Monster Hunter World: The Board Game - Wildspire Waste review: "Nuanced mechanics and familiar foes"

Stepping into Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste feels like assuming the post of a true grizzled Monster Hunter, with all the dangers that come along with it. And yes, importantly, you can pet the Poogie. This is a game of pushing your luck to get a better shot at your quarry, tracking deadly beasts through perilous terrain, hoarding loot to better your gear, and trying your darndest to understand what move the monster is actually telegraphing this time.

Monster Hunter fans will be all too familiar with what the Monster Hunter World board games have to offer. Despite being far more rudimentary (as the medium often necessitates), Steamforged Games' interpretation of the beloved franchise is exceptionally well executed, and with heaps of comic relief to boot. Considering how long they've been making some of the best board games based on video games, including the Resident Evil series, that may not come as a surprise.

Even coming at the review from a more TTRPG-heavy background, as opposed to JRPGs, I've had great fun exploring the wilds and taking on ever more deadly challenges in this adventure style combat game. That's thanks not only to its accessibility in spite of its complexity, but also the intriguing narrative facets that work to turn what could have been a simple battle simulator into a versatile, replaybable board game with a little something for everyone.

Features & design

• Co-op arena game
• New core set taking place in the desert
• Compatible with other sets

Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste is the latest 'core' box for the system. The previous version (which is a little harder to find now, but still available via the likes of Amazon) took us to the Ancient Forest, whereas this one ventures a little farther out to the deserts. It features all-new monsters to battle as well, alongside the rules and components you need to run the various expansions available separately.

In other words, it's a great starting point if you're new to the game or have always wanted to try it. This should provide everything you need to get going all in one box, and is a solid foundation from which to leap into any expansions you fancy.

In terms of mechanics, it's run in three phases. There's the Gathering phase in which you follow clues to find a monster in a choose-your-own adventure style segment; the Hunting phase that involves slaying said Monster; and the HQ phase in which players use the parts scavenged to upgrade their Hunter's weapons and armor.

As you progress, you're able to take increasingly difficult jobs tracking and killing significantly more deadly marks. The game is meant to be played over several sessions, though you must kill a four star Monster before the specified number of campaign days is up, or you lose the game. There's a bit of choice around how to get there, including deciding which level monster you feel confident enough to take on next.

After selecting your Hunter and finding their starter cards, players head into the Gathering phase of the starter mission. One player reads aloud the narrative and you all agree how to proceed. This stage could involve anything from looting lost packs but potentially losing ground as you linger, examining the massive remains of an even bigger monster's kill, or attempting search and rescue missions. As you step through the narrative you might gain potions or ores, or suffer damage before you even get into a fight. You'll also gain Track tokens that are revealed at the end of the Gathering phase. These contribute to your Scoutfly level, which can affect the Monster's behaviour for better or worse.

When you hit the Hunting phase, it's you against the Monster in a timed battle event. Minis come out, Hunters are randomly assigned a Threat Level, the monster is set to max hitpoints, and depending on your Scoutfly level, different Behaviour cards are shuffled into the Monster's deck. Play is tracked with something called Time cards in this phase, which could throw a status effect or other random event at you at the end of your turn. Players take it in turns to Walk, Sprint and/or play Attack cards in any order. Any number of Attack cards can be chosen to fill your Stamina board as far as you dare – one of which is usually discarded at the end of a turn. Once you run out of cards, you'll need to use the Sharpen action to replenish your Attacks with those discarded.

As for the Monster, they act autonomously targeting whoever is stated on their Behaviour cards and attacking with the body part telegraphed on the back of the face-down pile. Sometimes, however, a Time card might direct you to discard the top one, having Misread the Monster's apparent next move. Terrain cards will also affect play here, reducing Hunter threat level or giving the Monster somewhere to heal, for example.

The goal is to take down the Monster before the Time cards deplete, breaking as many Monster parts as possible to gain more loot in the process. Once the monster is dead, time is up, or one of the Hunters has fainted three times, the fight is over and you enter the Return to HQ phase. You either gain the loot on the loot table from each of the broken Monster parts, then freely trade it amongst yourselves and use it to upgrade your gear or, if you failed, you can reattempt it… or try your hand at a different Quest.

That's the basics, though there are special rules for how to play each Hunter – such as the Insect Glaive Hunter's Kinsect: Harvest Extract cards that add extra bonuses when certain Attack cards are played. One to two player campaigns also gain the benefit of Palico compatriots who add special bonuses, too.

Gameplay

• Monster combat is phenomenal
• Narrative & RPG elements to break up combat
• A faff to set up

All this will seem very familiar to anyone who's played a Monster Hunter video game. There are recognizable monsters, Hunter types, and gear. Thanks to the extremely detailed miniatures, it's even possible to tell which parts of each monster have been used to detail the gear on each of the Hunter's miniatures. If you're in it for the minis, this is one game that won't disappoint. They're high quality and snap together with no need for glue which is fantastic, and I'd happily repurpose them in the best tabletop RPGs.

I have noticed a little wear on the board folds after only a few sessions but that's not something that affects playability, only aesthetics. Though since games are expected to last up to 25 sessions, that's a lot of putting away and getting out that could cause some unwanted wear.

It can be a little hard setting up, too. Finding everything among the masses of very similar looking decks is a little daunting, though thankfully there's a helpful guide as to how to store everything back in the game box. The rest of the manual is well-headlined, step-by-step information as well. The layout is easy on the eyes, and doesn't overload you with information you won't need until you hit the next phase either.

Speaking of which, I love that Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste is broken down into distinct phases. A game that relies entirely on battle segments can start to get stale, and only appeals to a certain kind of board gamer. The phases break up that monotony with narrative-fueled segments and downtime activities that add a new dimension to the game. The Gathering phase especially does wonders to distinguish the game from your average battle sim, while managing to cleverly ramp up the tension with tough choices that affect the outcome of the Hunting phase, such as shuffling detrimental cards into the time deck or making the monster's behaviour deck more powerful.

It took me a moment to get my head around the way Scoutfly level was presented, with paragraphs of text as opposed to what could have been an easy-to-reference table, but it's a great mechanic that supports the game's theme really well and gives it another element of surprise, as well as something solid and numerical to work toward.

The Hunting phase also feels really well balanced between known variables and procedural elements. A good example is the randomly drafted Hunter tokens that give your Hunter a threat rating, which act as a tie-breaker as to who monster is going to target next. These are sometimes shuffled around, and your rating can be reduced by hiding in a bush – something my TTRPG brain latched onto, giving my Hunter the nickname of BUSHMAN.

While there aren't masses of roleplay intensive elements, there are little moments that bring the story to life, which, coupled with the well-paced gameplay, have a fantastic effect on the game's tension building. There's also enough player agency that it gives player's choices real weight – be that the kind of quest you select, your Hunter's positioning and chosen attacks, or just what you choose to do in your downtime.

The main issues for me are in remembering the order of events, how the monster is supposed to move, and which symbols mean what (there are a ton). The game attempts to help out with printed reminders on time cards, and a useful key and appendix in the rulebook, but you will likely need to reference them a whole lot for the first few quests, and it can start to get tiresome.

Should I buy Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste?

Once you get used to how everything works and enter a flow state with your pals, Monster Hunter World: The Board Game – Wildspire Waste can be a truly rewarding gameplay experience with a great deal of replayability. Its push-your-luck style mechanics tempt you against the clock, adding tension alongside refreshing story elements that pull you in new directions with each and every playthrough.

It's not going to be a game for everyone, but it does well to offer a variety of rewards for the more bloodthirsty, or loot-motivated players, and even those with roleplay frivolity as their main goal. While the rulebook can be clunky with the wording in places, and set-up is a bit of a slog, the game makes fumbling through it all a worthwhile endeavor even for those who've never played a Monster Hunter game in their lives.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Monster Hunter World: The Board Game - Wildspire Waste

Our reviewer played Monster Hunter World: The Board Game multiple times and with different numbers of people to better understand how its systems performed.

To find out more, don't miss our guide to how we test board games or the in-depth GamesRadar+ review policy.

For more tabletop recommendations, don't miss the best card games or the best tabletop RPGs.