Vampire Hunter (2002)

From the rules: "The Object: Make your way into Drakus' castle, fighting the monsters as you go. Find Drakus before his escape ship arrives and defeat him once and for all!"

This is a simple game targeting pre-teens and teens. The game itself MUST be played in the dark as the tower lights shift from red to blue, changing the board, dice, and tiles that may or may not reveal creatures of the night.

The game is a about the size of your Monopoly board, with the castle/lantern in the center. The players enter the game from the starting corner and must travel clockwise to get to the far end on the board containing the coffin with Drakus. Every character only has one life and will be reset back to the start anytime they loose a battle with a monster, trap, or Drakus himself. To defeat Drakus you must defeat him with three separate weapons.(Garlic, sword, and stake) Each defeat is recorded by placing the weapon on Drakus card. If you get killed and sent back to start the successful attacks remain.

The board and pieces have up to 2 symbols on each. The cards dictate weather it is Night (blue) or Day (RED) this will effect pieces in play, an example a villager is no threat but at night he can transform into a werewolf. Combat is standard throw the die and see the result on the die roll for victory or a defeat. Now here is the tricky part of the game all the tiles are placed in each of the 4 areas of the board. The players must search those areas to find weapons or monsters, this is why the time of day can have such an effect. It is written in a simple no nonsense layout. Playing in the dark is a nice effect and does alter game play. It can support up to 4 players at a time and the rules will adjust starting layout based on 2, 3, or 4 players. You could play solitaire but there is nothing in the game that will not allow you to win.