During Goonie turns, the GM may play cards for their React effect (the bottom portion of the card).. React effects explicitly say when they may be played. End is Nigh So, crank up some Cyndi Lauper, rip open a Baby Ruth, and let’s gather around the game table for The Goonies: Never Say Die, designed by the team at Prospero Hall. Gameplay Overview: Stunned Token: Foes and Goonies may be Stunned. A Stunned Token is placed next to them. Stunned Goonie cannot use Cards, Special Abilities, or give Teamwork. If a Goonie is Stunned during their Turn, that Turn ends immediately. If a Goonie or Foe starts their Turn or Activation Stunned, they skip both their Actions to remove the Stunned Token. A Goonie can use Item Cards, Treasure Cards, and Special Abilities in the same Turn their Stunned Token was removed as long as they don’t require Actions to use. But why was it fun? It was fun because it told the story of the movie and added just enough complexity to make it interesting but not bogged down in rules. It’s a family RPG in a Box. It also allows the game to stay streamlined and light on rules while still creating the moments of wonder that the movie is most remembered for. It’s not a perfect game—not by a longshot—and many gamers might find it too simplistic or, considering it’s one versus all, not tactical enough.

Final Score: 4 Stars – The Goonies: Never Say Die is a light but tense adventure game with great artwork and exceptional theme integration that will surely satisfy people who grew up wishing they could go on a treasure hunt with their favorite group of fictional friends. There is a pit trap with many nostalgic property based games that look enticing but fall flat once you play. The nostalgia isn’t a pirate’s treasure hoard but just a bunch of counterfeit fifty dollar bills. In other words, it is superficially that property but once the gameplay is examined it could be any other game. The Goonies Never Say Die is not that. The treasure is in the details and you should explore those unknown tunnels with kids to discover it. Treasure Actions are actions listed on treasure cards. Follow the directions on the card and discard it. Adventure Actions The game plays a lot like how D&D plays in terms of having a GM (Games master) and having a bunch of stories and adventures that the rest of the players travers through in the aim to defeat a final boss or get to a specific goal. The main difference though would be the fact that this game is a lot more structured out for you already and there is a limited amount of things that both the players and the GM can do. Now this may put some people off if you’re more of a die-hard adventure board gamer and can’t deal with the limitations of such a game, but to the others who don’t mind this at all, this is a great introduction to adventure games and D&D as a genre. There’s loads of player interaction throughout making it fun and different with each group of players, and with each adventure/level of the game there is a story to follow alongside it making players fully immersed into the world of the Goonies and thus make their decisions within the game seem more dire and important.You get a chance to live this story yourself in The Goonies: Never Say Die, a game for 2-5 players by Prospero Hall and published by Funko Games. It’s best with ages 12+ and lasts about an hour per adventure. Setup Similarly, the game is also objectively easier with more Goonie players since the GM only gets a single turn after every hero has gone. It’s not necessarily broken, but the game doesn’t scale very well in terms of its difficulty even if the fun remains the same regardless of player count. (The game comes with five playable Goonies but is not meant to played with more than four of them at a time.)

Setup does take some time, but I feel after our first time playing and not needing to initially punch out the tokens, it will go a lot faster. My kids could probably set it up with some experience, but not until they’ve played the game a few more times themselves. So, I grabbed my two boys who are pretty close to the age of The Goonies and played through that scenario again. This time with me as the GM and them as The Goonies. We had a blast!

“Andy, this whole ship is a treasure.”

Gain a GM Token. The GM can use tokens to upgrade dice, draw or play additional GM cards, defend, or perform an “End is Nigh” roll. The Game ends when the Goonies achieve their which gives the Goonies and victory or when a GM Round starts with all 4 Sand Tokens in the bottom half of the Hourglass Tile which means the GM wins. Why You Should Play The Goonies: Never Say Die

But is it an RPG, with a GM after all? It depends on the company. There is a GM working against other players collectively and adding story-telling elements. If players aren’t afraid to roleplay and immerse themselves into a character, it could feel more like one. The GM does have an adventure script to follow, but there’s leeway for them to embellish the action as it takes place. Flooded Token: Foes are not impacted by Flooded rooms, but any Goonie in a Flooded Room must spend 2 Wish Tokens instead of 1 for Upgrades and Teamwork. Teenager Cards: A Goonie can flip a face-up Teenager Card down to gain an extra Die as described by the Teenager Card. A Teenager Card brings another Die to a roll. Photo by Elizabeth MacAndrew.Setup the Starting Room and only the Starting Room (it will be the room with the Start Token). Place any Tokens that go in the room and Passages going from the Room. An Unexplored Token goes in each connected by a passage room.