Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6520330/final-girl-frightmare-on-maple-lane

Designer: A. J. Porfirio
Publisher: Van Ryder Games
Artist: Roland MacDonald

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 Dr. Fright and Maple Lane here though. For thoughts on the lore book and my overall killer, location, and box rankings, scroll to the bottom.

1) I really can’t decide if I like the killer or the location better for this one. They’re both my favorite so it’s tough to pick.

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) Maple Lane is a pretty straightforward location, but I appreciate its clever, unique nuances from other maps. For example, rather than specific spots for searching, there are many places that can be searched but they can only be searched once each. Also, instead of decks associated with the specific search locations, this has decks for each quadrant of the map. The other major difference is with the “Convince” action. To enter a house, the player has to successfully roll on “Convince” action card for the people inside the house to let you in. Thematically, this is brilliant, but it can add a little extra frustration to the luck of the dice rolls.

4) Dr. Fright is awesome. All the art in the game is incredible, but I especially like the portrayal of Dr. Fright. He has two unique mechanics/design choices that are interesting. The first is that there is an awake/asleep aspect where, unless a card states otherwise, Dr. Fright can’t attack you if you’re awake, and similarly you can’t attack him if you’re awake. Then, while asleep, there is also a card-based boiler room challenge where the player moves cards around in hopes of not finding Dr. Fright hiding in the boiler room. This mechanism is a bit odd, can be fiddly, and adds to the luck factor already prevalent in the game, but I still really enjoy it. Truthfully, I didn’t initially care for Dr. Fright much, but he definitely started growing on me the more I played him, especially when experimenting with him in other settings.

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