Cool Mini Or Not CMNBBN001 BBN001 Bloodborne the Card Game

in 2015 From Software released a kind of spin off from their world famous Dark Souls series called Bloodborne. Set in a victorian-esque gothic city plagued by, well the plague, it was a nice change from the previous games which were all set in traditional castles, forests & dungeons.I LOVED Bloodborne, so the moment I saw Bloodborne The Card Game on Amazon it had to be mine. So on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I went to visit some friends (who are also Dark Souls mad) and we played it for about 6 hours!So what's the verdict?It’s good, It’s so so so good!I know I created this blog for Solo Roleplaying and Gamebook experiences, but every now and then I come across something special and just have to share it with you guys, hence why this is "Something A Bit Different". However something to note about this game in particular, even though it suggests 3-5 players, you can (difficultly) play it solo, lone-wolf style as you would on the PlayStation.To start with, let’s go over the contents of the box, and what you get for your monies.You get:The very detailed and nicely put together Rulebook5 Player Boards and 5 Player Health DialsA "Player One" Figure5 Final Boss Cards7 Boss Cards18 Monster Cards25 Starter Cards (5 per player)32 Upgrade Cards3 Monster Dice15 Trophy Tokensand 75 Blood Echo TokensAnd all of this comes in a really solid box with a nice tray that securely holds every piece in place, making transporting the game easy.The aim of the game is to work together to kill the monsters and bosses in the dungeon, but ultimately come out on top by earning the most blood echoes during the course of the game.You start out by selecting a Final Boss to rule over the dungeon. You can pick at random or you can all collectively choose one to take on. Final Bosses have an active effect that is present throughout the entire game. It could be something bad like limiting your maximum health to a certain level or it could be even worse like a perma-death rule, where if you die twice in the game, you're out. For good.You then select 3 Boss cards and 7 Monster cards, shuffle together and then that is your dungeon. 10 encounters followed by a bloody showdown at the end, all in a race to get the most blood for your hunter. The monster cards are awesome, all of them are present in the PS4 game and come with great detailed artwork and descriptions.It seems like a lot to take in when you first read the rules as each round has 8 stages that each player has to go through, but once you get started its really smooth and makes a lot of sense.You all pick an action card to play first, these can be weapons, consumables, traps, tricks or even the ability to return to "The Hunters Dream" which is kind of like a safe haven where you can upgrade weapons, restore health points, claim back used cards and bank that all important blood!Some of the sections will have instant effects that you must enforce as soon as you place them down. This could give you some extra blood, or allow you to get a shot in before anyone else, or maybe even cause some damage to the other players.In Bloodborne the Video Game, you have the ability to "Transform" your weapon. In the Card Game you use this to play basically a bluff card on your first go. That allows you to see what your other players have put down before you make a decision on what to do.After all, the game is still competitive even though its cooperative. There can only be one winner, and that person is the one with the most blood at the end.The monsters and bosses each have a colour coded dice depending on their strengths and monster types. Green ones are less of a threat, orange is middle ground and the red ones are the nasty ones who are really out to ruin your day.Some numbers will have a + next to them meaning you carry on rolling and add up the total. This can wipe out an entire party in one go (much like in the game!).Then play your action cards you picked at the beginning of the round, they are put into a used pile and then the appropriate damage is taken from the beast and given back to you in the form of blood echoes. Something to bear in mind is that if you are the 3rd or 4th player in the round, the monster may be dead before you get a chance to attack, meaning you don't earn any blood. That's why there are trick cards to steal other players blood or to get a swing at the monster early before anyone else.There's so many effects on these cards and every time you play a new one, everyone looks round, excited to see what it does. 9 times out of 10 everyone wishes they'd played something else when this happens!After each monster's demise, you get trophy points to assign to your players board. these can be traded in at the very end of the game for even more blood. However, you only get the trophy points if you assisted in the final round of that monsters combat.Another thing to note is that monsters can flee during combat, meaning you might have wasted an attack card. It’s all down to the luck of the Dice and the Draw. You can go from having a very bad game to a very good one in just a couple of rounds (and vice versa!).That's what makes this game so great! Its unexpected, unpredictable nature means you always have a different experience every time you play, just like in the video game.Cool Mini Or Not (The Devs) have done an incredible job of converting that punishing video game experience into a tabletop card game. It has a great Dark Gothic feel to it and I absolutely love it. Once you get the hang of it, you can be clearing dungeons (or failing to) in about 30 minutes, meaning it'd be a perfect game to play during shorter sessions, or as a bit of a warm up to something longer, like a fully-fledged DnD session or even the Dark Souls Board Game (which has like a 3 hour playtime!!)I love this game and I highly highly recommend it to anyone who likes the video game. 100% worth a go and its dirt cheap compared to other card games out there.I also found out there's a Hunters Expansion that came out a little while ago. I've already ordered it and its on its way as I write this! It comes with even more monsters and player cards, as well as a new system to punish you even more for dying in the game!I can’t wait!!

Has all the game references, is fun and amazing and good quality.All in all if you're looking for a quick board game to kill time this is it.

Wow brilliant and the quilty is amazing. Play every other day he so excited. Thank you. Same about the price tho as I worked hard to get this board game for him

Really good game, captures the essence of the videogame nicely but will also appeal to people that don't know the game whatsoever.It's like a mad cross between Libertalia and King of Tokyo (if you can even imagine such a thing) plays really quickly and is definitely worth considering.

Much like the video game the card game version involves quick paced action and (usually) a lot of death (unless you git gud of course). 3-5 players enter a chalice dungeon to face off against one of the game’s central bosses, but have to whittle down a deck of various monsters including a few sub-bosses before they can kill it.Some of the central bosses effects (which are in play throughout) are punishing but lend variety to the set ups. Having a max HP of 6 instead of 8 makes hunters think a bit harder about whether they want to attack the current monster in play or escape to the safety of the hunter’s dream. Playing the latter only to see your fellow hunters destroy the enemy and claim the reward is frustrating, but the game is designed for players to make calculated risks, and when it comes off it’s satisfying.I won’t delve too deep into the mechanics but needless to say they’re fairly easy to pick up. Your main aim is collect blood echos, which can be gained by damaging monsters or outright killing them to collect trophies which are measured on a tracker that each player has.Your fellow hunters are your allies but also your enemies. Various cards will help your allies by damaging enemies, but many more will damage them. The game therefore constantly pushes you to press home your advantage when you can without leaving yourself too open for other players to damage you (much like PvP in the video game).The build quality of the game is some of the best in any board game I’ve seen. It’s all relatively simple but the cards are of a nice quality and the overall design of the game itself feels well thought through and put together. Whilst playing there were only one or two cards we had to on consult online about to work out our they resolve, but other than that everything worked out pretty well.If you’re after a quick paced game that takes up around 30/40 minutes of your time then I don’t think you can go wrong. You don’t have to know anything about bloodbourne to play this but as a fan of the soulsbourne series this really is a very good adaption that represents the play and lore of the video game rather accurately.As an additional tip, if you can, definitely pick up the hunters nightmare expansion. It adds a LOT of variety to the game and ups the difficulty as well.

Wanted to find something different to do with my children on a Saturday night. This fit the bill and I wasn't disappointed. Once you get used to the rules (watched a youtube vid before hand) it's an excellent group game. Fantastic artwork throughout, highly recommended.

Not probably for big Role-Play fans, is quite easy to play once you get used to it and very fun although, as there were only two of us, my partner and I played two hands at the same time. I don't know what it says about me that my right and left hands played in very different styles. We love the video games (Bloodborne, Souls) so this was up our alley although would've liked a few more Bosses. Be careful though my partner still blames me for the death of one of his characters - the other one won so I fail to see the issue. Great fun.

Got this for a mate for his birthday, absolutely love it.Packaging captures the vibe of the games front cover and the setting of Yarnham, and the detail of the pieces is also very good.Really is a must have for any Bloodborne fan.