Fury of Dracula Magazine

Fury of Dracula is a game of cat and mouse. Just imagine that a mouse is a bat. And the cat is ... Ozzy Osbourne? Lie in the shade and read our review of Fury of Dracula!

Fury of Dracula (4th edition)

A game of deduction and gothic horror
The number returns with 5 new fully painted figures for Dracula ...
2-5 players, where one is Dracula, hunted by hunters ....

A brief overview of Dracula's rage

Fury of Dracula (in this case the third / fourth edition) is an all-in-one co-op game in which four players must try to track down and destroy Dracula.

Dracula, controlled by one player, secretly darts and eludes Europe , setting traps, creating new vampires and ravaging them. Hunters must explore the map, look for clues as to where the count is located while battling the evil he has left behind, and collect tools and weapons when the battle comes.

If the Hunters are unable to find and defeat Dracula in time, the whole of Europe will be under his demonic influence and the game will be lost. All teeth for you.

Unpacking Dracula's rage

When you unpack the Fury of Dracula, the social convention requires you to hear a creak as if you were opening a coffin. When you do, you will find inside:

1 game board
1 Reference to rules
5 character sheets
5 Plastic figures
75 event tickets
70 Location Cards
28 meeting cards
72 tokens / markers
38 Item cards
12 Hunter battle cards
13 battle maps of Dracula
5 Power cards
4 Hunter reference cards
1 Reference map

The third edition of Fury of Dracula is stunningly crafted. Every inch - cards, miniatures , chips, rules and, of course, the blackboard - radiates gothic horror.

Speaking of blackboard, I love a good map. And the boy is a beautiful map. From London to Marseille, Florence or Sarajevo is well described in detail and will undoubtedly bring many years of gaps. a memory for all who intertwine across the continent. And it’s certainly gloomy , dark colors, gothic writing and intricate details fit the theme perfectly.

The maps are also beautifully illustrated, including reference sheets of characters that bring each one to life beautifully.

You will see the Miniatures included are all unpainted but are well made. Keep in mind that if you’re not a fan of drawing your own miniatures, it would be worth getting a copy of the fourth edition instead, which is essentially the same as the third edition, but has pre-painted miniatures.

How to play Fury of Dracula

Setup

To get started, open the large map board and place the impact mark on the '0' area of the impact line and the time mark on 'Monday'.

Choose someone to play Dracula, sit him on the side of the board with ‘The Trail’ - six spaces so you can follow Dracula’s last six moves - and give them a smaller reference map. The other players are Hunters. Then have everyone take their own thumbnail and reference card. If you are playing with less than five players, give the remaining Hunter characters to other players.

Dracula would now have to draw five match cards to form their starting hand.

Finally, place all the characters in the starting points: Lord Godalming in Constanta; Dr. John Seward in Marseilles; Mina Harker in Brussels; and Van Helsing in Amsterdam. Dracula secretly chooses where to start, placing a location map face down on The Trail and their thumbnail nearby.

The goal of the game

The hunters are now exploring the map together and tracking down Dracula. Along the way, they will pick up items to help in the last battle, and they will also encounter other vampires that they must defeat - or risk being bitten themselves. To win, they must inflict 15 injuries on Dracula.

Dracula, on the other hand, secretly travels around Europe, creating new vampires and trying to increase his influence on space 13 on the track before defeating him. He has time on his side, because the longer the game goes, the easier it is to build influence.

Hunter phase

Hunters begin to take action first. Each player gets two actions with which they can move around the map, try to find objects by solving the map of events, trade with other players in the same city and perform different special actions.

Be careful, but you may come across Dracula or one of his traps along the way!

Dracula's phase

On Dracula, however, he chooses where he wants to move and places a location map face down on the trail. After the first turn, it first moves all other location maps one space along the route to create space for a new one.

He will then choose a meeting card from his own hand, which he will place in a new location, which is a kind of vile act he did there to prevent hunters, such as creating new vampires or setting traps. This can also cause the meter to earn more impact.

Like Hunters, Dracula can move around the sea. However, these location maps are marked with differently colored backs, so Hunter will be told he’s at sea if he decides to get his feet wet.

Meeting cards

If the hunters end up in a place that is on Dracula's path, then Dracula reverses that location map. He can then choose to ambush Hunters by activating a meeting card, or he can choose not to, as meeting cards that reach the end of the trail can “mature” and award special bonuses.

Hunters also have the option of activating a meeting card as one of their actions. Once the meeting card is resolved, it is then discarded and cannot mature.

Exposing Dracula and fighting

If in the end the hunters are in the same place as Dracula, then a fight ensues. This happens by the characters playing cards on the battlefield in circles - with weapons like garlic or guns - and causing each other damage and effects. This is the Hunters' chance to inflict 15 damage on Dracula before the end of the fight. If they don’t do this in six rounds, Dracula escapes and fights another day.

Similarly, Dracula can kill Hunters and reach points of influence. Over time, the number of influence points offered will increase.

You may also have to fight one of Dracula's other vampires. In this case, the same rules are followed.

End of the game

The hunters chase Dracula around the board and if they can do 15 damage to him during the battle, they win.

But if they don't before Dracula reaches the end of the line of influence - or Dracula kills each of the Hunters - then Dracula wins.

Your first game Fury of Dracula

Day and night

Hunters are divided into two parts: Day and Night. Each player performs their first action during the day and the second action at night. Note that they can only be moved during the day.

Movement

There are rules about the different types of movement that Hunters can perform. For one campaign, you could move freely to a neighboring city. If you have a ticket , you can take the train forward. To obtain a train ticket, you must book it with a promotion. You can also find other modes of transport during the game, such as horses.

Dracula, however, cannot move by train. He prefers a more traditional mode of transportation.

Finding items

To search for an object, the player uses the 'care' campaign and then turns over the event card. If the Dracula icon is on the event card during the day phase, the item cards may not be retained. If they have a Dracula icon in the evening, they have to give it to Dracula.

Conversation between players

As a cooperative game, it is imperative that hunters talk to each other and formulate a strategy. However, Dracula is always there, sitting opposite you and taking it all together - like a bat on a wall.

It’s part of the game, so keep playing. You should not hide any of your strategizing from Dracula, such as showing maps of people out of their field of vision. The only exception is if you replace the product as an act. This can be done in secret.

Advantages disadvantages

Advantages:

Exciting hunting for cats and mice
Lots of differences in strategy
Rich vampire theme

Weaknesses:

The play takes some time

Fury of Dracula is a long but tempting game of cat and mouse. With 70 locations on the map, it won’t be easy or fast. But as the Hunters gradually approach Dracula and as Dracula slowly tightens the continent, the tension in the room will become apparent.

Clash fight

The combat element also contributes a lot to the gameplay, although only a small percentage make it up. Occasional clashes are very similar to a Hollywood adventure film in which you fly from location to location before you get stuck in claustrophobic individual fight scenes. Combat sees players trying to stack each other with their cards, but it can also be a source of great drama.

Team strategy

Many of the rules and actions you can perform may seem complicated, but they are very quick to learn. In many ways, it seemed similar to Pandemic . The rules of movement and trading are about the same, as is building a team-based strategy where each of you plans several moves in advance.

Of course, one big difference of Pandemic is that this time your opponent can hear your plans! At first, I was worried that the nature of Fury of Dracula could alienate “that one” a bit all-in-one - especially if the games can often last for hours. But the fact that the rules stipulate that all discussion must be heard for all meant that the Hunters renounced shame and spoke quite openly instead. When I played Dracula, it meant I never felt socially cut off during the game.

FTW theme

I finally liked how the vampire theme is embedded in all aspects of the game and the mechanics. Many rules can be followed, but they are all related to the topic and have a “reason”.

From Dracula being much stronger at night, to being able to listen to Hunters' intrigues, to being safe enough during the day for Hunters to move. All components are also brilliant.

Fury of Dracula Review (TL; DR)

Fury of Dracula is a cooperative cat and mouse game in which a team of hunters try to track down and defeat Dracula before gaining too much influence on Europe.

It’s rich in themes, strategically difficult, and culminates in some high stakes (sorry) that allow for a seriously dramatic finish.

Conclusion: a verdict?

Playing Fury of Dracula is like living your own vampire movie. The persecution across Europe is dramatic and decadent, building tensions will play in your heart, while fighting it is occasional but severe. Above all, every minute of the game is built on this last, glorious scene of the fight. The only difference is that you are much less likely to have a happy ending.

All this thanks to the smooth mechanics, which is thoroughly thought out, but not too complicated. And the balance of card management and strategy works well to keep things fresh.

If you ring for 2-3 hours, the game will take some time, but the fun you will have will be worth it. Besides, it's only a few minutes in vampire years.

Fury of Dracula (4th edition)