I initially bought TOMB after seeing the reviews here on BGG. But after buying it, the ratings started to drop and the less than stellar reviews started being posted. Having not had a chance to play it yet, I started to get nervous and questioned my investment decision. I finally got my chance to play a six player game. It only took a few turns before the first, “This sucks...” comments started to emerge. But, by the end of the game, the comments were, “This game is awesome! Let’s play that again!” Here are a few secrets we discovered in the TOMB to turn this game around:

The rulebook sucked… until we read through all the stuff posted on the forums and the errata. I agree that you shouldn’t have to do extra research to play any game. However, once we knew what we were doing, everything flowed very smoothly. The rules aren’t bad; it’s the way they are presented and explained.

Downtime in this game sucked… until we figured out what the cause was and how to deal with it. When you draw 5 characters tiles and pick one (and so do the other 5 players), and if you choose to recruit on your turn, you have to sift through 24 tiles. The other players have to sit and wait for you, especially if they too want to recruit on their turn. Use the optional rule or drawing 5 tiles and choosing 2, or pass the tile along as soon as you have read it. When everyone chooses to recruit on the first 2-3 turns, accept the fact that it will be a bit slower. The other issue we had with downtime was two players with a party of wizards and clerics and a million spells. On their turns, it took 5-10 minutes to figure out all the reaction and what their subsequent effects. Worse still, these two guys sat next to each other. And most of the time, they were each other’s crypt master. We let other players be the crypt master instead. Next time, we’re splitting them up. And we’re putting a limit on the amount of spells you can have.

It sucked that you can’t upgrade the characters… until we realized that weapons and spells and treasure are attribute enhancers. This is a great dynamic of the game – random characters, weapons and spells make this game very dynamic. I had a below average type of fighter who attacked with 4 green dice, 1 blue and 1 red. He attacked before monsters. He was good, but not great. But then I drew a short sword that gave him 4 more green dice and the ability to re-roll. Suddenly, he was a killer.

Losing party members sucked… until you realize that’s part of the game. One of the guys at the table said he hated the game because he spent so much time carefully selecting his crew only to have them killed. But once he realized that men will die, he loved it. In fact, he deliberately tried to kill off some of his guys. Casualties are to be expected.

It sucked that you can only make one choice each turn… until we realized that this is one of the coolest aspects of the game. Choices! Choices! Do I continue to recruit? Should I spend my turn playing this tactics card? Do I bank this treasure or use it? The opportunity cost in this game is HEAVY! And it makes it very difficult at times to make decisions you won’t regret.

The special abilities and attributes sucked… until we realized the element of risk it added to the game. Some of the tactics, traps, characters, weapons and monster abilities have a major “screw-over” factor. But that is what made the crypt crawl so much fun! There is risk associated with your role in the game. Even being a crypt master can have its downfalls. In one game, the crypt master had to put one of his own party members into the crypt as a monster. I had a poison dagger that increased the less than average attack skill of my rogue to better than average. But it also allowed me to kill a party member in another player’s raiding party (forcing me to discard the dagger). As crypt master, one of the monsters I revealed got to make two attack rolls on EVERYONE in the tomb. I rolled all misses until I got to my own party and killed two of them. This is yet another example of the opportunity cost of making choices. Things can go bad very quickly and easily.

Taking SO many turns to build and equip a party sucked… until we realized that it does not win you the game. Again – opportunity cost! While some players take up turns to recruit and equip the perfect party, other players are already in the tomb. In one of our games one guy drew a character that attacked with 6 red dice if they went in solo. He cleared 2 crypts himself. I had a party of 3 and took out 3 crypts, one of which had the most cards. A bit of luck I guess, but I also drew equipment and spells that made my team that much better. Sometimes, you pull cards and receive little to no benefit.

It sucked that the guy with the biggest and best party wins… until we realized that’s not always the case. It all depends on what you kill, what you bank, and who you do it with. I won the game with 3 party members, but I also banked everything. The two guys with the biggest parties and who also cleared the most crypts equipped their party with the treasure they found – that cost them points. The guy who went solo had the second highest score. Part of it is luck of the draw, but the other part is what you do with your loot.

Opening a crypt and just getting treasure sucked… until we realized that it is the nature of the game. The crypts are random! But everything is also scalable! Put more/less monsters, traps or treasure in each crypt.

TOMB is an awesome game! It is very dynamic. And it is also what you make of it. I was happy that we could work through all the “suck” factors. And now there are 6 players waiting to play again.