Mantis Falls Review

Two player deduction. Does it work?

Mantis Falls is a deduction game for two players where you've witnessed something you shouldn't have. Another witness is going to help you escape town but can you trust them? At the start of the game, players are each given a role card. There are two witnesses and one assassin. This can turn the game from cooperative to competitive but players only know their own role. It's up to you to work out the other player. If you are a both witnesses, then you both need to reach the end of the game alive. If there's an assassin in play though, they need to kill the witness and vice versa.

When it's your turn, you'll choose to move your player or stay put. Then you draw an event card. Events can be public or private depending on what they are. Some are ambushes where you need to play your cards to equal a set amount of damage or else you can lose health. Both players can play cards from their hands in the action phase. They must be the same suit but as many as you want can be played. Cards do a variety of things from damaging the event or the other player or healing or moving. You also have the option to discard 2 cards or put one into the Conserved Energy area. After actions, the event resolves and players draw back to their hand limit and the next player will go. The game ends if both players reach the end of the road safely or if one of them dies. Depending on the roles in play both players will either win or lose. If the assassin is in the game, the surviving player wins.

The Good: Mantis Falls nails the deduction aspect of the game. If I'm being honest, I've never played a deduction game before and I never expected it to work with two players but it's perfect. You're tense from the first move. If you're an assassin you don't want to show your hand too early but you can take little shots here and there if you need to. I had one game where I had a gun and a lot of bullets and I held onto it for so long because I didn't want to make the other player nervous (I was a witness). If you get complacent with the base game, there's 3 additional modules included in the box. Two to add more to the base game and one that makes it 3 players. The overall component quality is gorgeous as well. The cloth mat, the individual bags, included sleeves. It's all great. The whole thing is entirely on theme as well. You really feel that 1950s noir film vibe. There's even recommended soundtracks to enhance the atmosphere even further.

The Okay: My biggest complaint with the game was that it was challenging to heal yourself. Because of the overall distrust through the game, you'll probably take some collateral damage as well as events damage. There never seems to be enough healing cards. You can empty the conserved energy area for a health point but there are very few ways otherwise to heal yourself.

Final Thoughts: If you can't tell by now, I love this game. I love the stress involved throughout the game as you're trying to figure out the other player and not give yourself away. The overall gameplay loop works really well and there's minimal downtime. You can play the game in under an hour and will want to set it right back up and try again. Having additional modules in the box means the game stays fresh even longer. It's fantastic.

Thanks to Distant Rabbit Games for providing me with a review copy.