Play Tips

With Monsterpocalypse just about to land in a store near you, I thought I would share some helpful tips that can make your first play experience that much better.

In order to keep track of which buildings belong to each player, I like to place all of my buildings so that I can read their stats (the title will be upside-down to you) and then I ask my opponent to do the same. This way all my buildings are facing one direction while all of his buildings are facing another. To be honest, there is really no telling where your opponent may be putting his buildings when he is not playing, thus it’s best to make sure you take home the Downtown High-Rise that you brought to the table. Back when I worked on another CMG I saw a player remove a figure that was killed and place it in his mouth. If that player was willing to do that with his figure at a convention in public view of everyone, imagine what he would be willing to do with the figure when he is alone at home! Now pair those possibilities with the plot of Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman and you have one heck of situation on your hands!

As an insurance policy to make sure you keep track of what figures belong to each player, you can also use a simple piece of scotch tape on the base or put a rubber band or twist-tie on the figure where it makes contact with its base. If two identical figures are next to one another and you accidentally take control of the wrong figure, you may benefit from additional movement or be penalized by not being able to get into the position you were counting on. Such a mistake could cost you the game or maybe cost your opponent the game, and that is not very sporting. Further, as mentioned before, there is no telling what people are doing with their figures when no one is looking; it’s best to keep your hands on your own figures!

Since figure facing is not a concern in Monsterpocalypse, you can give your unit a twist at the end of its movement to remind yourself and your opponent that the unit has advanced. Start each turn by making sure that your units are facing your opponent, then after you move your unit turn that figure 90 degrees clockwise to face your right side of the map. This way you can not only remember which units have moved, but if your opponent does the same, you can both easily tell which units belong to each player. That is especially helpful when playing those factional civil war battles where everyone is using the same figures.

The need for facing, rubber bands, tape, and twist-ties will be eliminated when we release the accessory pack with player ID rings (which should be a short time after the starters and boosters release) although twisting your units after advancing is still a great idea. The player rings will easily denote which figures belong to you and which belong to your opponent. Until then, these simple little tips will keep everything ordered and efficient while also preventing a super monkey-virus from spreading, which makes for a good time all around.

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