Now don't y'all worry guys, I haven't gone full on diabolical this time. Let me introduce you to my newest mortal enemy called Hans the Butcher. He is this big creepy piggy going after me and the dummy victims again and again, wreaking havoc and spreading unimaginable terror around Camp Happy Trails.

So if you're wondering why I'm not so diabolic these days, I've just been busy trying to defeat Hans in this single-player board game called "Final Girl". In this game, I get to be the "Final Girl" in a horror film where I must save the victims and kill the notorious killer. And as @kerrislravenhill put it, "deliberately cliche!" Totally! This board game is some serious fun but I admit it can be stressful and "punishing" at times.

I actually forgot how I got into board games. All I know was that I was looking for an engaging hobby away from the screen, an alternative to doom scrolling. An alternative to maladaptive daydreaming and overthinking. But there's no way I'm gonna go back to the hell of PC gaming, nah ahhh. No longer will I put up with toxicity, "alpha gaming", socially inept peeps online and irl even (this is why true single-player games make me feel happy!). I still miss the combat, fantasy, and heroic feels you know but they do exist even in board games too! Soon enough I'm gonna buy heavier and more thematic board games.

So I guess I read somewhere on Reddit about board games then just randomly searched "single-player" board games. Final Girl probably came up on the search results and I immediately went into the rabbit hole of solo board and card games. I found out that this is such a popular game in the solo board gaming community so I bought the core box and the easiest Feature Film or expansion (Camp Happy Trails) from our local game shop right away. I've been playing this game for days now and it turns out it's not actually easy!

Look who's Reiko now? Reiko with an Axe! Sooo me. Sooo diabolic.

Okay guys this is not a full tutorial or playthrough, I'm just gonna give you a quick overview of this game so you have an idea how this works. The goal of course is not to die (lol) and defeat the killer, so in this expansion, it's Hans, this very nasty butcher. You gotta inflict damage to him so he lose all those wooden hearts you see on the killer board. You can also see those yellow meeples on the map - those are the victims you gotta save. You'd be able to unlock some special skill when you get to save at least 6 of them as you can see on Reiko's card below. However, if you just let Hans go on a victim killing spree, his bloodlust will go up (that red wooden dot on the killer board) and his damage and movement will just increase. Not good!

For my chosen Final Girl here, Reiko has only 6 starting health so it's so easy to die if you don't plan your moves and strategize properly. You also need to keep the "Horror Roll" low or to at least 2 dice rolls to be able to effectively play action cards that let you move around Camp Happy Trails, search for items and weapons, heal, defend, and attack.

The killer moves around the map targeting me and the victims. Sometimes he doesn't even move. But it all depends on the randomness of the Terror Cards you draw during the Killer phase. You may or may not get lucky.

Imo, the rulebook is pretty straightforward and easy to read for a board game noob. My learning process is that I watch the tutorials and playthrough on YouTube first then read the rulebook cover to cover, so in this way, I won't miss any important rules. But to be honest, if you are new to any single-player board game, you will most likely miss some rules and that's okay! That is just normal so don't be so hard on yourself. Just enjoy the gaming experience.

The game is played in turns and each turn consists of 5 phases:

1. The Action phase - this is when you get to play the action cards (for moving, searching items, attacking, defending, healing, decreasing horror roll, etc.) each costing you some time (there's an hour glass marker on the player board that resets during the planning phase).
2. The Planning phase - this is when you get to purchase action cards (depending on how much time you still have left), reset the hour glass, and put the used or discarded action cards back to the tableau.
3. The Killer phase - this is when you get to resolve the Killer action and terror card effects.
4. The Panic phase - if there is at least 1 victim killed on the map, then the victims in the killer space will panic to somewhere else (where they go depends on the dice roll results).
5. The Upkeep phase - this is when you get to equip the items you found and reveal Killer finale cards on the killer board (if there are no more terror cards left)

For me, it takes about 45 to 1 hour to play Final Girl. It looks easy but trust me it is not! It IS challenging but that is just part of the experience. It can also be a real brain burn at times and I still like it. It is such an immersive and thematic game. My decisions and strategies get better as I play more. So overall, I love Final Girl specially for a true soloist board gamer like me! I just won't buy another Feature Film or expansion until I actually get to kill Hans legit lol. Someday tho, someday...