I just discovered Beast and City of the Great Machine thanks to Shut Up And Sit Down and I’m pretty jazzed to try out Beast this weekend with some friends via Tabletop Simulator. I’ve never actually gotten to play a hidden movement game before, so this should inform my tastes quite nicely. I’ll be sure to update with some impressions/stories when that’s done.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Beast is a all-vs-one hidden movement game that’s conceptually very similar to the defunct video game Evolve. Players take on the role of hunters trying to track, trap and kill a monster played by another player before it can grow too powerful. With various monsters that all play differently I can anticipate a good deal of replayability, and with video games suddenly deciding 90$ is the new average price, Beast can be found for 65$. As a nice plus, it’s got an expansion coming to crowdfunding soon so if I like it I can deep dive even harder!
That said, I’m curious what others in this hidden movement niche I might be missing that people enjoy. If you’ve got a notable example let me know!
Captain Sonar is a very fun game that is best played with the max player count and in “real-time mode”, but can be scaled back in both player count and complexity.
I’ve also heard quite good things about Mind MGMT, but haven’t personally had the chance to play it yet.
Well captain sonar is now going on my list for a non tabletop simulator game night because that looks like a blast
I played Scotland Yard a few years ago. It’s also all-vs-one (detectives against a fugitive), and the chief movement mechanic is public transit. You have to guard the tube stations… it’s pretty fun.
I think it was Whitehall mystery that has a similar style of play where you’re chasing jack the ripper ask he commits his string of murders. I like the concepts, after I play Beast tomorrow I should have a better sense of what level of fighting back I find most exciting. Either way, I appreciate the reminder those games exist!
A fairly easy to find cheap option, Jaws by Ravensburger is pretty good. There are two parts to the game. In the first half, the shark player is going around the island, trying to get swimmers. Once either a certain number of swimmers are eaten, or the players trying to find the shark manager to tag it with two barrels, you flip the board and move to the second part, with extra items or shark abilities reflecting how well you managed that first half.
The second half is less hidden movementy, but still has a nod to it, as each turn there are three possible areas on the ship for the shark to attack (revealed by cards), and the human characters are trying to react based on where they think the shark player will be going.
