The Night of the Grand Octopus:
Today’s post intent is to highlight on of the games we carry. The secondary effect is to pique your interest in order to pull you off video games and other electronic devices and reconnect with people in a more personal way.
Since I am a fan of the author H.P. Lovecraft, I decided to start with a game that falls into that genre. The game is Night of the Grand Octopus. If you know anything of Lovecraft’s works, the Grand Octopus is the Cthulhu. Tactics 2 Toys, LLC has a few items based on H.P. Lovecraft lore, but I went with something that can be played by the young to the well-seasoned Lovecraft fan. Here is the premise of the game.
Premise of the game:
Long ago, the Grand Octopus, one filled with cosmically divine powers, reigned over the entire world — until an unfortunate combination of circumstances imprisoned it at the bottom of the ocean. Idle under miles of water, it fell asleep dreaming of the day when its time would come once again.
You are one of the Elect and have been recruited by the Illuminati to form a cult to glorify the tentacled one. Also, your dreams have told you that the time has come, the stars have aligned so that you can perform the “Ritual of Appeal” and bring the Grand Octopus to surface once again. To perform the ritual, however, you need the right magical components, components to be found in a famous English university for young wizards and witches — and you’re not the only one seeking them.
Clandestinely gather the 4 components necessary to complete the ritual to allow the Grand Octopus reentry into the world from his dream state. At the same time, you need to precent the other cultist from completing it. Be the first one to invoke the Grand Octopus and earn his favor.
Game Play Sequence (abridged):
At the start of each round, players place their cult member and monster tokens secretly on locations. They reveal the locations simultaneously. If the cult member is the sole token on a location, the cult group gains strength. If multiple cult member compete for the same spot, they either loose strength or enter negotiations. If a cult member and monster occupy the same location, the cult member is eliminated.
Game component list:
- Players: 3-5
- Ages: 7+
- Play Time: 20 min
- Category: Family Game
- CONTENTS:
- 1 game board
- 1 Dagger of Power
- 2 two-sided Seventh Location boards
- 5 Cultist pawns, one per color
- 5 Offspring pawns, one per color
- 5 Cult Power markers, one per color
- 5 Command Clock, one per color
- 28 component tokens, 4 each of: grimoire, stone idol, skull, potion, start chart, plant, silver key)
- 1 rulebook
Other facts:
Night of the Grand Octopus was released in 2014. It was designed by Frédéric Morard.
Upcoming:
A future post will have the greater detail on the sequence of play.
Product listing can be found here
