13 Monsters Armed to the Teeth Preview

Let’s talk expansions. Some expansions are absolutely worth everything to have in with the base game, and some expansions just take up space on your shelves because either you A) love the base game so much that you can’t imagine anything adding to the experience, or B) just can’t seem to pull the trigger to try them out. What about when expansions completely change the game? And those that merely give you more of the same? And where does this expansion for 13 Monsters land? So many questions!

13 Monsters Armed to the Teeth (which I will call “the expansion” from here) is a big expansion to the successful 13 Monsters that recently fulfilled their Kickstarter campaign rewards. I was lucky enough to be able to preview OG 13 Monsters, and I suggest you take a look there before continuing on if you aren’t familiar with the base game. 13 Monsters can be summed up as, “a game of Memory where you use the pieces you’ve matched to battle your opponents.” Once you add in the expansion, though, the description takes on new veribiage, “a game of Memory where you use the pieces you matched along with enhancement items like weapons, shields, new abilities, and a new elemental species to decimate your opponents.” Intrigued?

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T

Setup will be the same as base 13 Monsters but with added components to lay on the table. These include a big mini (is that a thing?) of a new character named Trall, new black dice, weapon tiles, shield tiles, Metal monster tiles, and durability counters for the weapons and shields. Once all these items are added the base tile grid the game may begin!

Now, I won’t go into detail how to play base 13 Monsters, but rather give an idea of what the expansion adds. Trall is a smithy who is intrigued by new monstersets matched and added to a player’s tableau, so he will come visit that player once a match is made. On one’s turn, if Trall is visiting, he will allow the player to Forge an item (weapon, shield, or Metal monster tile) by rolling the black dice and taking a tile from the specific pile, or Steal an item from another player by winning a roll-off of the new black dice.

The new abilities given to players are numerous and include names like All Seeing Eye and Oopsie Poopsie. I will leave you to the rulebook to discover all the new abilities.

Obviously, when players attach weapons to a monster they will be able to increase their attack power, but will also have to account for hits in durability using the small counters. Similarly, durability counters are included for the shield tiles that assist in deflecting portions of attacks from opponents.

The Metal monsters are part of a new elemental species of monster and are helpful, but worth less VP at the end of the game.

Components. If you have or know of the component quality in base 13 Monsters, then you will be glad to know that the components in the expansion are just as good if not better. When I opened the box the first thing I grabbed for was the Trall mini. He’s a big guy and while the prototype version is a 3D printed mini, I have seen photos of a cardboard standee in a box (however, my money is on a resin mini of Trall as a stretch goal). The weapon, shield, and Metal monster tiles are the same quality as the base tiles so it’s a match there. The new dice are black with white print, which contrast nicely with the base game’s pink dice and white pips. All in all the production quality is great, even in the prototype!

So is this expansion good or necessary or bad or what? Well, let me state the obvious first: if you are happy with how base 13 Monsters plays, then you do not need this expansion. If you want a lot more meat from your game, then this expansion is absolutely necessary. It adds so many more layers of complexity onto a somewhat harmless base game. Yes, there is battle in the base game and stealing of monstersets, but to me it seems it hurts way more using the expansion because you can spend lots more time buffing up your monsters with the extra battle accessories and such to have them just pilfered away.

That still doesn’t answer if I think 13 Monsters Armed to the Teeth is good. Here are my negative points off first. Adding in the expansion content will most certainly add length to the gameplay as well, especially with higher play counts. Players have a ton of options available on a turn now and though some events will be triggered via dice rolls, the new abilities will adjust how players play this versus just the base. A game can now be well over two hours depending on how players play and which type of players are playing. To help combat this, the rulebook advises ways of reducing game time by 50% and I highly suggest you take that advice. I did and games are still around 90 minutes with players who know how to play.

On the positive side, though, there’s more 13 Monsters goodness in this box! And while I do not classify this as “more of the same,” I enjoy more 13 Monsters goodies. This definitely amps up the pressure for each turn and players are involved at all times. Now, I will not be using the expansion when pulling out the game with new players or when I might use 13 Monsters as a gateway game. The expansion just adds too much complexity. But, after a couple plays of the base game, go ahead. Throw it in and watch the eyes widen in anticipation.

So yes, 13 Monsters Armed to the Teeth is a great expansion to a great game. If you like 13 Monsters and want to add more complexity and options, then definitely pick up this expansion. If you missed out on backing 13 Monsters last time, maybe the team at Twisted Stranger will offer them during the next campaign for this expansion. I am quite happy to be adding this to my collection and I know it will see lots of table time for me. Good job team! Now go obliterate your friends! I mean, their monsters.