Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein - An Introduction

 Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein - An Introduction

Game Specs

• Advertised Player Count: 2-4
• *Actual* Player Count: 2-4, as advertised. I think it's probably better with 3-4 than with 2, and I say that because most worker placement games are better with 3+ players. In my experience, it's generally too easy in worker placement games for one player to get ahead of another and then just stay entrenched there.
• Playing Time: 90-180 minutes. I have a bit of difficulty speaking to this because I haven't really timed it out, and when I've played it, I've had so much fun with it that the time really seems to fly. But I'm willing to trust that estimate as accurate!
• Age: 13+
• Premise: Players are scientists who have been recruited or coerced by Frankenstein's Creature to build him a bride. So players place their scientist or assistant peoples on the board to collect body parts, gain knowledge, and accomplish other tasks so that they can build the bride and then animate it before any of the other players.

This is yet another game to which my friend Chad introduced me, and in my opinion, it's another winner. It had been on my list based on things I'd read about it, but Chad and his wife Lisa taught it to me, and I just really dig it. I really enjoy worker placement games in general, but so many of them can be so similar that I don't feel the need to own all of them.

In this case, I really, really enjoy the theme, and I think the game's art and its components wonderfully embody and reflect the theme. But most importantly, I always feel as though I've got something to do. I think that's important in worker placement games, because I've played several in which someone might beat me to a space, and I suddenly feel as though I'm about to waste my turn. In my mind, there's a very big difference between not being able to optimize a turn and not really having much of a turn. The first is a feature because it's part of the puzzle of the game, and the second is just poor game design. But in Abomination, there is always a path forward, and I think the elegant design of the game means that those paths forward are illuminated as the game progresses.

The game has a solid balance between letting the players be ruthless (Need fresh body parts and blood? Why not murder a guy?) to get what they need, but ensuring that too much indulgence comes with a price (You've murdered a bunch of people, bruh. So, you know, ease up off of that or the police will get ya.) And because there are so many other things I can be doing from turn to turn, I generally don't get too upset when my plans are disrupted. There are other paths and workarounds for every player, and I can't say enough about how much I appreciate the different paths to victory.

Finally, I appreciate the work players need to do in the lab. Building the body isn't enough: you have to animate it, too. But your timing matters, and while you can mitigate risk, you can't completely eliminate the possibility that in trying to animate your creation, you'll actually destroy parts of it. But lest that be off-putting for anybody who is reading this, you should know that damaging or losing a body part does not spell instant doom for your chances to win the game; again, there's always a way back. But I really like the consideration of having to time out when to take the risk and how to approach it. I mention this elsewhere with regards to Power Grid - I dig the element of the game that usually dictates that if a player is going to win, they have to do their best to stay in the middle of the pack, then pick a moment to leapfrog the leaders and sprint to the end. This isn't exactly the same thing by any means, but there's a similarity in the approach to leveraging timing as a mechanic of the game.

Bottom Line: The game goes to some dark places what with grave robbing and murder. But given the context, that's not particularly surprising. I think it's a terrific game with a really fun narrative and well-executed design and mechanics. It is not a must-own, but it's definitely a must-play, especially for people who enjoy worker placement games!