Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6520341/final-girl-the-happy-trails-horror

Designers: Evan Derrick, A. J. Porfirio
Publisher: Van Ryder Games
Artist: Tyler Johnson

For context, I have played this game both as it comes in the box, and I’ve played through all lore book scenarios meaning I’ve played every killer at every location. I’ll only be talking about Hans and Camp Happy Trails here though. For thoughts on the lore book and my overall killer, location, and box rankings, scroll to the bottom.

Here are just a few opinions and thoughts:

1) I prefer the location over the killer.

2) For series 1, there are typically two “starter” boxes that are suggested: The Happy Trails Horror and/or Frightmare on Maple Lane. As a true starter box, The Happy Trails Horror is definitely the best choice. Hans is quite difficult so don’t expect to win often, but mechanically, it’s absolutely the easiest and best entry point.

3) Hans is a beast! I know some people don’t find him that difficult, but I am terrible at playing against him. He has very strong cards and attacks a lot even though he doesn’t move around the map much. Hans does play well in almost all locations, though, since his mechanics are so straightforward. Due to the minimal movement, some places provide unique opportunities for certain strategies and tactical decisions that Camp Happy Trails may not. Truthfully, I believe I like Hans significantly less than most people that play Final Girl. He’s often quite highly ranked, but he isn’t super exciting to me. He’s just powerful, so if you can’t get a useful weapon early, you’re probably toast.

4) Camp Happy Trails is a really solid location. It’s very versatile but straightforward. It’s not super difficult but it comes with its own set of unique challenges. It’s also very thematic!

Thoughts on lore book: 9.5/10. Each killer and final girl has a great story, and the scenarios are very creative. There are lots of combinations to try providing a lot of replayability and the chance to purposely experiment with certain pairs of locations and killers. There are a few small, annoying errors, though, which is why I can’t give it a 10 (things like typos, slightly incorrect/not matching card names, etc.).

Killer Ranking (from favorite to least favorite): Dr. Fright, Poltergeist, Geppetto, Hans, The Birds (vignette), Inkanyamba

Location Ranking (from favorite to least favorite): Maple Lane, Carnival of Blood, Camp Happy Trails (but close third), Creech Manor, Sacred Groves

Box Ranking (from favorite to least favorite): Frightmare on Maple Lane, Carnage at the Carnival, The Haunting of Creech Manor, The Happy Trails Horror, Terror from Above (vignette), Slaughter in the Groves