KansasBob

Introduction

I will start with the fact that I am a huge Lovecraft fan. I have read everything he wrote and subscribe to “hppodcraft.com” to get more insight into the material. I have purchased and played several Lovecraft themed board, card and roleplaying games over the years. So, my review comes from someone that comes in with a bias toward enjoying the material. In addition, this is an expansion. My assumption is that anyone reading this will already have the base game, or there would be little point in reading this.
“Call of the Wild” is an expansion for Mansions of Madness and the base game is required to play. As with the base game, you adopt the role of an investigator tasked with solving a dark and dangerous mysteries that are set in the Lovecraftian world. The twist is that this expansion takes your exploits out of the environment you have become used to, the house and puts you out of doors.

Components

As with the base game, the box is crammed with very well made components. The following I took straight from the rule book:
1 Rulebook/Investigator Guide
• 1 Keeper Guide
• 105 Large Cards consisting of:
– 34 Keeper Action cards
– 31 Event cards
– 24 Combat cards (8 for each of the 3 decks)
– 7 Objective cards
– 5 Ally Character cards
– 4 Investigator Character cards
• 190 Small Cards consisting of:
– 42 Exploration Cards
– 31 Ally Story Cards
– 24 Mythos Cards (4 decks of 6)
– 20 Clue Cards
– 16 Trait cards
– 12 Spell Cards
– 10 Delusion Cards
– 9 Trauma Cards (6 mental, 3 physical)
– 8 Trail Cards
– 7 Starting Item Cards
– 6 Mania Cards
– 4 Lock cards
– 1 Obstacle card
• 5 Sheets of punchboard consisting of:
– 13 Monster Tokens
– 11 Threat Tokens
– 11 Map Tiles (2 large, 3 medium, 6 small)
– 11 Damage Tokens
– 10 Special Story Choice Markers
– 10 Horror Tokens
– 8 Curse Tokens
– 6 Pit Feature Markers
– 6 Ritual Puzzle Pieces
– 6 Ritual Clue Tokens
– 5 Ally Tokens
– 1 Ritual Setup Tile
– 1 Boat Feature Marker
• 4 Plastic Investigator Figures
• 11 Plastic Monster Figures and bases consisting of:
– 2 Dark Druids
– 2 Child of the Goats
– 2 Goat Spawns
– 2 Nightgaunts
– 1 Dunwich Horror
– 1 Dark Young
– 1 Wizard

Gameflow

The only change this game adds in game flow is that the adventures are more free form than the ones in the base game. You don’t have to follow the same linear path to resolve the problems. You are not as bound to resolve problems in a specific order.

Fun Factor

As with the base game, they have done a great job of capturing the feeling of the subject matter. For me Mansions of Madness is like playing Call of Cthulu roll playing games in a condensed format.

Positives
New Investigators, Trauma cards and Combat cards that can be used in any of the existing stories.
New maps, since by this point all the expansions have taken place in the base game, this was a very large perk for me.
New puzzle types.
New Monsters/ miniatures
New monster ability (flying)
New move type (boat)

Negatives
As with the base game, I don’t think MoM is an easy game to learn. You have already gotten over the learning curve, by the time you get into this expansion, but only fair IMO to bring it up.
As with the base game, replaying scenarios can be less fun, since you already would know one possible outcome.
Expense can be a negative. Since this is an expansion, you will have put a large sum into the game by this point/

Over All
I feel this is an excellent expansion. It keeps the feel of the base game, so those looking to continue the experience they enjoyed will not feel cheated or be stuck relearning everything from scratch. By the same token, it adds enough new material, that I feel like I got another game, without having to pay for an entire game. If you loved the first, I certainly feel you will enjoy this new chapter. I know we are and look forward to more expansions in the new environment!

In my view this is the best of the quick/ push your luck dice games.

I own several. The following is a quick list of what I own and my view to give you a way to evaluate our similarities in game style:

Zombie Dice (not bad)
Go Nuts! (fun lower skill)
Cthulu Dice (really only good as a drinking game)
Le Bomb! (another only good as a drinking game)

Of this category, Martian Dice is the best in terms of replay and strategy, due to added mechanics.

A VERY complex worker placement game.
While I enjoy the game, I also can find parts of it annoying. For instance, another player can totally screw up your strategy by taking the first player option and advancing the wheel 2 times. This can only be done once per game per player, but my first time playing, I was really struggling with the wheel mechanics and had my entire strategy crushed by someone taking this option.
There are a ton of options to score. It’s hard for new players to understand the economics of the game. Really, where I would say most games require 1 play to get down, this one I would say requires more like 2 or 3.
Some people will argue I am sure, but for me, this is not a game I would break out for anyone very experienced gamers. An experienced gamer that has played this before will trash entry level gamers out of hand, IMO.