Fury of Dracula (The)

Opening up the box, you'll find a stylised board showing Europe, some figures, dice, counters, cards and a moderate rulebook to accompany it all. You'll quickly learn that this game is all about pursuit; 1-4 people playing a group of vampire hunters chasing after one person playing Dracula.

Time is the most important factor - each day takes six turns to complete and if Dracula can manage to survive six days then he wins! During sunlight hours, Dracula is weak and relatively easy to damage but at night he is much more deadly and can evade damage quite easily. Dracula is invisible for most of the game, only becoming visible when a hunter is in the same location. The game can be clever and sneaky, Dracula leaving a hidden trail of locations filled with traps and the hunters needing to work together to narrow down where he could be. The quality of the game is good and I love the map in particular.

The downside of the game is that, although the rules aren't particularly difficult to follow, there are quite a few pages to read and they take time to digest. You and the other players must be willing to donate an entire evening to playing this game. Talking about players, Dracula's part relies on him/her being an honest person and the hunters need to have basic knowledge of strategy and teamwork if they're going to win. Plus, it's definitely better to aim for a full group of players. Giving multiple hunters to a player slows the game down (a minimum 2-player game ends up becoming pretty boring as the "hunter" has to control four characters).

So, if you're going to have fun playing this game:
Read the rules at your leisure beforehand.
Make sure you have a decent group of friends.
Give yourself plenty of time to play it through.

Have fun!

I really love Fury of Dracula. It’s a great game to play with non-gamers and gamers alike and it provides good challenges as either side (although I would recommend a more experience boardgamer take the role of Dracula). It's a very atmospheric game, and tremedous fun to play in front of a roaring fire by candlelight. Because if the atmosphere you will come out of the game talking about particularly good or dramatic moments.

Some people can be put off by the strong luck element that the combat system has. However, the games is designed that encounters with dracula early on will probably end in one side or the other fleeing, with dracula being slowly worn down. This is important to the pace and the dramatic tension of the game.

Consider it a mood piece, light the candles, break out a bottle or two of good red wine (remember the count never drinks . . . wine) and savour the chase!