Looking for a game that’s impeccably designed, has seedy supervillains, and a steampunk flair? Don’t miss Victorian Masterminds!
Victorian Masterminds is a 2-4 player game that plays in about 45-60 minutes. Designed by the collaboration from two of my favorite designers Antione Bauza and Eric M. Lang. Published by CMON, you know we are getting cool miniatures in this one.
Victorian Masterminds: $49.99
Get Yours For Less From Miniature Market!
Massive machines of enormous military capabilities have been reported in the remote corners of the world. Mister Sherlock Holmes remains unaccounted for and Scotland Yard reports no leads in the ongoing investigation. Truly, the world is fruit ripe for the plucking for the most vile, the most conniving, and the most evil Victorian Mastermind!
To become the most evil Victorian Mastermind, send your agents across the world to do your bidding! They will help you to construct your nefarious Machine, capture great Buildings, complete Missions or use the brilliance of Scientists and Da Vinci Codex Tokens.
Contents:
1 Central Board
20 Building Miniatures
24 Mission Cards
85 Part Tokens
30 Mayhem Tokens
48 Da Vinci Codex Tokens
12 Scientist Miniatures
1 Secret Service Board
6 Machine Sheets
48 Machine Segment Pieces
20 Agents Gears
4 Firepower Markers
1 Monocle of Forgetfulness Token
Ages: 14+
Players: 2-4
Game Length: 45-60 minutes
Victorian Masterminds: Supervillains & Steampunk REVIEW
In Victorian Masterminds, Sherlock Holmes is missing and presumed dead. With him out of the way there’s nothing to stop you and your fellow evildoers from causing mayhem. You will build an engine of destruction and even capture landmarks and other buildings. All the while the Secret Service is ramping up their efforts to stop you.
Each player will take on the role of a villain and choose one of the six different contraptions. Every vehicle has a different ability and component setup. You also have a team of agents with helpful abilities.
A turn consists of playing one of your agent cogs facedown at a location. Additional agents at the same location are stacked on top of existing ones. When a third agent is added to any location it is activated. The active player takes the Monocle of Forgetfulness to track whose turn it is. Then flips the stack and resolves each one at a time. First, you take any spoils like copper plates in London or firepower if in Moscow etc. Then each agent will use their special abilities.
Your Number 2 allows you to gain twice the spoils. The Gunner captures a building if your firepower is at least equal to the Secret Service. The Engineer activates your contraption’s power. The Henchman attempts to complete the mission card for a location. Finally, the Saboteur will cancel the ability of the Agent below it in the stack.
Each location has different spoils that can be obtained. Washington has screws for your contraption. London has the copper plates for it. Moscow gives you more firepower needed to capture buildings. Paris is where you recruit scientists for special actions such as additional turns. Rome is where is find DaVinci Codecs which are mostly just points. Collecting five of the Codex will let you pick your agent rather than being at the mercy of the random shuffle.
The Five locations in Victorian Masterminds also have a unique landmark such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Colosseum in Rome. These will award you extra Mayhem points whereas the generic building grant spoils.
I was very excited about this game for a while and had been following it’s progress from prototype to completion. Being designed by my dream team of designers sealed the deal at day one for me. I knew I had to play this game and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed at all. It’s very fun, tactical and yet lightweight enough for more casual players. The components and art are amazing and beautiful. The miniatures are very high quality and I was honestly surprised at the reasonable price point for what you get. If you enjoy the steampunk genre, this game will appeal to those aesthetics.
I definitely recommend this for your table at game night. If you get a chance to check it out don’t pass up the opportunity.
More Board Game Reviews
About the Author: Christopher Guyton
