Last modified March 13, 2025 by jarjar
FIRST IMPRESSION
Final Girl is a single-player board game where you play as the surviving heroine who must face a psychopathic killer, in the pure tradition of slasher horror films. The game system uses dice and cards to simulate stalking and combat, with different scenarios and killers available, each with their own mechanics and difficulty levels.
I recently got and discovered this game with the starter kit (basic box + The Happy Trails Horror). The French release caught my attention to this series, however, I did not buy the French version, because its price is totally exorbitant. An expansion, called a feature film in this game, costs $23.99 CAD in English, while in French it is $57.99 CAD, almost 2.5 times the price. I understand that there are costs to translate a game, but for 2.5 times its price, I find that it is abuse and I have no desire to encourage this practice.
Otherwise, the game is super well produced, very good quality of components, the rules are well written with several examples. The game, although a little chaotic with all these dice rolls, remains tense with a superb atmosphere, we really feel like we are in a horror movie. I played several games of the first feature film, THE HAPPY TRAILS HORROR (in English THE HAPPY TRAILS HORROR, but what is this translation? :)) against Hans – The Butcher with a 40% victory. There is an application available (for a few $) that allows you to enter your games, follow your statistics and take up some challenges proposed by the application.
The objective of the game is to survive by eliminating the killer before he eliminates us. Victims are present, by helping them, we receive bonuses, but it is also fresh meat for the killer and these victims increase his thirst for blood and make him more aggressive.
In this first feature film, we find ourselves in Camp Happy Trails, inspired by Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th.
The killer, Hans, is inspired by the big, slow-moving hitmen, Jason and Michael Myers, with a touch of the Sawyer family from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a little German flair. The pig-shaped mask of shame was used in medieval Germany to punish people who had committed minor crimes. This punishment was intended to offend them, humiliate them, and dishonor them in public.
The two final girls that we can interpret in this first feature film are:
Laurie Carpenter : Laurie's first name is a clear reference to the final girl from Halloween, Laurie Strode. Her last name is a tribute to filmmaker John Carpenter, who created Halloween and many other iconic horror films.
Reiko Rivers : Reiko is a common Japanese name, so there are a few possibilities, but it is most likely a reference to the protagonist of the original Japanese Ring film. Rivers is possibly a reference to Clear Rivers, a character from the first two Final Destination films.
TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 7
Level: advanced family
MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I loved :
>> Beautiful production, very good these boxes which transform into a game board!
>> Very well done atmosphere! Impressive even to see what only a few small cards and dice can generate as a story that holds up!
>> Parts that don't stretch, with an intensity that increases as the part progresses.
>> Smooth and fun game. You can easily play several games.
I liked less:
>> you shouldn't be afraid of chance with all these dice rolls.
>> Can we get tired of always playing the same action cards? Maybe other action cards will be added in the other feature films?
An excellent single player game, very fun, yes, very rich with all these feature films available, but take out your credit card, especially if you opt for the French version.
FUN FACTOR >> 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂