Pathfinder Monster Match – Board Game Review
Publisher: Paizo
Designer: Joe Pasini
Players: 2-6
Play Time: 20-45 minutes
Ages: 13+
Genre: Board Game / Card Game
Monster Match is a new board game from Paizo. And it’s a … dating game?! I am in my 60’s and I have played hundreds of different games in my lifetime, but I don’t think I have ever played a game where the theme was dating? And who are we dating? Well, monsters from Pathfinder of course?! What type of monsters are you into? Devils? Vampires? Oozes? Genies? Catfolk? There are 20 different monsters you can try to woo in this game.
What’s in the box?
- 20 Monster cards
- 40 Date cards
- 20 Gift cards
- 90 heart tokens (wooden)
- 84 MATCH! tokens
Gameplay
Each player will start with 15 heart tokens, 2 Gift cards, and six MATCH! tokens. Players can always look at the their own MATCH! tokens.
Players are competing against each other to find their best monster match. Players do this by taking the monsters on dates to various places, and learning more about the monster’s dating preferences. Monster’s dating preferences are slowly revealed during the course of the game. Every player at the table is given MATCH! tokens. You are hoping to secretly match your tokens the best you can with one of the monsters in the dating pool.
MATCH stands for:
- Mischief
- Adventure
- Thoughtfulness
- Charisma
- Hedonism
- X-factor!
MATCH! tokens are two-sided. One side is kept hidden from other players, and the hidden side of each token either has a Plus or Minus on it. For example, your “M” token will either be “M+” or “M-“. Your other letter tokens follow similarly.
The monster dating pool cards are placed at the center of the table. These monsters are chosen at random, and will change every game. The dating pool is always two more monsters than players at the table. So in a 4-person game, there will be six monsters to court. Monster preferences are not revealed at the start of the game.
Six “Date” cards are revealed on the table as well. Players take turns going out on dates with monsters. The Date cards allow you to learn a little about each monster by revealing two MATCH tokens during the date.
Example: I see that Oakley above likes going hiking. So we’re going to go hiking. Hiking lets me reveal Oakley’s A and C token. Based on how well the date goes, I will be able to to put some of my wooden heart tokens on Oakley card.
- If both preferences match, I put 3 heart tokens on Oakley
- if one matches, I put 1 heart token on Oakley
- and if zero match, I remove a heart token from Oakley (if there are any already on Oakley’s card).
Each monster also has a hobby they like and dislike. If you take a monster on a date they “like”, you get to add an extra heart token. If you take a monster to on a date they dislike, you add one fewer heart than you normally would after the date.
You also have two gift cards you can use at anytime during the game that allow you to give gifts that add extra hearts to monsters.
As the game progresses, more and more monsters TOKENS are revealed, and you will keep learning who is your best match. You will want to start loading up that monster’s card with heart tokens the best your can.
Game End
The game ends when all but 2 monsters have had all their MATCH! tokens flipped over, except for the ! token. Or, when you run out of Date cards.
Players then secretly reveal which monster they want to propose to. The person who matches the best with that monster wins the game. If all players match perfectly, the person with the most hearts on their monster will win.
There’s also one little twist during the end game. You can change mismatched tokens into a matches! Once proposals are made, players are allowed to change mismatched tokens into matches by removing two hearts from their proposed monster and placing them on that token. In the example above, I proposed to Eimear. I had a perfect match except with Eimear for my “A” token. I removed two hearts and placed them on my “A+” token, thus leaving me with 4 blue hearts on Eimear instead of 6.
Pros:
-
Pathfinder theme: For folks who have played the Pathfinder RPG, the theme is here. You will know many of the monsters here. Most cards have some flavor text referring to Pathfinder.
-
Easy to teach: The rulebook is very short. Monster Match is each to learn and easy to teach.
-
Six Players: Not too many games play well with six. This one does!
- Nice short filler game!
Cons:
-
Luck: There is a bit of a luck factor here. There will be a chance that your hidden tokens will not match well with the monsters available in any given game. Also, your Gift cards might not match the monster you are trying to woo, rendering them useless in the endgame.
Pojo’s Bottom Line:
This is a nice light game you can break out when you are looking for a quickie. It will be even better if your gaming group is also your Pathfinder RPG group. 😉
Rating: 4/5 stars.
