Meeple on Board Rating
Be the first to review this product.Board Game Geek Reviews
Be the first to review “Hako Onna”
You must be logged in to post a review.
Hako Onna
Now available in English from WizKids, the Hit Japanese Game of Supernatural Horror, Hako Onna, is a game of horror hide-and-seek. One player plays the “Hako Onna” (the Woman in the Box), and the rest are “Visitors”, who are trying to escape from the mansion. As Visitors, you’ll try not to make noise as you search the shadowy rooms of the mansion for items to protect yourself, for information, and for a way to escape what you do not see, but know is there. But if you stumble upon the Hako Onna, you’re dead. Players who discover the Hako Onna become a Hakobito, one of her servants, and wake up with her to move throughout the house.
During most of Hako Onna’s turn, the human players must keep their eyes closed so they cannot see where she moves to or what action she has done. The game also features a unique optional dexterity element that adds to the game’s overall tension and dread. Before a visitor can take their turn, they need to avoid making noise by stacking a small disc on top the previous ones; if the tower collapses, they’ve made noise and it instantly becomes Hako Onna’s turn.
Hako Onna can win the game in two ways:
If all visitors are turned into Hakobito, or
If she has made it impossible for the visitors to win.
The human players can win in one of three ways:
If they manage to kill Hako Onna after finding her only weakness,
If they find the secret exit, while in posession of the key ring hidden inside the safe, or
If they can bring peace to Hako Onna by bringing the remains of her body to her precious doll, Mary.
Since its original publication in Japanese, Hako Onna has reached its fourth edition, and has been republished in English by WizKids. The English edition features all-new cards for players to use as they experience the thrilling horror of this thematically-rich game.
•••
ジャパニーズ・ホラーをテーマとした非対称対戦＆協力型脱出ゲーム。
館に潜む怨霊「箱女」と、館を訪れた訪問者に分かれてゲームを行います。
箱女を見つけてしまうと訪問者は死亡し、ハコオンナの眷属、箱人となってしまいます。訪問者全員が箱人になってしまえば箱女プレイヤーの勝ち、訪問者全員が箱人になる前に３つの勝利条件のいずれかを達成できれば訪問者プレイヤーの勝利となります。
| Ages | 10+ |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 Players, 3 Players, 4 Players, 5 Players |
| Play Time | 90m – 120m |
| Designer | 江神 号 (Go Ejin) |
| Mechanics | Team-Based Game, Point to Point Movement, Secret Unit Deployment, Variable Player Powers |
| Theme | Action / Dexterity, Deduction, Exploration, Horror |
| Publisher | Ejin 研究所 (Ejin Kenkyuujyo), WizKids, 神秘島桌遊 |
charlest
Full review: https://playerelimination.com/2019/09/03/hako-oh-no-a-hako-onna-review/ ----------------------------------------------- Totally jazzed about the concept, but the first play left me a bit underwhelmed. The noise stacking mechanism didn't work well at all and we switched over to cards rather quickly. The amount of turns players were receiving compared to Hako Onna felt off and there was simply a lack of tension. Perhaps better luck with drawing ability cards could assuage this somewhat, will have to see in subsequent plays. Overall it was certainly not a bad game, but not one as tense or close as I imagined it would be. -------------------------------------- Second and third play were equally dull. We were able to get more leverage out of the noise stacking, which proved much more interesting than the card system, but the pacing of the game simply feels off. You do very little on your turn as a Protagonist. You spend a great deal of effort perfectly balancing this disc and then you move one space. There's very little momentum and there's a general lack of energy. The tension simply isn't there either. If you find Hako Onna you become a Hakobito and join the bad guys team. This doesn't feel punishing at all. Then it snowballs and the good guys have it rough, struggling to overcome their dwindling odds. Killer concept but the game simply doesn't make it.
haraggan
After two plays the game seems pretty good. A little fiddly at first, but becomes more intuitive quickly. It will take more plays to work out if there is an actual strategy for the visitors; so far they really do seem to be blundering about mostly in the dark, making the game feel very difficult for them.
SleepyMeeples
Your players need to be willing to get their imaginations going and really fully dive into the theme and concept. If you have someone passionate about running it as Hako Onna and you have players ready to embrace what can be kind of goofy moments you will have a good time. I don't recommend this for people who don't want to let themselves soak in the theme and prefer more hands of strategy games. That being said. When we run this game we get fully invested into it. We shut of the lights, light some candles and when the players close their eyes during Hako Onnas Turn who ever plays her spooks people by making loud noises, or doing their best Japanese ghost death rattle. Fully embrace your inner sadako for the role and guide players through and immersive horror experience. Hako Onna isn't a game about winning or losing for the Hako Onna player. The game is heavily tilted in her favour just like traditional Japanese horror movies are. Hako Onna players have the responsibility of making the game fun for everyone rather then just immediately killing the players. It feels like a board game version of Dead by Daylight.