Minion Hunter

Minion Hunter is a cooperative board game from 1992, released by Game Designers' Workshop as a tie-in to their Dark Conspiracy role-playing system. Designed by Lester W. Smith, its main goal is for players to work together to disrupt or defeat the schemes of four Dark Minion races, while personal character growth is a secondary concern.

Reception

The game comes in a box containing a 20-by-17-inch map of "Dark America" (drawn from the Dark Conspiracy setting), which highlights metroplexes and connecting highways. The board also features a Career Track around its edge, along with tracks for Minion Plots, Hospitals, and Plot Points. Other components include an 8-page rulebook, 72 Plot Cards, 40 Equipment Cards, ten pawns (six for players and one for each of the four Dark Minion races), a pad of blank character sheets, a ten-sided die (players must supply their own six-sided die), sheets of play money, and a page of Advanced Rules.

Description

The premise is that four Dark Minion races are attempting to take over the world. Players must balance building up their personal stats—needed for combat—with intercepting minions before their plots succeed.

Characters

Each player starts with one point in Combat, Contacts, Stalking, and Empathy. They begin by moving around the Career Track, aiming to land on spaces that boost their attributes or let them buy equipment. Plot Cards have a location on the back and a minion’s name and stats on the front.

Minion plots

The top card is placed facedown on the first square of the Plot Card Track, advancing one space after each player’s turn. If a character leaves the Career Track and reaches the card’s location, they can flip it over to reveal the minion and choose to fight or retreat. Retreating leaves the minion on the track. Defeating a minion removes it, places a new card facedown on the first square, and awards the player Fame points.

Losing a fight sends the character’s pawn to the Hospital Track, where it must travel to the end before returning to play. If any Plot Card—facedown or revealed—reaches the end of the Plot Track, it is flipped (if needed); if the revealed minion is one of the four Dark Minion races, its pawn moves a set number of squares along the Plot Point Track. That card is then discarded, and a new one is placed facedown on the first square.

In combat, a character must use the attribute listed on the minion’s card.