Game Info
Year
2019
Players
1-4
Age
16+
Playtime
105 min
Complexity
3.2/5
Collection
Your Tier
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Description
A story-driven cooperative survival horror game where wanderers trapped in a hellscape seek to survive and discover their past
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Dawn of Madness: Discussion
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 5
This page: 5
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–5 of 5
Video 8401gg04tY0
Board Games UnLocked Review at 0:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 113044 · mention_pk 324696
Click to watch at 0:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Great game overall, really liked it.
- Unique ideas and inspirations.
- Amount of work put into the game is immense.
- Streamlined rules for the most part.
- Immaculate artwork.
- The writing is good and immersive.
- Time flies by during play despite the length.
- Great replayability due to multiple endings.
- Story mode offers an easier challenge.
- The domain and domain token system is brilliant and unique.
- Each character plays completely unique.
- Each story is completely unique and dynamic.
- Works fantastic as a two-player game.
- Streamlined for its scope.
- Easy to teach.
- Considered one of the best horror games.
- Does not get 'cringey' for the sake of it.
- Touches on sensitive subject matter in a good way.
- Provides an epic feel without a long campaign commitment.
- Can be played in a single afternoon or day.
- The difficulty can be managed by players as it's a board game.
- Stellar art on coda cards depicts narrative moments.
- The game's length allows for immersion and an 'event' feel.
Cons
- Absolutely not for everyone, has a niche following.
- Length is a double-edged sword (5-6 hours per ending).
- No save system is a significant flaw.
- Difficult to pack up and resume play due to complexity.
- Normal mode is brutal and survival chances are slim.
- Story mode significantly reduces the challenge.
- The writing can feel pretentious, like the designer wants you to read it.
- Lack of audio narration is a significant drawback.
- The legacy element of punishing players for losing Wanderer stages is 'shitty'.
- The game punishes players for losing by buffing future enemies.
- The two existing Abomination families are too few.
- Individual Wonder boxes have poor storage solutions and some arrived broken.
- The finale can be lost on the first turn after a long play session.
- Dice rolls can still be brutal if players lack the necessary stats or tokens.
Thematic elements
- Horror
- The writing and depictions of cards and actions immerse the player.
Comparison games
- Oaths
- Eldritch Horror
- Deep Madness
- Antares Odyssey
- Subterra
- Survivor
- Escape from Atlantis
- Evil Within
- Dead Space
- Bloodborne
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Campaign elements — The game is not a campaign game but features campaign-like elements, with multiple endings for each playable character and legacy-like unlocks.
- dice manipulation — Players can manipulate dice rolls through their stats and domain tokens, re-rolling dice, turning wilds into needed results, or preventing damage.
- Domain system — A core mechanic involving five domains (hands, eyes, skull, brain, sphere) and associated tokens that manipulate dice rolls and character stats.
- legacy elements — Forgotten envelopes with unlockable cards and finale legacy buffs provide a campaign-like progression and replayability.
- Mental capacity track — A system where actions cost mental capacity, and players' positions on the track determine turn order, managing actions against enemies and abominations.
- Variable endings — Each playable character has four different endings, encouraging replayability.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This game is so [censored] long it is and it will always be long.
- There is no save system which is I think an absolute flaw in this.
- I wish I wish I wish I wish with all my heart that they [censored] paid for audio narration.
- Dawn Of Madness uh man it's it's probably the best horror game out there.
- On a scale of 1 to 10 um I am going to give Dawn Of Madness a nine.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video wayP_sjLEyY
Board Games UnLocked Other at 2:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 112619 · mention_pk 324221
Click to watch at 2:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Highly immersive due to its strong narrative focus and detailed descriptions.
- Unique and complex attribute system offers a novel gameplay experience.
- High replayability due to multiple wanderers, each with four distinct endings.
- Potential for excellent immersion with well-done audio narration.
Cons
- Gameplay is very long, with sessions lasting 4-6 hours.
- The unique attribute system is not intuitive and can be complex to learn.
- Immersion is heavily dependent on the reader's skill or the availability of audio narration.
- Less engaging for multiple players if they are not invested in the primary wanderer's story.
- Lacks a good save system currently.
Thematic elements
- horror, psychological horror
- a hellscape, set within your own mind
- narrative driven
Comparison games
- Silent Hill
- Eldridge horror
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Attribute and token system — A unique system where characters have five attributes managed by colored tokens used for rerolls or modifiers during checks.
- Location-based progression — Players move between locations on a board, with storytelling points and checks tied to these areas.
- Multiple endings — The game features four different endings that players work towards by accumulating points and defeating a central abomination.
- Narrative-driven gameplay — Gameplay revolves around a 'wanderer book' with a prologue, objectives, and multiple choices leading to different endings.
- Save system (upcoming) — Currently lacks a robust save system, but an actual physical save system is planned for future content.
- Wanderer-focused scenarios — Each session focuses on a single 'wanderer' and their story, with other players supporting but not driving their own narrative arc.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Deep Madness is kind of your sci-fi horror game that is set in a deep sea mining facility. They utilize a lot of kind of like Evil Within and Dead Space vibes, but if it were underwater, that's the best kind of feel I can give for it.
- Dawn of Madness feels like it has a lot more Silent Hill vibes because of the fact of it's your own character's interpretation. You're reliving your past. You're you're experiencing trauma that you're just kind of having to deal with.
- In Deep Madness, you are moving through rooms, you're diving into water, uh, take, you know, you have an oxygen meter to manage, and you're shooting. You have line of sight rules that you're shooting enemies and and things like that. Dawn of Madness has these locations that you're going in.
- So, your sanity is actually a little bit different. In games like Elder Tour, that was just another type of damage meter. You take sanity damage. If it hits that threshold, then you go insane and they're they're out of the game. Um, sanity and deep madness is used a little bit different in that it's kind of your your character's uh mental capacity of seeing the horrors within the game.
- The Dawn of Madness wanderer system I think is very very uh unique but it is not intuitive. It I've never seen anything like this but it almost feels like it's way more complex than it needed to be.
- So, the game flow of Deep Madness, like I've mentioned a little bit before, is that it is a scenario-based game.
- And that is a typical session for Dawn of Madness. Now, how long does that take? Dawn of Madness is a very, very long game.
- Deep Madness, if you're looking for story, you're not getting much. Don't get me wrong, it still has atmosphere. It still has theme, but like I said, a lot of your story is going to be coming from the opening blurb and the scenario and then through some of the cards.
- I think you honestly have more replayability with Dawn of Madness than you are with Deep Madness, but you have more variety with Deep Madness than you do Dawn of Madness.
- I have Dawn of Madness at a nine and deep madness at an eight. Like it's really I mean if you care about rankings at all this is honestly still my current sitting.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video vR3wjj8ZLCA
Board Games UnLocked Top List at 51:54 sentiment: positive
video_pk 82476 · mention_pk 207194
Click to watch at 51:54 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Extremely Positive
Pros
- Pure horror experience
- Atmospheric and thematic
- Innovative gameplay mechanics
- Excellent writing
- Unique feel compared to other games
- Audio narration available for reading
Cons
- Requires a lot of reading
- Not entirely intuitive mechanics
Thematic elements
- Pure horror
- Story book-based
Comparison games
- Deep Madness
- Dead Space
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice Rolling — Dice are rolled for actions, with colored cubes having specific effects.
- legacy elements — Has a small legacy element where success or failure impacts future games, though it's not a campaign game.
- Mini-campaign — The game has a two-phase structure with story gathering and boss fighting, and can be played in short campaigns.
- Story book — Players go through a storybook to experience horrors and gather story points for endings.
- Time Track — Actions move a character on a time track, influencing turn order.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The easiest one is just to get um, get both of them. [referring to Sleeping Gods and Distant Skies]
- So many of this game is go to a location and it asking if you have like three keywords and if you don't, then it takes you to a certain section. But it it gives the perfect feeling of exploration.
- There's so much out for this game, you know?
- The end so much gameplay in this like they always say like if you could pick like five games to keep, you know, this this would be one of them just because there's so much
- The amount of uniqueness that this game brings.
- This game has an excellent element of roleplay. [...] It incentivizes it. It it encourages role playing because you actually get like role playing points that you can use to modify a die roll.
- It is damn near perfect. [referring to Aridia]
- Once you once you sit down and learn the system then it's all about pretty much just getting your character down you know and and because that's the biggest crutch learning your character is the game I mean is is learning the game more or less
- this combination of like otherworldly horror mixed with Greek mythology does just really works for me
- The writing is absolutely exquisite for this game.
- As you are damaging them, you make them stronger. As you get wounded with titans, your rage goes up and that gives you extra abilities.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video FYfEYve1UAM
Board Games UnLocked Top List at 50:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81108 · mention_pk 199696
Click to watch at 50:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Best horror game
- Strong horror atmosphere and themes
- Deep narrative focus
- Psychological horror elements
- Mature content suitable for horror fans
- Has a save system for longer play sessions
Cons
- Not technically a campaign game by the host's original definition, but now fits due to save system
- Requires reading the narrative (though audio narration exists)
- Save storage system still being developed
- Could be overwhelming for some players
Thematic elements
- Horror, psychological
- Investigator-focused narratives with sanity mechanics.
Comparison games
- Vantage
- Kingdom Death Monster
- Final Girl
- The Evil Within
- Dead Space
- Silent Hill
- Resident Evil
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Investigator narratives — Each investigator has their own detailed narrative book.
- location-based encounters — Narrative encounters are based on the locations players visit.
- Sanity tracking — Players must manage their character's sanity level.
- Save system — Introduced a save system to allow for multi-session play.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is one of my favorite things about this game, is you actually get to have armor pieces that are on various sections of your body
- I think Tainted Grail did the best campaign like board game writing first.
- it's so descriptive and captivating that you actually feel like you are watching a show or reading a novel
- It really got a good reaction out of me.
- the reason why I think Roll Player Adventures is a the best beginning game is because it's not complicated at all.
- You get a big sprawling world that is completely open world
- I love this game.
- So, that's why it's my favorite.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Kzz7AhDv_K0
Meet Me at the Table Playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7619 · mention_pk 22579
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Deep, thematic combat with interactive monster mechanics
- Rich, branching campaign with multiple resource-management layers
- Stylized components and lore depth for immersion
- Portal and conscious realm provide varied exploration
Cons
- Prototype form leads to iconography readability issues
- Complex rules with many interacting systems may be overwhelming
- Miniatures not pre-painted (as noted by the presenter)
Thematic elements
- madness, cosmic horror, mind-bending exploration
- A nested nightmare campaign where Wanderers explore an eldritch world and a conscious realm amid creeping madness
- story-driven, branching encounters with campaign progression
Comparison games
- Dawn of Madness
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- combat resolution — dice-based combat using red/blue/green dice, domain/rift tokens determine outcomes and damage
- Combat: Dice — dice-based combat using red/blue/green dice, domain/rift tokens determine outcomes and damage
- confrontation and coda cards — abomination confrontations resolved with cards; spend coda to add damage or effects
- malformations and resistance — malformation cards allow resistances against the abomination, with memory shards offering actions
- memory shards and plot tokens — shards are spent or earned; plot tokens move toward finale scoring
- portal and conscious realm — portal actions move players into a conscious realm with encounters and story moments
- world shard and rift domains — world shard cards grant domain tokens and movement options; rift domains provide dice/attack resources
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is how combat works
- this game's definitely not for kids
- I'm not trying to win I'm just trying to show you all the different things that happen in this game
- talk about absolute luck that's unbelievable
- it's got some great mechanics going on for it
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–5 of 5