Do you have people you know within your gaming group that you would like to get rid of? People whose presence is an offense against the natural order? My friend, you are in luck. I present to you a game capable of driving home your true feelings with a power rivaled only by the stench at a Magic: Worlds. A game so blunt, that Pat Buchananon thinks it could be more tactful, I give you Cutthroat Caverns.

The Bits
Cutthroat Caverns comes in a relatively small box with a giant stack of cards, a set of player & encounter cards, a few chits and some glass beads. All of the materials in this title are very good quality, with a glossy finish and a bit of reinforcement.

The cards used in the game are playing card quality (decent playing cards, not those chintzy ones from the grocery store) and are slightly larger than your average playing card. The artwork on these is pretty minimal, with the logo on the back of the card and any text indicating the strength or abilities conveyed by the card on the other side. The cards come in three basic types: action cards, event cards, item cards and four initiative cards. Action cards make up the majority of cards and have a damage value at the top with a modified value in smaller font on the sides of the card (some cards have a value at the bottom with a character icon indicating a special value when used by that character). Event cards have a blue header and indicate an event that occurs during the game modifying the normal flow of the game. The item cards have a green header and are played immediately in front of the player, granting the character an on-going or temporary boon (depending on the card) The initiative cards have a large number printed on their front to indicate player order.

The character and encounter cards are significantly larger. The character cards have a full portrait of the character with a series of health indicators from 100 to 0, decrementing by 5 down the side of the card. The encounter cards have the same dimensions as the character cards, but include the health of the monster, damage values and attack pattern as well as any special rules that may apply for the monster. There is also a card used to track the damage taken by the current monster and the current turn.

The chits are good quality and have held up well after numerous plays. The glass beads are functional (they are used for keeping track of damage on players and monsters), but seem a bit smaller than necessary.

Gameplay
In Cutthroat Caverns, players assume the role of adventurers exploring legendary dungeon X in order to capture treasure Y in order to become the most powerful person on Z. I’m not trying to insinuate that the theme is pasted on, but its also not particularly necessary. That said, the theme fits the game’s mechanics very well and add to the feel of the game. Each character in the game is identical for all intents and purposes, with the only real differentiation coming from the cards that are drawn (six per player, although this can be modified by certain items).

Each turn, the players flip over a card from the encounter deck and adjust the hit points for the monster (if applicable) on the card used for tracking monster hit points. There are a few encounters that represent traps rather than monsters (basically a game of memory where each turn of failure inflicts damage). Each encounter is worth a number of victory points that will be awarded to the layer who delivers the killing blow - and only that player. Encounters take place over a number of rounds, which being with each player assigned based on a draw from the initiative deck. Each player places an action card from their hand face down, revealing and executing the cards in initiative order. These action cards vary from straight attacks doing a set amount of damage (including 0 damage) to combat feats that allow players to take multiple actions to cards that modify turn order or otherwise mess with the game’s natural flow. After each round, players are allowed to draw one card back into their hand.

After this first round of combat, the encounter gets to attack with a speed of 0, striking one or more players for a specific amount of damage, both of which are determined by the number of players in the game. This continues until the encounter is dead/complted or the players are all dead. Following the encounter, victory points are awarded, players draw back to their maximum hand size and any effects that can be used between turns are played. Simple, no?

Not really. This is one of those games that is fairly simple from a mechanical perspective, but has a great deal of complexity due to the variety of cards and the ever-shifting initiative order. Encounters in later stages of the game receive a victory point bonus, adding an interesting pacing element to the game as players that get out to an early lead often find themselves the victim of other players needing a human shield. For me, this combination of uncertainty, betrayal and pacing really makes the game shine. I’m not generally a fan of cooperative games, but this game strikes a good chord for me as the players need each other to get to the later levels (as the power of the encounters doesn’t change if the number of players does), but have no other incentive to work together. I know that many groups have found that this game can create some hard feelings as betrayals in the game tend to be very direct, but for our group, we’ve not had any problems along these lines. It is worth noting that getting out to an early lead in this game can often be a lethal mistake due to the large number of points that can appear in later encounters.

I’ve played this with a fairly small subset of players, and can wholeheartedly recommend it for the 20+ crowd. Its probably good with teenagers as well, but I don’t think I’d go any younger due to the constant need to balance risk and reward.

Endgame
The endgame for Cutthroat Caverns is exciting as players trailing in points begin looking for high-value encounters to appear and those in the lead work to fend off the wolves nipping at their heels. That said, the endgame can feel a bit rushed, with players rushing through in order to speed past any betrayals perpetrated by their fellow adventurers. That said, I’ve had a few games that felt anticlimactic as the late-game leader cemented his position as winner and the other players lacking the cards needed to help him to a shallow grave. This is a minor complaint and doesn’t seem common.

Bang for the Buck
I didn’t buy Cutthroat Caverns myself, but have been living vicariously through Luganator’s copy. At a retail of $30, it seems a bit expensive for what it is, although the generally high quality of the components eases any reservations in this department. Overall, I’ll likely pick this one up because of its good replay value and proof that I can play a cooperative game without installing myself as president for life in the group.

Overall
This one really took me off guard - I really didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. The mechanics are surprisingly solid, its got good replay value and the component quality is beyond what you often see in a game of this form factor. If you can enjoy the backstabbing element of the game, this one is a real gem and is definitely worth picking up.

Disclaimers
Time Owned: Not Owned Number of Plays: 5
Ages Played With: 20-40+ Player Counts: 4, 5, 6