Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein by Plaid Hat Games
Price: ~$60.00
Players: 2 to 4
Playtime: 90 to 180 minutes
Perfect for: Players who enjoy strategic worker placement games with a healthy dose of the macabre.

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is a game of cadavers and the “advancement” of science! In the wake of the infamous Frankenstein experiments, the work is far from complete. Players must collect body parts (the fresher the better!) in an attempt to construct their own creature and bring it to life, one piece at a time if necessary. Before discussing the mechanics, here’s a bit more on the theme from the publisher, Plaid Hat Games:

It’s been twenty years since Victor Frankenstein died on a ship in the arctic, but his vengeful creature lives on, as does Robert Walton, the sea captain who vowed to kill the fiend before mercy stayed his hand. It’s now 1819, and a sinister darkness descends upon the city of Paris. A mysterious benefactor of gigantic stature has emerged in the scientific community, never showing his face, claiming to possess the late Frankenstein’s research. He sponsors a grand competition, offering an even grander prize: unlocking the mystery of mortality!

Renowned scientists from around the world come to take part: some drawn to solve this eternal riddle, others coerced against their will. But a certain captain comes as well, one deeply suspicious of the secretive patron, hoping to finally fulfill his vow.

To begin Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein, 2 to 4 mad scientists collect their player board—a resource tracker and a what is basically an operating table where procured limbs from dead bodies are assembled. The latter has spaces for two legs, two arms, a torso, and a head. A round begins with an event that will impact gameplay in the short-term. Most often, the board itself is affected by sealing off various spaces until the next round, but other variables could also come into play. Players then systematically assign their workers (of two varieties: scientists and assistants) to various locations. The locations dictate the actions those individuals can take or the resources they can acquire.

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Resource acquisition is at the heart of Abomination as players attempt to harvest bodies into “raw materials” (i.e. bone, blood, muscle, etc.) to build specific body parts for their own creature. However, with the passage of time body parts decompose and break down, so procuring limbs that are fresher will last longer. For example, collecting a dead body from the morgue is going to yield more durable resources than digging up a recently deceased from the cemetery. At the end of each round, resources move along the freshness track and eventually must be discarded if they become useless. The fresher the resources, the more points a player can score when trading them in to create a body part. Players also collect points for eventually bringing completed body parts “to life” if/when they have the right materials (and a bit of luck) to do so. At the end of the game, the player with the most accumulated victory points wins.

What works in Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is how the gothic horror theme is wonderfully and meticulously woven into the mechanic. The previous paragraphs provide an overview of the base gameplay, but there are many, many layers of detail that keep Abomination incredibly fun and engaging. For example, in addition to keeping track of materials players must also keep an eye on their characteristic dials: Humanity, Reputation, and Expertise as their values can either grant benefits (such as additional workers) or detract (such as negative victory points at the end of the game). Actions taken through worker placement impact characteristics—lecturing at a university yields money and reputation while murdering someone to collect the freshest body parts understandably lowers one’s humanity value. As the game progresses, Abomination continues to reveal just how sensationally clever and balanced it is as a grotesque tableau of strategy and activity.

Players who prefer games that aren’t thematically grim or quite as lengthy may not enjoy Abomination as much as others. While some may relish that the title leans heavily into the horror genre, others may be unsettled by the very questionable moral quandaries players will find themselves in. Furthermore, the artwork is definitely graphic, vividly depicting severed corpses. And finally, the 180-minute runtime for four players is accurate—Abomination is meant for serious players looking to make an event out bringing the box to the table.

Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein is an absolute delight of a game. While the mechanics are certainly recognizable to previous worker placement and resource allocation titles, the execution of the theme makes Abominable memorable, engaging, and entertaining. This is likely to be the star of many Halloween-centric game nights for the foreseeable future.

Recommended if you like: Euphoria, Dead of Winter, Betrayal on House Hill, Everdell

Final Grade: A

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