Vampire Hunter: The Game
Review by NekroDave
I bought this because it was $3 and it had the word "vampire" on the box. Is there a stupider reason to buy something? Maybe, but this game has been sitting around my house for a few years now after I pulled it from a Kay Bee Toys closeout sale. And I gotta admit, I do have a bit of a soft spot for it. Any game designed to be played in the dark, whose objective is murder, gets some respect from me. And my nephew used to love it before he became obsessed with guns.
I won't spend much time on the rules and what not, but I'll just say that the object of the game is to have your character navigate across the board, get to the master vampire "Drakus" and kill him before he gets away in his ship. Along the way you may have to do battle with all many of ghosts and goblins (in a similar vein to the classic Dungeons and Dragons style, by way of rolled dice) and collect the necessary tools to kill the vampire.
The fold out game board has a plastic tower placed in the middle of the board with some cardboard appendages along the side for detail. The real gimmick of the game and about the only thing that makes it noteworthy is that the tower contains a light up function. Once turned on, it will shine either blue or red, to represent night and day respectively. The light is changed by simply pushing down on the top of the tower.
This comes into play because depending on what time of day it is (determined by a playing card), the game play can be altered. Parts of the board actually show a different image under each color light. For instance, in the pictures below, if you land on the square in the middle during the "day", there is a harmless fog there. But land in the same spot at night and you must do battle with a lesser vampire!
The game includes 4 character pieces as well as the vampire's ship. Each piece is plain white plastic, but I suppose you could paint them up if you wanted to get fancy with it.
I can't say that I expect anyone here at CollectionDX to run right out and buy this. But if you have kids or tend to find yourself babysitting from time to time, it's a neat game to have around the house, especially around this time of year. Kids will dig playing this and it's especially great for keeping otherwise fidgety kids occupied should your house lose power. Since the light tower is run on batteries, you don't need to have your electricity working to play. In fact, it's better if you don't.
Now bring the hate! :)
Comments
11 comments postedNo hate here, I think its kind of cool. What age group is it recommended for?
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CollectionDX Admin
It says 9 and up on the box, but I think if you play it with them and help out, it's ok for younger kids, too. I think my nephew was like 7 when we played.
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
One board game I really wish I could have gotten was MB's "The Omega Virus". With an electronic computer at the center of the diamond-shaped board, you boarded a space station and attempted to shut down said computer by finding key cards and upgrades for your figure... all within a time limit!
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CollectionDX Staff
Really love the concept and I wish they made random board games like this more often. There are too many board games based on franchises now a days. Though you can't beat the classics, it's nice to break the mold every now and then.
I remember seeing commercials for this and thinking it was a great concept! I would have snapped this up if KayBee had any during their last clearance. :-)
It does make me pine for the greatest board game ever--Dark Tower. I regret to this day having to give away a complete, working game during one of our many cross-country moves. It was just too darn big. But that was a game that kids and adults regularly played at our house. So amazing. I can even clearly remember unwrapping it at Christmas!
Wow, I don't think I ever played Dark Tower, but I just took a cursory glance at it online and it does indeed look awesome. My favorite game as a kid was of course, "Crossbows and Catapults" though. I've been tempted to get some again from time to time, but never have. I do love games though. :)
"This must be settled the way nature intended....with a vicious, bloody fight!"
Onyx Blackman
Principal, Flatpoint High
I think about 3 or 4 years ago I saw the new Crossbows and Catapults stuff on clearance. I guess they were trying to revitalize the brand. It was very tempting. I never owned a set when I was younger, but I did play it at friends' houses.
Man, oh, man. Dark Tower was something to behold. I think it was the first really successful blend of board games, rpg's, and electronic gaming. The board was huge, and you would travel around to four kingdoms, collecting a key in each one. Then you took all four keys to the tower to fight the evil dragon. The computer kept track of your food and gold and troops and such. When you entered a tomb, you never knew if the long sound effect of a creaking door would end with a "call to arms!", a jubilant "you found treasure", or a "wah-wah, empty tomb" sound. You had to manage resources, haggle for goods, and decide when to see a fight through and when to cut and run (fights were turn-based, with the computer showing your numbers and the enemy numbers after each round). And since others couldn't see the various displays while you were playing, there was an element of bluffing involved. The artwork was truly stunning, both on the board and in the tower's various visuals. If any game deserved a remake, Dark Tower would be it. Sadly, no company would every put the time and money into something so large and grand. :-(
Sorry to blather, but something about Vampire Hunter reminded me of those good old days.
EDIT: I just found this great site with tons of pics and details about the game. All those fantastic little images under the various subsections are artwork displayed by the tower during various events. *sigh*
http://well-of-souls.com/tower/index.html
This kicks the hell out of mousetrap.
I, too, love games and honestly...I'd love to give this one a whirl someday...even if it's meant for young kids. Jape, Dark Tower sounds really cool and pretty amazingly innovative for the year it came out in, but boardgamegeek didn't rate it very highly overall. My favorite is still Space Hulk, but I've yet to play the new edition (just got it).
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Sanjeev
I have the old Dark Tower 100% complete and working. I played it recently with a friend that had also played it regularly as a child. It's still a sharp looking, unique game for its age. This game was on every kids wish list I knew back then (late 70's). These were really hard to find due to the short Milton Bradley run. They were sued by the original designers of the tower concept and they pulled the game! You will have to pay $$$ dearly to get one of these complete w/ working tower to play. I think the collectible value and the play value warrants owning Dark Tower.
Forget whatever boardgamegeek says! This is an old game that had a very new, unique concept in its era of release.
Grandzinga....
Yeah it still felt like the late 70's!!
Grandzinga....