Pearl Games | The Bloody Inn | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1 to 4 Players | 30 to 60 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

Any travelers still in the inn go to the discard pile and whichever room they were in earns that player 1 Franc. In this family, it's every man for himself! At the end of the game, there will be a final tally: The richest of the innkeepers will be proclaimed victorious! The game play itself, while fun, can also feel a bit restrictive at times, especially with some of the less exciting rounds you will be forced to take. The Bloody Inn offers to let you play a short game or a long game and I almost wish there was something in the middle. The short game definitely feels too short, I’d only recommend that for a learning game. However, the long game starts to drag near the end of its play, especially if a player is clearly in the lead. I think something in between would definitely hit the sweet spot for play time.

France 1831: In a remote corner of Ardèche, the little village of Peyrebeille sees numerous travelers pass through.Any money you do make will need careful management. Unexplained wealth draws unwelcome attention. There’s a limit on how much you can earn without laundering the cash. To do this you’ll need to visit the crooked notary. But doing so takes time you could otherwise spend on more profitable pursuits. If someone suggests you should spend a night at The Bloody Inn, you should think twice! Some of the guests leave this inn inside of a body bag…

The Carnies contains 52 new cards spread across three separate modules that can be used in any combination. Except for the following modifications, the base game rules remain unchanged: The two actions you get to take each turn are limiting in a way that demands interring plays over a couple of turns. Actions like passing are important as they’re the only way to turn your cash on the board into laundered franc notes – there’s only so much you can hide under your own mattress after all. The dead side reminds you of the rank of the guest and also shows you the other number from the guest card that I have not yet explained. It has a coin behind it and is how much money this guest has on their person. The higher the rank, the more money they will carry. You will gain this money only when you bury the guestTo profit from murder, you must first dispose of the body. You can bury corpses under any of the inn's annexes. Players control the annexes they build. If you use one belonging to another player you'll have to split the profits with them. It's better to deal with the richest guests in areas you control. But you can always undermine your opponents by stuffing their constructions full of low value victims!

Great games start with great ingredients and on its surface, The Bloody Inn should be a game that I love. It has beautiful art, a quirky (if macabre) theme, cards that serve multiple purposes, and a publisher with a strong pedigree. Unfortunately, it’s peppered with enough bitter elements to temper my opinion. But rather than focus on the negative, I’ll give credit to what the games does right and how it’s almost a great game. The players will take one Key token and place it on a room that is unclaimed. The player who is the greediest will take the Starter Player token, and the game is ready to begin! GAMEPLAY When it comes to the engine building aspect of the game, it’s definitely on the slower side of the bell curve. With those limited rounds, it will take you quite a few rounds to acquire the annexes you want to build and the people to build them. It’s got almost a slow burn feel to it where you can see the game ramping up, but it takes a while to get there. Certain guests have an affinity for particular actions, so those cards return to a player’s hand after being discarded.What better way to incentivise staff than a bit of friendly competition? In this family business, whoever adds the most to The Bloody Inn's coffers will reap the rewards. Each player manages different rooms, although players can kill and bribe a guest in any room. Any guests not pushing up daisies by the end of their stay pay their bill to the player controlling their room. Each turn players spend cards in their hand to bribe guests into accomplices who can either be used to pay for other actions (effectively for free if they have an affinity with said action), building annex (to provide bonuses, and a handy place for all the bodies), kill other guests, or bury a corpse you already have hanging around. The main phase will now begin as players interact with the guest cards in the inn and also those in their hands, known as accomplices. There are four actions players can perform: The Bloody Inn is played over a series of rounds where each player gets two actions. The actions include: bribing people, building annexes, killing travelers, or burying corpses. All this is done with the goal of stealing the most money from the victims.