CLAUSTROPHOBIA is the latest release from French firm Asmodee, a dungeon crawl board game that sets itself apart from other titles in its class like DESCENT and WARHAMMER QUEST by virtue of its simplicity, ease of play, and streamlined scope. It’s really a lot closer to simple, old school adventure games like SORCEROR’S CAVE and MYSTIC WOOD in that it doesn’t rely on a multitude of items and creatures, tactical possibilities, or endless expansions to give it a good sense of atmosphere or narrative.
It’s also a game where its varied scenarios can be played out in 30 minutes to an hour depending on their complexity. Variety is fairly restrained—there are only three hero types and two monster types and very few treasures or special abilities. However, the scenarios available both in the included scenario book and online are varied, offering a lot of replay value and potential for expansion. Out of the box, CLAUSTROPHOBIA offers a lot to satisfy fans of the genre in a great-looking package but in its limited range may be both its greatest asset and its greatest detriment; it’s the kind of game where I wouldn’t mind if it dug a little deeper.
CLAUSTROPHOBIA is set in a fairly obscure (in the US, at least) game setting called HELL DORADO that has something to do with the city of New Jerusalem being built over a gate to Hell. I guess nobody checked local zoning ordinances. It is a two player game although there are possibilities for team play, with one player managing the evil Troglodytes and a Demonic overseer and one player fielding several heroes that represent a sort of cleric charged with leading the straight-to-Hell expedition along with a couple of condemned mercenary thugs. There’s a brute hero that’s mostly a melee tank, and a quick skirmisher type that excels at mobility. All units are fully painted miniatures that look fairly nice and add some character to the game. Scenarios vary and I’ve been surprised at the range of adventures they enable—this is definitely one of those games that has a sort of “tool kit” feeling. The dungeon areas are large tiles, some of which have delightful appellations such as “Hungry Tunnels” and “Pentacle Room” denoting special environmental effects or events.
Most of the scenarios I’ve played involved exploring the dungeon, generally by drawing random room and corridor tiles, and cracking a few Troglodyte or hero heads to accomplish a goal, find a McGuffin, or beat a big boss. They have been fun and surprisingly rich in detail given the scope of the game, particularly some of the online offerings that feature narrative passages that enrich the atmosphere. Granted, the level of detail is much lower than in something like DESCENT, but this is also a game that takes a fraction of the amount of time and is ultimately a much lighter, more directly satisfying experience. It does, however, tend to take up as much space as that larger game- the dungeon tiles are large, and most games have threatened to spill over onto the floor.
Gameplay is extremely tight and can be easily taught to a completely new player in five minutes. The ruleset is a basic move and attack model with a couple of particulars such as a tunnel size rule (essentially a stacking limit), spawning rules for demons, and a prohibition on moving out of a tile with more enemies than allies (essentially a pinning rule). One of the more interesting design elements, and one that I didn’t expect to work, is that beneath the veneer of the dungeon exploration motif, CLAUSTROPHOBIA is really a dice assignment game.
Like a couple of popular Eurogames over the past few years and notable Ameritrash examples such as WAR OF THE RING and even AGE OF CONAN, the game finds players rolling dice and assigning them to various slots. The demon player rolls a set of dice and must assign them to a board featuring a menu of effects and advantages. Some of them require certain sets of numbers, odds or evens, and so forth and effects range from special spawning abilities to bonus event cards. The hero player’s characters each have six lines of stats and each turn dice are rolled and plugged into the corresponding character’s console to determine their movement, attack strength, and defense value for each turn.
So there’s a couple of tactical decisions to be made each turn- do you put a good number on your Redeemer so he can have a strong enough defense to survive an impending Troglodyte rush, or do you stick it on your Brute so he can have a high attack? The really interesting twist is that heroes do not have hit points or anything like that- when they take damage, the player sticks a peg into their console to block out that die result. What happens, then, is that as heroes take wounds the range of die results they can use is reduced.
It’s a neat idea, but it’s also one of the shakier parts of the ruleset. As the game goes on, heroes that are taking hits can become seriously incapacitated as their ability to receive action dice is reduced. It’s realistic and adds tension to the game- particularly when you’re right at the end of a scenario and your last hero or two can only activate on one or two numbers. But it can result in the last quarter or even third of a scenario all but collapsing for the hero player. It isn’t a serious issue- it’s one that can be fixed with a house rule and it isn’t like we’re talking about the ruination of a four hour gaming session here- but it is something that happens more than it likely should, particularly given the quality of the remainder of the design.
