This was the game that introduced me to the world of “German Style Board Games.” In Monsters Menace America you take on the role of one of several classic movie monsters with slightly altered and comical names—for instance, the giant ape monster is named “Konk.” It’s the monster’s job to move around the board, which depicts the United States, and “stomp” major cities to collect health points. In addition to cities, there are other sites that you can “stomp” in order to gain Mutation Cards (which give you special powers) or Infamy Tokens (which allow you extra opportunities to attack later in the game).
In addition to controlling a monster, players also control one of the four branches of the military to defend the country from your opponents’ monsters. The caveat of this is that all military forces are still, in theory, loyal to the country, so they cannot attack other units and if you happen to cross paths with your own monster, you still have to shoot it.
Players spend the game building up health points, mutation powers and infamy tokens in preparation for the Monster Challenge. Once a certain number of cities have been stomped, the Monster Challenge begins. Players take turns rolling a die, trying to inflict as much damage as possible on the opposing monster. It’s obviously in one’s best interest to have as many health points as possible before entering the Monster Challenge, but it’s also wise to have collected several mutation cards and infamy tokens which give you added strength or skill and allow you to take extra swings at your opponent, respectively. The last monster standing is the winner.
Lauren and I played this game several times that first night and then again the next night. We soon realized however, that the enjoyment on this particular game is a bit short-lived. Once you get past the novelty of the artwork and the fact that you’re controlling monsters (I for one had a blast making monster noises and explosion sound effects whenever I fought a military unit), the game really kind of drags. There are certain games that lend themselves to complex movement and strategy. But Monsters Menace America, by its very design, was never intended to be one of those games. What should be a lighthearted stomp fest becomes a complex and slow moving game as you move your monster, deploy your military units, attack a city, fight other units, assess damage and health points, collect mutation cards and infamy tokens as well as military research cards, keeping track of what cards you need to play at the beginning of a turn and which can only be played once and which ones will actually have an effect on your opponent… In my opinion, it was too much hassle and too much to keep track of for a game where, let’s face it, you’re playing the part of a fire-breathing dinosaur.
VITALS: This is a 2-4 player game which generally takes at least an hour to play. The age on the box says 12 and up. You probably could go a couple of years younger since, let’s face it, this is a monster game, but there is a LOT for even older players to keep track of. I also imagine, with the right people, this game could make for a bit of raucous drunken college fun.
OVERALL FUN FACTOR: Meh. Once the novelty of moving monsters and shooting them with military jets wears off, the actual mechanics of the game make it more frustrating than fun. 5 out of 10.