The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Minion Hunter is a board game from the long-gone Game Designers' Workshop, set in the world of their near-future-dystopia-meets-horror RPG Dark Conspiracy (which has been resurrected by Dynasty Presentations). The basic concept is that Monsters From Beyond (the "Minion races"; not knowing DC past the basic concept, I'm not sure just what they're minions of, but I'm guessing it's Icky) are working behind the scenes to destabilize and eventually conquer humanity. The players take the roles of people who've devoted their lives to crushing the threat. It reminds me more than a bit of Heroquest, but character advancement isn't as limited; it's more like Heroquest meets the Game of Life. MH has been out of print for years now, but I've found copies in two different game stores over the last year, so it is still out there.

Opening the box, one finds bunches of stuff; the game board, perforated sheets of Equipment and Plot cards, unperforated sheets of play money, ten plastic counters, a sheet of stickers (for the counters; six players and four Minion races), a pad of character sheets (which consist solely of spaces for names and the four stats), the eight-page rulebook, a sheet of various charts, and two dice (one ten-sided and one six-sided). As a historical note, there are also three color pamphlets advertising upcoming DC and Dangeous Journeys releases. The DJ one is kind of sad in hindsight; it optimistically lists three upcoming game books, another three novels, and lines of minatures and video games.

Going back to the game at hand, the board features a large map of near-future America; a lot of areas have merged into metroplexes with euphonious names like New Boswash and Tampete, and are separated by areas of Out-Law (Mad Max-like zones of anarchy) and Demonground (exactly what it sounds like). This map is flanked by a Plot Card Track, a Hospital Track, and a Plot Point Track, and surrounding all of the above is the Career Track, the layout of which resembles a Monopoly board, only these squares have names like Psychic Testing, Corporate Raid, and Gang Initiation. The Plot Cards are divided into three main types; Minor Plot, Major Plot, and Other. Major and Minor Plots list a particular monster (UFOs, Morlocks, Fey Folk, and so on) and the skill tests necessary to fight or flee it, and, for Major Plots, the amount of points it advances its counter on the Plot Point Track. Other cards include false leads, portals to alternate dimensions (where things both good and bad can befall your character), and random non-Minion events (corporate wars and such).

The way the game works is at any given time there are two face-down Plot cards moving from the start of the Plot Track to its end, where their text is revealed and takes effect. While this is going on, the players take turns traveling around the Career Track (to get money to buy weapons, surveillance equipment, or transportation, or following careers to boost their stats) or transferring to the world map and arranging for transport to areas where a Plot is being incubated. If you confront a Plot and fail, you go to the Hospital Track, forfeit some equipment, and have to roll on the Hospital Encounter Chart to see how long you're out of play (health care sucks in the future; "Attacked by Morlocks" seems to come up a lot on the encounter chart).

Overall, Minion Hunter combines the wargame and pseudo-RPG elements of Heroquest with increased randomness (so different games have different events happen, as opposed to the finite set of adventures HQ provides). Also, the the details of arranging for transport and the time limit of the Plot Track makes MH a lot more strategic (and cooperative; unless players coordinate their actions, everyone loses) than HQ. It's flavorful (even if the encounter tables are sometimes baffling to the non-DC player: what's a "spongy"?), fun, and provides a good amount of tension in the endgame. Still, it has some problems, chiefly with the mechanic for gaining money; in the games I've played, players either never had enough for anything or literally had more than they could spend. After I get a little more familiar with the rules, I'm going to try and tweak it to be a little less feast-or-famine.

As a postscript, there is at least one expansion (Minion Nation), which adds more equipment (a lot of it supernatural or psychic-based), options for making the game harder or easier, and expands the charts from the basic game (adding specific alternate dimensions to visit, for example). It even has a glossary to explain what the more enigmatic beasties. This is even harder to find than the basic rules, but if you can find it it's a nice addition.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Minion Hunter
Author: Lester Smith Category: Board Game Company/Publisher: GDW, Inc. Line: Dark Conspiracy Cost: $25 US Page count: n/a ISBN: 1-55878-103-X Playtest Review by Joe Iglesias on 03/26/00. Genre tags: Horror Conspiracy	Minion Hunter is a board game from the long-gone Game Designers' Workshop, set in the world of their near-future-dystopia-meets-horror RPG Dark Conspiracy (which has been resurrected by Dynasty Presentations). The basic concept is that Monsters From Beyond (the "Minion races"; not knowing DC past the basic concept, I'm not sure just what they're minions of, but I'm guessing it's Icky) are working behind the scenes to destabilize and eventually conquer humanity. The players take the roles of people who've devoted their lives to crushing the threat. It reminds me more than a bit of Heroquest, but character advancement isn't as limited; it's more like Heroquest meets the Game of Life. MH has been out of print for years now, but I've found copies in two different game stores over the last year, so it is still out there. Opening the box, one finds bunches of stuff; the game board, perforated sheets of Equipment and Plot cards, unperforated sheets of play money, ten plastic counters, a sheet of stickers (for the counters; six players and four Minion races), a pad of character sheets (which consist solely of spaces for names and the four stats), the eight-page rulebook, a sheet of various charts, and two dice (one ten-sided and one six-sided). As a historical note, there are also three color pamphlets advertising upcoming DC and Dangeous Journeys releases. The DJ one is kind of sad in hindsight; it optimistically lists three upcoming game books, another three novels, and lines of minatures and video games. Going back to the game at hand, the board features a large map of near-future America; a lot of areas have merged into metroplexes with euphonious names like New Boswash and Tampete, and are separated by areas of Out-Law (Mad Max-like zones of anarchy) and Demonground (exactly what it sounds like). This map is flanked by a Plot Card Track, a Hospital Track, and a Plot Point Track, and surrounding all of the above is the Career Track, the layout of which resembles a Monopoly board, only these squares have names like Psychic Testing, Corporate Raid, and Gang Initiation. The Plot Cards are divided into three main types; Minor Plot, Major Plot, and Other. Major and Minor Plots list a particular monster (UFOs, Morlocks, Fey Folk, and so on) and the skill tests necessary to fight or flee it, and, for Major Plots, the amount of points it advances its counter on the Plot Point Track. Other cards include false leads, portals to alternate dimensions (where things both good and bad can befall your character), and random non-Minion events (corporate wars and such). The way the game works is at any given time there are two face-down Plot cards moving from the start of the Plot Track to its end, where their text is revealed and takes effect. While this is going on, the players take turns traveling around the Career Track (to get money to buy weapons, surveillance equipment, or transportation, or following careers to boost their stats) or transferring to the world map and arranging for transport to areas where a Plot is being incubated. If you confront a Plot and fail, you go to the Hospital Track, forfeit some equipment, and have to roll on the Hospital Encounter Chart to see how long you're out of play (health care sucks in the future; "Attacked by Morlocks" seems to come up a lot on the encounter chart). Overall, Minion Hunter combines the wargame and pseudo-RPG elements of Heroquest with increased randomness (so different games have different events happen, as opposed to the finite set of adventures HQ provides). Also, the the details of arranging for transport and the time limit of the Plot Track makes MH a lot more strategic (and cooperative; unless players coordinate their actions, everyone loses) than HQ. It's flavorful (even if the encounter tables are sometimes baffling to the non-DC player: what's a "spongy"?), fun, and provides a good amount of tension in the endgame. Still, it has some problems, chiefly with the mechanic for gaining money; in the games I've played, players either never had enough for anything or literally had more than they could spend. After I get a little more familiar with the rules, I'm going to try and tweak it to be a little less feast-or-famine. As a postscript, there is at least one expansion (Minion Nation), which adds more equipment (a lot of it supernatural or psychic-based), options for making the game harder or easier, and expands the charts from the basic game (adding specific alternate dimensions to visit, for example). It even has a glossary to explain what the more enigmatic beasties. This is even harder to find than the basic rules, but if you can find it it's a nice addition. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)