The box art for Dracula VS Van Helsing immediately drew me in since it was from one of my favorite illustrators, Weberson Santiago. This 2-player hand management game comes to the US from 25th Century Games. Will you side with Dracula as he tries to convert the towns people into his vampire horde? Or will you hunt down the king of the vampires and drive the final stake into his heart?
Choose Your Side
Players begin the game by choosing to play as Dracula or Van Helsing. Each player will have a unique end game goal but will use the same deck of tiles to accomplish it. The map in the center of the table shows a village divided into five sections. Each section is populated with four villager tokens each.
The player who plays the role of Dracula is working to convert four villages in a single section of the map into vampires. The Van Helsing player is working to remove all twelve hit points from the Dracula character. Once one of these conditions are met, the game is over.
Dracula VS Van Helsing comes with two wooden tile holder that kept the players “hand” in order and aligned with the five sections on the board. Tiles have a number, color, and associated effect tied to it. Players are looking to have the higher numbered tile than their opponent in each of the five sections of the map.
Shifting Scales
The tile colors have a hierarchy and a trump color that is randomly assigned at the start of the game. The trump color can/will fluctuate based on one of the card effects. On a players turn, you draw a tile and make a decision to replace one in your display OR discard the tile you just picked up. The tile that is discarded will trigger an effect.
Replacing a tile isn’t always a straight-forward decision. If you replace a number 1 tile with a higher number, the effect tied to the number 1 tile will force you to permanently reveal a tile to your opponent. To use the best effects in the game, you need to discard a high tile, which is very valuable. The balance between the tile number and the card effect keeps players on their toes during the game.
A round of Dracula VS Van Helsing ends when a player calls for the end of the round. Either player can make this call instead of drawing a tile, as long as there are 6 or more tiles in the discard pile. The opposing player will get one more turn before ending the round.
To resolve the round, players reveal and compare the cards for each section starting from the left to right on the village map. Revealing one at a time, players compare the number on the tiles. The higher number wins and if the number is the same, the tie is broken based on the color ranking at the time. The trump color will always win, even if the number is lower when compared to a tile of another color. If Dracula wins the section, he turns a villager in that section into a vampire. If Van Helsing wins the section, one hit point is removed from Dracula.
King of the Vampires
Dracula VS Van Helsing is a straight-forward hand management game that is really streamlined. The game gives you some nice decisions as you try to outwit your opponent. When a player uses the card effect on the number 7 tile, the player gets to change the trump color of the tiles. It’s incredibly satisfying to change the trump color just before the round ends, totally catching the other player off guard.
I’m really impressed with the level of strategy that comes out with such a simple rule set. It’s a challenge to weed out the least important tiles without revealing your hand to the other player. The Dracula player has a slight advantage in the fact that if they are not killed by the end of the fifth round of the game, they are the winner, even if they haven’t converted four villagers in one section into vampires.
My one and only concern with the game is something that has been mentioned in many reviews of the game. I’m skeptical to see how the tiles will hold up over time. Since this game relies so heavily on keeping information secret, any damage to the tiles can skew the gameplay. With cards, they could be sleeved and damage kept to a minimum.
The original publisher, Mandoo Games, opted for tiles over cards. In one sense, the tiles feel great in the wooden holders and feel like a premium component. In another, tiles are frustrating to shuffle and could show damage quicker than traditional cards. Time will tell how the tiles hold up with regular play.
Final Thoughts
After only a handful of games, I can already tell that Dracula VS Van Helsing will be a 2-player game that hits the table often. The game is light enough to hit the table during a normal week night, but strategic enough to make you feel smart when you’ve won the game.
I love the contrasting colors and artistic style that Weberson Santiago gives to the game. The iconography was simple to understand and we rarely had to reference the rulebook after about our second play. Dracula VS Van Helsing is going to be a game that will get play year round, not just during our Halloween gaming season.
Dracula VS Van Helsing is available at your local board game store, through the 25th Century Games webstore or online through Amazon today.
Highs
- Asymmetric player goals work really well
- Tough decisions as you shed less valuable tiles
- Excellent artwork throughout the game
- High on our list as a favorite 2-player game
Lows
- Slightly concerned with the tiles showing wear
Complexity
Time Commitment
Replayability
