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B L
United States
Apple Valley
Minnesota
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The Unwelcome Guests expansion adds some interesting aspects to the game. The guests and some of the modifier cards have the ‘persistent effect’ (two arrows forming a circle) icon. This means the special effect for that card doesn’t end when a card is played on top it but rather when the character dies. Because these cards end up having other cards played on top of them it can be difficult to keep track of their persistent effect. This and the fact that guests can move from family to family based on triggers (cards with certain icons or events being played) can make it hard to keep track of things. I created a reference/player mat to help keep track of how the guests can be moved and what their persistent effect is (this is available for download)
The ‘Guests’
The Loathsome Uncle: While alive follows the Goblet icons. Whenever you draw cards you may randomly select them from the hands of other players.
Being able to steal cards from someone who is almost out can really slow them down and keep them from going out.
Whiskers: While alive you may play an untimely death card as a free action whenever you play a Death (skull) icon card.
The rules don’t state how Whiskers is moved but on the Atlas Games website they do let us know. Whiskers may be moved when an “uncontrolled guest” or “random guest” card is played. The starting 15 points isn’t much but it may be the difference between winning or losing. The points on the front of the card count when Whiskers is killed but you can’t see them because the card is flipped over. To fix this I photocopied the Whiskers and Unhappy Holmes cards and cut out the portraits. Whenever one is killed I flip the card as usual and put the copy showing the points over it and then the other cards back on top.
The Poor Relations: While alive follows the Lucre (coins) icons and no untimely death can be played on this character.
Since you cannot place an untimely death card on them keep a modifier card or two with the lucre handy so you can pass them off to someone who is close to going out or to get them out of your family so you can go out.
The Woeful Widow: While alive follows the Murder (knife) icons and no Modifiers with Marriage (arrow through heart) icon may be played on a family that includes this character.
This one also may trip you up at the end so be mindful of the icons on your cards before you decide which ones to play or hold.
Unhappy Holmes: Follows Untimely Deaths while alive.
As with Whiskers, this guest comes with points that are counted in the end if he dies. When an untimely death card is played, unless he is dead Holmes immediately joins the grieving family. This means that if he is still alive and you play an untimely death on your last living family member, Holmes joins your family and the game goes on.
If you can keep track of the guests’ persistent effects and what moves them this is a fun expansion to play with. The additional rules are minimal. You have the choice of playing with any number of guests so you can pick and choose which ones you want to play with. It would have been great if Atlas Games would have included some sort of reference sheet with the game to keep track of the persistent effects and how the guests move. The additional characters do add a little length to the game. You can get frustrated by getting a lot of negative points on a guest and having someone steal them or you can get lucky by stealing a guest with a lot of points and then playing an untimely death on them. If you can get control of two or three guests and play untimely deaths on them when they have 10 or 15 points you will probably fair better than trying to get a lot of points on them before doing them in.
To sum it up, if you have a hard time keeping track of the guests and their movements you might become frustrated with the game. If you can keep track of them you will like playing with the guests. When teaching someone Gloom (or most any game) I would suggest not using expansions until they know how to play the game.
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Mike Beiter
United States
Tonawanda
New York
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I just got my expansions for Gloom yesterday. Thanks for clarifying how Whiskers moves, we were wondering the same thing.
I definitely feel this expansion changes the game the most. Dodging the guests really alters how you can play. I would agree that first time players should not be exposed to all 5 at once. Maybe just the uncle and Widow since they do not prolong the game to the degree the poor relations or Unhappy Holmes may.
But the extra cards that are added to the deck definitely make it a must buy for Gloom fans.
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>I created a reference/player mat to help keep track of how the guests can be moved and what their persistent effect is (this is available for download)
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What's the link to it?
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