The Big Book of Madness

2015 · Fantasy

The Big Book of Madness

Players are magic students who accidentally unleash creatures from a cursed tome and must work together to close it by turning pages and defeating the monsters within. Each player builds and manages a personal element deck used to learn and cast spells, add new elements, heal or destroy curses, and support teammates. Monsters impose persistent curses that trigger each turn unless dispelled, forcing players to discard, gain madness, or lose spells while balancing deck-building and cooperative tactics. The group wins by turning the required number of pages and eliminating the threats before the team collapses into madness.

Players
2–5 best 3
Playing time
60–90 min
Age
12+
Complexity
2.7 / 5
7 on Ludoyafrom $40.81Card GameCooperative GameVariable Player PowersHand Management

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
77
Plays logged
95
Players
1h 23m
Average play
49
In collections
6
On wishlists

7.0/10

from 23 Ludoya reviews

  • Benjamín Amorín8.0

    Great Cooperative Deck-Building Game. Love the theme and the strategy. It's not the typical deckbuilding game, but it's easy to learn and hard to master. I really enjoyed it.

  • SrCornelius8.0

    Local-(327)

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

When does the Invocation marker move and what happens when it lands on a new space?

The Invocation marker advances one space during the Monster Phase, and you must apply the effect of whatever space it lands on (apply any Curse there, or—if it reaches the Invocation space—check whether any Curses remain and apply the page's failure or success effect, then move the marker to space 1 and turn the page). (See page 7.)

Can I use cards in another player's support to pay for my actions?

Yes — the support pool is shared: any player may use cards from any player's support to pay an Action cost, but when a supported card is discarded it goes to the discard pile of the player who originally placed it in support. (See pages 8 and 12.)

If I exhaust a Spell by activating it, when can I use it again?

A Spell is exhausted when activated and cannot be used again until it is refreshed during your next Concentration Phase at the start of your turn. (See page 6.)

How do I learn a new Spell and is there a limit to how many I can have?

You may learn a face‑up Spell from the Library by paying 2 Elements of the same type; place it face‑up in front of you and you may use it immediately, but you are limited to five Spells and must destroy one (remove it from the game) if you learn a sixth. (See page 9.)

What makes the team win or lose the game?

You all win if you turn all pages of the Grimoire and vanquish the final Monster; you lose if the Madness stack is empty when you must take a Madness, if you fail to vanquish the Monster on the last page, or if all players are eliminated by Madness. (See page 10.)

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.