Matthew BaileyToday we are going to be looking at Spooky Tower, a simple yet interesting set collection game with really high production values for a game with a relatively low price point.
Before I even get started, it’s worth mentioning it is available to try out on BGA, so if you are on the fence, go and try it digitally first.
In Spooky Tower, you take on the role of a ghost hunter exploring a town where a magical amulet has shattered, releasing ghosts from the old clock tower. Your aim is to capture five ghosts or collect three fragments of the broken amulet to restore its magic. It’s worth noting now that getting five ghosts is way, way easier than getting three amulet pieces, especially at higher player counts. It’s all very cute and light-hearted, and nothing is in any way scary, so this is definitely one that you can play with anyone old enough to be able to play it.
You set the game up by putting the building cards into 12 piles numbered 1 to 12, shuffling each pile and arranging them in a grid of three rows and four columns, placing any other cards you need nearby, such as park cards and grimoire cards.
You also set up the really cool clock tower, which is a really nicely made dice tower that is used in the game and also goes into the box without being completely dismantled. Actually, I’m going to take a second to uncharacteristically talk about the components right now. Everything in this is really well made. The cardboard is really nice, the components are really good, the clock tower is great, and the way that the clock hand is used in gameplay works really well.
When you open the box, everything fits in beautifully. This is one of the most efficient box designs I’ve ever seen, and it includes a dice tower in it, for Pete’s sake! The dice tower takes up half the box, and the base of the dice tower comes off and then goes on top of another box to make a chest, with all the other components fitting perfectly inside this chest. It’s so beautiful, it’s brilliant!
Like, every other publisher that’s ever existed, take note. This is how you design your box without doing a proper traditional plastic insert. There is no plastic in here apart from the clock hand, but we’ll ignore that. This is how you do it. A++ for both effort and attainment.
Anyway, back to how you play…
On your turn, you roll both dice into the clock tower. You can use either die individually or add them together to choose a numbered building. You then perform one of two actions.
You can either take a building card matching your dice result and place it beside your house board without looking at its reverse, or you can flip all your collected cards from a building matching your dice result. Each card reveals a photograph that might contain a ghost or another special effect. Any ghosts you reveal are captured and added to your collection, while other effects might provide clues, extra cards, additional turns or other useful abilities.
Clues allow you to visit the park and capture additional ghosts. If you have enough clues to meet the requirement on the top park card, you can spend them to claim that ghost. Any unused clues can be saved for future turns.
Some cards activate the clock tower, moving its hand forward and triggering effects that can include collecting amulet fragments. You might also encounter grimoire cards with special abilities or ghost pets that count towards your total, and can sometimes even be stolen from other players. It’s worth noting that getting the amulet fragments always seems to be considerably more difficult than getting the ghosts, and in every game I’ve played of this, no matter what the player count, but especially at larger player counts, I have never seen the game end with amulets.
You also have a reroll token that lets you reroll both dice once before it needs refreshing. If you cannot take or flip a card and have no reroll available, you must advance the clock hand and resolve its effect instead, although this rarely happens.
The game ends immediately when a player captures five ghosts or collects three amulet fragments. The first player to achieve either objective wins.
In reality, Spooky Tower is a relatively simple, albeit with a few different rules, set collection game that has some really interesting mechanics and plays really nicely. It looks beautiful on the table, all the components are really high quality, and this is a perfect low-spookiness family game you can pick up and not have to worry that maybe the younger kids are going to be scared. It could definitely be played all year round as well.
A really high-class product, very focused and a definite recommendation.
