Nuns on the Run

 

Not to be confused with the 1990 comedy of the same name.  If I were to challenge a magical elf to use their magic to create a board game that is based on hide and seek, this is what that elf would "shazam" (or what ever magic term) into existence.   

Nuns on the Run is a 2-8 player game designed by the German designer Frederic Moyerson and is produced by Mayfair games (the company who produces Settlers of Catan).  The theme of the game is a group of novices (nuns in training) are trying to collect various items by sneaking around their abbey.  In pursuit of these novices are the Abbess and the Prioress. You can think of these two as the abbey guards.  A player wins as a novice if they are able to collect their desired item and return to their cell before a certain number of turns or number of caught novices occurs.  The player(s) playing the Abbess and the Prioress win if they can prevent the novices from collecting their items in a certain number of turns or if they capture enough of those sneaky novices.  Fortunately, Mayfair games provides a good overview of how this game is played (and I wish more game companies did this and if they do more often) and, as always, the man Tom Vasel provides a good review and explanation of this game.  Surprisingly (at least to me), at the time of this review, this game is only ranked 642 on boardgamegeek.com (which I guess is not bad considering there are like a gazillion games out there).

So here are my thoughts on Pros and Cons.

Pros:

• The theme of the game really matches the game play
• The game components are high quality
• The artwork is spot on (I would say the artist has a "thing" for nuns, just look at the Prioress haha)
• When you are a novice the excitement level can really crank up
• I think this is a good gateway game
• A good family game

Cons:

• I found the instructions difficult at times, especially with explaining sounds and line of sight (here is a tool that helps determine line of sight)
• Difficult to teach to others
• Not as exciting with two players, definitely need four or five
• Playing as the Abbess and the Prioress can be dull at times and seems difficult to win
• Some players do not like the solitary aspect of the game (I disagree however as that is the way hide and seek is played)

All in all I find this a fun game.  Unfortunately it is not a great game for only two people and because of this it does not get brought out a lot (though I really wished it would).  I would say only get this game if you have a large gaming group (at least four).  I do think it will be fun when my kids are older and we can all play it together.  But for small groups, just avoid it unless you do not mind it primarily sitting on the shelf.