In Nuns on the Run, most of the players are novices who are eager to secretly explore the grand abbey at night in order to fulfill their “secret wish.” They sneak through corridors searching for keys and treasures. (What treasures could a novice be searching for? Forbidden cookies? A soft mattress? Or narcotics? Or a book of witchcraft?)
While sneaking through the abbey, the novices must remain watchful for the Abbess or Prioress, who are on patrol to ensure that pure novices remain that way. These characters are controlled by other players who want to nab the novices before they can make it back into bed.
Players play either as a novice, or as the Abbess or Prioress. The novices move in secret and avoid being seen or heard by the Abbess or Prioress. The goal is to make it to the location on the board where the novice can get her "secret wish" and return to their room without being detected. All of the novices move in secret by marking their movement and locations on hidden sheets. The Abbess and Prioress move on regulated paths around the board, but can diverge and chase down novices that they see or hear. The player or players who complete their secret wishes and return to their rooms win, or the Abbess and Prioress win if they catch a certain number of novices.
- Thematic, thematic flavor shines in light, social play
- Rules can be intricate to learn; some find it lighter in depth
- evasion and stealth by novice nuns
- convent, late medieval/early modern setting
- light, humorous stealth play
- Escape from Aliens in Outer Space
- Spectre Ops
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Detection-based rules — Noise and line-of-sight influence success and movement.
- Hide-and-seek movement — Nuns try to reach a target without being detected by patrolling guards.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- That started the hidden movement movement and that's Scotland Yard.
- Elementary my dear Justice at London prices.
- Mr X secretly moves around the board using London's public transport system.
- Letters from Whitechapel is a ball game that tries to paint him as a villain.
- Spectre Ops is a blast I love it.
- Fury of Dracula isn't for everybody but for some it will sing like no other.
- Nuns On The Run has a detection system that's wonderfully thematic.
References (from this video)
- has a unique convent theme
- one player hunts, others hide
- not a great hidden movement game
- there are much better hidden movement games
- relatively obscure game nobody talks about
- more fun when drinking
- convent
- religious setting
- sneaking
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm very Cutthroat here - I much rather save budget for a new game, save space for new games
- not all games are forever games - sometimes it's totally okay to buy a game with the expectation of playing it for about five years and then not wanting to play it again
- I can still respect I played a lot of Steam, but I just don't want to play it anymore
- there's so much hate on like oh you can't be like dipping your chosen to miniature games - but as adults there's so much hate on that
- when you own a lot of games there's a lot of rules up here and the tough thing is that when there's so many rules up here you need some games that you teach or play later to be a little intuitive
- the difficulty I have with it is that when I explain it to new players it's tough to explain - each player has a different ruleset
- I think that's one of the first games that if it didn't invent that concept at least popularize it
- if the game is going to warrant me having to do separate explanations for everybody, extra effort - it's got to be really damn good and Vast isn't really damn good
References (from this video)
- Unique hidden movement experience
- Competitive hidden movement
- Interesting noise mechanism
- Thematic tension
- Out of print
- Potential for one player to ruin the game
- Hidden Movement
- Convent at Night
- Lighthearted
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Hidden movement — Nuns trying to escape without being caught by guards
- Noise Mechanism — Players must manage noise levels to avoid detection
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- If I could only play one game per year for my whole life then these are the games I'd get to in my later years
- Unfortunately by then my tastes will have changed and I won't want to play these games anymore