Solo Chronicles – Victim: Asylum

Have you ever had one of those days where simply NOTHING goes your way? I feel like this often, but I cannot fathom how some people just get into trouble on the regular… like, daily. Imagine if you were in a heap of trouble one day, found yourself sanctuary, only to be flung into a despair spiral the next day. I would flip! Well, that is what we have here with the quasi-stand alone-expansion to Victim: The Cursed Forest. Read on.

Immediately after the events of Victim: The Cursed Forest, the heroes (or “Victims,” as they are called) are once again thrust into peril as they must escape the asylum into which they were thrown. This time, however, new Evils have joined the fray, in addition to new Victims met along the way. Can this new group of Victims survive the Evil’s onslaught and find their way out, or will they succumb to the Evil to die an unfortunate death?

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays using the solo variant in the rule book. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS.  -T

Setup is a bit of a process, but when all is said and done, players should see a spread similar to that in the image below. I must point out here that when setting up the game, it will require certain components from the original base game to be borrowed. This includes the dice, many of the tokens, and any characters or Evils to be included in the run-through. Should someone consider purchasing The Asylum, please be warned that a copy of The Cursed Forest is also needed, as they share components (at least until Hexa House offers a separate component pack to be used with this expansiony-thing).

Once setup, The Asylum plays almost exactly like The Cursed Forest, with the following adjustments: now the main map area is a three-tiered platform system to mimic a three-floor building, and I will be using the solo rules which require the player to initially control four Victims until the Evil takes over after round three. If unfamiliar with the flow of the game, please see the review for Victim: The Cursed Forest.

At the end of the third round, as in the base game, the Evil enters play by possessing one of the Victims. However, when playing the solo rules, another component enters the game as well – the solo die. Instead of a player controlling the Evil, the solo die will be rolled to determine what actions the Evil will take, but usually the first action will be Hunt. After that the die will instruct the player which actions to carry out for the Evil. Outside this, the player now controls the remaining three characters and still will need to find all the required tokens and input the required passcode to enter the bunker to win. Or, like in all of my cases so far, once the Evil kills off two Victims, the Evil prevails (please see photo below, where the Seer is in big trouble from the Krasue).

Components. I have already evaluated the components in the base game, and these are all of the same style and quality. I have only one concern with any of the components – some minis may come slightly bent and that will affect their posture on the base. It will not affect gameplay at all, just the aesthetics. Other than that little issue, I totally dig everything else in the box. The obvious cool new component in this version is the tri-level platform, and it is very sturdy and very impressive on the table.

I think that overall, playing this one solo was a great experience. I am sure that I will be trying the solo rules with the original games as well, and would only need to port over the solo die. However, to play The Asylum, many components need to be brought from the original game. I feel this is a hindrance to The Asylum only, as gamers will need both boxes in order to play this version. Again, I have no idea if Hexa House is planning a transition pack with just the necessary components so one could purchase only The Asylum, but that would be a good idea, methinks.

So in summation, I absolutely love the Victim family of games I have played so far. They offer something new (to me) and have excellent themes. I love a good map exploration game and coupled with the added tension the Evils add just make for a great game night – even solo. As a solo game I think Victim absolutely shines! Having that little solo die is an excellent minor addition that could be added to many games, creating an opportunity to be played solo. Don’t get me wrong – having a live person make the decisions for the Evil and completely turn on their friends is so delicious, but being able to play games like this solo just feels right.

If you are like me and enjoy this style of game, but you cannot get your friends to invest in learning them, check these out and try the solo rules. You will not be disappointed. Added benefit of solo play – you can play the game as many times as you wish without hearing the moans and groans of others wanting to play CAH. Pick up a copy ASAP!