Everyone knows Nessie, the monster of Loch Ness. This creature is famous thanks to countless stories, legends, blurry photos, and of course all the souvenirs. Today, Nessie is mostly just that: a tourist attraction. Less well known are the many monsters of Loch Lomond.
Background
The game Monsters of Loch Lomond was created by two Dutch game designers, Robin Stokkel and Peter Jan van der Veek, and is based on the traditional card game Golf, which is known by several names. Many games are based on Golf, such as Cabo, Biberbande, and more recently Uno Zero, Arschmallows, and King Refrigerator. Golf seems to be enjoying a real revival at the moment, with plenty of games based on or inspired by this mechanism.
In terms of theme, Monsters of Loch Lomond draws inspiration from Scottish and Celtic legends. The setting of the game is the largest lake by surface area in Scotland: Loch Lomond. Personally, I have a special connection to this lake. In a (now) distant past, I lived in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. Glasgow lies in the south, and if you travel northwest, you soon reach Loch Lomond.
Loch Lomond is often seen as the boundary between the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland and, due to its huge surface area, forms the border between many densely populated areas in the south of the country. The lake lies at the foot of Ben Lomond, one of the highest mountains in Scotland and part of the group known as the Munros.
Scotland is a place full of memories for me, a dear place. This year I had the pleasure of taking my brand-new wife on our honeymoon through Scotland. We visited beautiful places and at the end of our trip, we stayed in Balloch. Of course, we also visited the national park Loch Lomond and the Trossachs for wonderful walks with views of the lake and the mountain I once climbed. We didn’t see any monsters, but as lovers of Celtic legends, literature, and stories, we did immerse ourselves in the themes that are also reflected in this game.
The game features many legendary and mythical creatures, including the made-up lake monsters of Loch Lomond and other monsters that inhabit the lake and the Highlands.
Gameplay & verdict
In Monsters of Loch Lomond, each player manages a clan—these are the face-down cards in front of a player. Players try to make sure there are no monsters in their clan and that they score the fewest penalty points. Remember: fewer points is better.
Each turn, a player may draw a card from the open or closed pile and swap it with one of the cards in their clan, but players may only look at two cards in their clan at the start of the game. So it’s a surprise which cards they actually have: typical for a game like Golf, but with extra twists.
Almost all the cards have special effects or bonuses, making it a particularly dynamic version of Golf. Players start with a tableau of four cards, which keeps rounds moving quickly. The game has four rounds, maintaining a fast pace and encouraging you to play several games in a row to get revenge on other clans.
Many monster effects let you swap or look at cards, and many clan members influence your clan. The Seer gives you cards that you can even use in later rounds, while by saving monster eggs you can tactically saddle other players with a baby monster in the next rounds.
A fun element is driving away monsters by shouting “Shoo!” In some traditional card game variants of Golf, there is a rule that if there is a card on the open pile and a player knows that it is somewhere else, he or she may call it out and play that card away to get fewer cards or stick other players with cards. I have not often seen this element in commercial variants of Golf and it is therefore a welcome addition to Monsters of Loch Lomond, especially with all the fun card effects.
The earlier edition of Monsters of Loch Lomond unfortunately used AI-generated illustrations. Because of this, despite the personal theme, the game was not high on my radar. However, the new edition features beautiful illustrations by the Dutch artist Rixt Heerschap, which really brings the theme to life. Along with Biberbande, this is currently my favorite variation on Golf.
