Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7486294/final-girl-slaughter-in-the-groves

Designer: Evan Derrick
Publisher: Van Ryder Games
Artist: Tumo Mere

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 Inkanyamba and Sacred Groves here though. For thoughts on the lore book and my overall killer, location, and box rankings, scroll to the bottom.

1) I prefer the killer over the location, and I think almost everyone would agree with me on that.

2) This combination is absolutely the most difficult of series one. Both the location and the killer are challenging, but when they’re combined, success is nearly impossible in my opinion.

3) As much as I appreciate the theming of the other boxes being based on horror movies, I like that this one is a more original idea. Also, the lore book scenarios for this box, for the most part, weren’t too much more difficult than a standard game which my dignity appreciated.

4) Sacred Groves is the literal worst. It is so challenging and I find it an odd place to play with other characters (Poltergeist was probably the best if I had to pick one). It’s very difficult to get any sort of momentum going because the location is so punishing. There’s no doubt in my mind this is my least favorite so far. On location alone, the name of this box is quite fitting.

5) I think Inkanyamba is actually a decent killer but he’s still challenging and just overall not my favorite. I enjoyed playing him more at other locations for sure, so I’m glad I tried that. It helped rinse the terrible taste from my mouth after experiencing him at home in Sacred Groves. I do feel a little bad for him because I think he gets downgraded (by me included) quite often because Sacred Groves is so ridiculous but he’s definitely the better half in the relationship.

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