After Play Thoughts - Carnage at the Carnival/Carnival of Blood (from a First Time Player!)
First time FG Player here! I kept seeing it in the game store which my friends and I sometimes go to and I was looking for a nice solo game because I was looking for a nice way to pass time (that, and I am really into Solo RPGs) and the girls on the cover looked so badass (admittedly, this was the ultimate factor for me 😭😭 Asami is really pretty 😔💓 and Charlie looks so cool 🥺) that I decided to put in an order for the core box and the feature film featuring Charlie and Asami :)
This is really ironic because I hate horror films and I cannot stand watching it alone because it gives me the creeps but I can handle trying to survive as a Final Girl? I don't know how it works but I had a lot of fun!
I know a lot of people would recommend starting with Camp Happy Trails which I do agree with! FG is a little overwhelming if you don’t know how to pace yourself and call the shots to make the move (or some time, reading and getting used to the phases and icons is a lot). But unfortunately CHT was sold out and it was between Geppetto or Inkanyamba. I like circus themed stuff, so Geppetto was a easy pick.
For the actual play: I won by sheer luck. I retaliated and rolled a double success--and upon flipping his token, no hearts--god, the relief of seeing no hearts behind that token made me so happy I almost started jumping around my room.
Although, I feel like I've done a lot of things wrong, like maintaining the puppet's and Geppetto's movements via the Terror Cards (since Gep does not move at all as his base killer condition) and trying to find ways to make it harder for me since the puppet's movements were limited and had to end 2 space where Geppetto is. And puppets don't attack unless the Terror cards say so but even with the movement, my FG meeple was too far for them 😭
But that didn't matter once I opened the finale card, which basically removed the movement limitation lol. It made the game more entertaining but I feel like I totally forgot that they ignore the first round of damage dealt (from Dark Power)
I also drew a minor dark power but I didn't know whether that applied for every turn or just for the turn/phase I drew it on but to make it fair? or more difficult for me, I applied it every action phase since it didn't say which phase it applies to.
Thoughts: I had fun! I'm sure I played a lot of the instructions wrong especially with puppet spawning, resolving some Terror cards and puppet movement. I think I'm going to do more reading and then a few more rounds playing as Charlie because I find her ult benefit more useful as someone who cannot decide what cards to buy and has terrible dice luck. A girl can use more time, for sure 😭
I really want to get a copy of CHT to get a feel for the vanilla version of FG, hopefully they restock it here! I'm looking forward to owning more Final Girls FFs.
I'm thinking about trying to get my hands on Hell to Pay (again, really pretty girls on the cover...I have a weakness for really pretty girls, unfortunately. That, and the other girl on the cover reminds me of Erika Ishii! I love Erika so much.) and Madness in the Dark. If you guys have a reccomendation for a follow up Final Girl after Carnage at the Carnival, I would love to know!