Fury of Dracula 9+

Im new to “app board games” but not physical ones. Just started exploring apps to get in a board game fix with people i know, and this is the 3rd game we tried (first talisman which is easy to learn but a game can go for an hour or more, second small world which takes more strategy, but you can finish a game in under 15 mins) The digital version is my first experience with “fury of drac” and my initial reaction is not stellar.

Theres a lot going on with this game and ive always found the best way to learn is playing. That being said, the single player mode is incredibly slow paced and not much to make you feel like youre developing as a player (little reward for the time spent). Ive had to force myself to keep playing as its not very fun right away (vs something like “Talisman” which is easy to pickup and fun to play even solo).

Its not that the game is bad, but being new and its slow pacing makes it hard to get immersed. If i knew the rules or was playing with others who did (and had voice chat potential), i can tell id have an entirely different experience. For now, id have to caution new players that this isnt something youre going to immediately pick up and be enjoying in your first hour of play time. Its gonna take some work to learn and your enjoyment will likely be directly correlated to online play or your group of friends.

The four stars means “this app is good considering it just came out.” Fury of Dracula is a complex enough game that it needs a lot of work to function well in this new format. So far, it’s only part of the way to being great.

First, the positives. This app is based on what is probably my favorite board game of all time. (I suppose I’m biased because I like the book Dracula and its 500 movie adaptations.) The game is often suspenseful and exciting, and rewards intelligent/strategic play. Playing as either the hunters or Dracula comes with unique opportunities and challenges.

The game has a nice aesthetic, too, and a pretty cool soundtrack on the app. The artwork certainly reminds one of the book and its universe.

Now, the bad parts. The AI on this app isn’t good enough yet. Dracula is...okay in his AI form, but the hunters are almost totally incompetent. I’m something like 15-0 against them as Dracula and have never come close to losing. They misplay their cards, they go in the wrong directions, etc. There’s also some teething troubles with the interface (it can be tough to place roadblocks, for example).

On the whole, I’m surprised Fury of Dracula plays this well on a smartphone and I’m looking forward to seeing future updates. And maybe someday I’ll play against a human opponent, which will eliminate that pesky AI problem!

This is a fun multiplayer game. So far I have not had any issues playing it online with one other person using an iPad Pro. We have been playing against the AI Dracula and it does well enough considering we are beginners to the game. To improve the game the map edges need to be more visible as it is hard to view them if you do not have a character on the space to zoom in. The game statistics do not seem to completely populate, but they are no relevant to the actually game play. I would like to see toggle that shows the city names.