For those familiar with Eldritch Horror, one look at the board will have you making direct comparisons between the two. The design of the Sunnydale board bears a lot of similarity to Eldritch’s board. Eldritch is by far the heavier (and longer) of the two. Buffy feels a bit like “Eldritch lite,” though. You’re moving from location to location, resolving events, and dealing with baddies. Both are good games but given a choice, I’ll take Buffy due to the theme, lower complexity, and shorter play time. Just be aware that, despite the looks, Buffy and Eldritch are two very different beasts. The Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game looks nice, the original artwork is great but there is not enough of it, all the vampire tokens are the same vampire, all the demon tokens are the same demon. The event cards have minimal artwork; the monster of the week cards have minimal artwork and the Big Bad plot cards are equally bereft of art. This is a real shame as the artwork that is there is fantastic and if it had been spread across the entire game it would have been wonderful, as it is…it isn’t.

Once the monster of the week is dead, it leaves a clue in its location, three monsters of the week equals three clues. When the characters get these clues, the Big Bad’s plot cards are revealed. Three plot cards reveal the Big Bad on the board and the end game begins. This adds a clue collecting aspect to the game that is reminiscent of Buffy and is a reliable, effective mechanic.

Rarity

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the cult classic TV show in its newest board game incarnation. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from Jasco Games, pits the players in the roles of the iconic TV white hats, Buffy, Willow, Xander, Giles, Angel and Spike against the Big Bads of the TV series; The Master, The Mayor, Adam, Glory, Caleb and the First across the city of Sunnydale.

Players race across Sunnydale, slaying Demons, dusting Vampires and collecting the much-needed items to face against the monster of the week to uncover a clue to the big bad’s plot against Sunnydale and the world. But all is not as it seems; the baddies move around Sunnydale wounding the scoobies and killing vulnerable townies and eventually the big bad will reveal itself. When the game starts there are baddies to kill, a monster of the week to fight with certain items and townies to rescue. So much to do and so few actions, this leads to one inevitable result – analysis paralysis. With an open-ended game the first player can look at the board and say: “What should I do?” Of course, at times it is very obvious what needs to be done, but there are times when the fast-paced game slows because the players are looking at the board and trying to puzzle out the way forwards with all the options available. After all tokens are spent, the monsters and Big Bads activate, dishing out wounds and killing the townies. Once the monsters have all had their fill of destruction, a new round begins and play continues until the game is won or lost.Each Character has a unique special skill which is thematic to the character. Buffy is good at fighting, Willow can do more with magic than anyone else, Xander can help others and so on and each of these special abilities makes choosing the characters that you play interesting and something to consider if not everyone is in the game.