Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Game [Board Game]

by Milton Bradley

Product Features

• For ages 12 to adult

Product Details

• Item Weight: 0.3 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B00004TJV6
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,022 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)

Product Description

Editorial Review

The Chosen One, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, needs help purging Sunnydale of all the resident evil. Roll the dice to fight monsters directly, or cast magic spells against Buffy's foes. The game is designed to showcase Buffy's toughest challenges and her greatest strengths, which are all controlled by a roll of the die. The game board features familiar characters and locations from the hit TV show, like Sunnydale High School and the Sunnydale cemetery. An extra-cool addition is the Buffy playing piece made of solid pewter. --Diane Beall

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buffy is the most popular game (and show) in our house, September 26, 2000

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Game [Board Game] (Board Game)

I am sure you know how it is: buying board games for your kids in the era of computer games is usually a big waste of money. The bottom of the closet is littered with games nobody wants to play. Now, I fully admit I bought the Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game because it is our favorite television series, despite the fact that we do not get the WB in Duluth and I have to beg a friend to tape episodes in North Carolina and send them to me. But to my surprise, this is the one game that my three kids (F10, F16, M18) love to play. We fight over who gets to be Buffy and which villain variation we should play this time. More amazing, whenever one of my children has their character bite the dust, the other two let them take over one of the other characters. This is unprecedented (but welcomed) behavior in our house.

There are four villains/scenarios to the came: the Master from Season 1, the Judge from Season 2, the Mayor from Season 3, and Adam from Season 4. This game is very up to date in terms of the show's current roster of characters. The various scenarios essentially make this four games in one. We have also started to make up variations on the different scenarios, changing the supporting villains, and even came up with a fifth variation with Angelus at the principal bad person, so you can certainly be creative. While we play the game we almost always end up watching taped reruns of Buffy episodes (often the ones with the villains we are using in the game).

This game takes quite a while to set up and even longer to get through all the rules. But my kids did not mind. I got my money back on this board game the first weekend we had it in the house. They love it almost as much as they love the series, which I consider the best show on television and I've only been teaching television criticism courses for twenty years. This is not an educational game except in how it allows you to discuss the Buffy mythos, but this is clearly the most fun and durable board game in our collection. Of course, if you do not enjoy the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series you are not going to enjoy this game, which is one of the best television tie-in board games ever.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced and Fun, February 16, 2001

By 

Christopher Dudley (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Game [Board Game] (Board Game)

This board game is easy to learn and has four variations to play. In each, the good players team up to beat the one evil player. There are a lot of parts, which can make the game seem more complicated than it really is once you learn it. Up to four players play the good characters: Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Oz. All four characters must be played, so if there are fewer than four people to play them, one or more players will control two characters. Another player plays the evil team, controlling a main villain (either The Master, The Mayor, The Judge, or Adam, depending on which scenario you're playing) and up to three minions. The board is a layout of Sunnydale, with public buildings, a crypt, a graveyard, and a few houses. There are resource, weapon, and help cards (the help cards are all other characters from the show) for the good characters, and evil cards for the evil team. A moon counter ticks off the phases of the moon, which affect the game in various ways.

Since there are four different scenarios in the game, you can play four times in a row and have a different game each time. Players will enjoy switching characters between games to see how the other characters play out. It takes about an hour to play each game, but the time just speeds right by. There's a great feeling that each roll of the dice is critical, and each player plays his part. There's no competition among the good players, as they need to work together to prevent the evil team from reaching its objective, which depends on the scenario.

I thought Oz was a strange choice to be a main character, but being a werewolf is pretty cool. You can't hold onto stuff worth a darn, but when the moon is full, you're a fighting machine. Willow is pretty good at research, and Xander serves best to bring things from one player to another. Buffy is the best fighter, of course, and does well with a decent weapon in her hand.

There were a couple drawbacks to the game. One down side is that, although there are about 20 seemingly different weapon cards, most of them are really the same. There's no difference between a chair leg and a stake - almost all the weapons are functionally a stake. Another drawback, though many might not think it one, is that it's very difficult for the evil player to win. It can be done, but I think the game is slightly out of balance as it is.

Other than that, the game is great. I hope they come out with an expansion or a second edition soon.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Clean Slayer Fun, November 21, 2000

By A Customer

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Game [Board Game] (Board Game)

I bought this game as a joke since my husband and I are avid fans of the tv show. I never suspected we'd spend all weekend having an absolute blast playing the game! I don't know how enjoyable this game will be for those who don't like the show since I think part of the fun is being familiar with the characters and the storylines, but for Buffy fans out there it's a "can't miss". Though we haven't owned the game long, it seems like the storylines can be played over and over without growing dull. In fact, I think the game gets more interesting the more times you play the same story because, as you get more familiar with character strengths and weaknesses, it starts to require a lot more strategy. Like another reviewer said, there's some concern about the durability since it is a cardboard game with an awful lot of pieces---but, for as long as the pieces do hold up, the presentation of the game is extremely well done and is part of the appeal/fun. I'd certainly recommend it.