters. This often becomes a game about anticipating what your opponent might be trying to do and playing the card to not only negate their action but try and get your action through.
Fury of Dracula is a slow but intense game. While turns are generally simple, the decision and deduction process can be slow on both sides of the table. This is balanced out by the thrill of trying to track down Dracula and get a few more jabs at him before he slips away again, or from the rush of playing Dracula and trying to stay just one step ahead of the hunters. It's hard to play it cool when the hunters are just one town over from you and don't seem to realize it.
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