Catacombs Cubes & Monuments Expansion Review

Elzra was generous enough to send me a copy of Catacombs Cubes and the Monuments Expansion. In this game, you are trying to build a town by building various structures with different shaped cubes based on blueprints on the cards. Each player has the choice to either draft a pair of dice to generate resources or build a structure with the shapes that they have. The game ends when a 4x4 grid has been completed (for two players at least).

The Good: It's a ton of fun to play with the shapes. The blueprints do a really good job of making you think about how to line them up just right so you'll be able to have a free-standing building. There is a ton of variety in the buildings and the expansion adds even more with the monuments. The monuments are big money buildings, granting you a lot of points as well as continual bonuses. Monuments also add in 2 new shapes and 2 new player boards which expands the game to 6 players.

The Okay: While I liked that Monuments added in a whole new type of building, I feel like it could have been added into the base game. There is a spot on the main board for them to go so if you did not have the expansion, the game would feel incomplete. Having to put stickers on each individual die was also a bit of a pain. I wish that they were already on them, but that could be me being lazy too.

The Not So Good: When I think of the Catacombs franchise I think of disc flicking and monster fighting so Cubes felt like a turn in the wrong direction. There was also not a whole lot of take-that or gotcha which can be a good or bad thing depending on what type of player you are. At least that's how it was in our game!

Final Score: 7/10 Chunky Cubes

Overall, I did enjoy this game. It brought me back to when I was a kid trying to build complex shapes with blocks. It was like playing with my daughter's toys, which I loved. Having to build a vertical structure was a unique challenge that I feel worked really well. I would play this over something like Tiny Towns if given the opportunity. I can't wait to dive deeper into this franchise.

If you want to check this one out for yourself click here.