7.5
rating
Ludopedia
6.0
rating
BGG
Our Verdict
FOR GENRE FANS
If you enjoy quick card games with a touch of Lovecraftian madness and a dash of dark humor, Pocket Madness might be your next fun time! It's a light game that delivers tension and laughs.
Highlights
- Engaging Lovecraftian theme
- Fast-paced and dynamic matches
- Push your luck mechanics
- Direct player interaction
Keep in mind
- Can be a bit chaotic
- Luck plays a significant role
- Theme might not appeal to everyone
Rules manual not indexed yet
Upload the PDF rulebook to ask questions about this game with AI.
About the game
What you do in a play session
Get ready for a wild ride into the dark world of the Cthulhu Mythos with Pocket Madness! In this fast-paced and chaotic card game, you and your friends become desperate cultists, trying to invoke ancient powers while driving each other mad. The goal? To be the last sane cultist (or the least insane) to achieve victory, of course!
The game unfolds with a row of face-up cards visible to all, from which you can take one to three cards per turn. But be careful, as the row can disappear quickly! Want to speed things up? You can open a portal by gathering three or more cards of the same type to activate a special power. Each portal has a unique effect, and using it at the right time can turn the game around. Oh, and if someone steals your portal, too bad for you!
Another option is to start an investigation by discarding specific cards. The catch is that this grants madness tokens to all other players. And madness is the central theme here: the more madness tokens you accumulate, the closer you are to the end of the game – and to losing! The round ends when someone runs out of cards or the card row is depleted. At the end of the round, everyone gains more madness tokens based on the cards still in their hand. If you manage to empty your hand, you get temporary relief, and others gain more madness. The game ends when a player reaches ten or more madness tokens, and whoever has the fewest tokens (and is still in the game) wins. It's an insane race against time and sanity!
The game unfolds with a row of face-up cards visible to all, from which you can take one to three cards per turn. But be careful, as the row can disappear quickly! Want to speed things up? You can open a portal by gathering three or more cards of the same type to activate a special power. Each portal has a unique effect, and using it at the right time can turn the game around. Oh, and if someone steals your portal, too bad for you!
Another option is to start an investigation by discarding specific cards. The catch is that this grants madness tokens to all other players. And madness is the central theme here: the more madness tokens you accumulate, the closer you are to the end of the game – and to losing! The round ends when someone runs out of cards or the card row is depleted. At the end of the round, everyone gains more madness tokens based on the cards still in their hand. If you manage to empty your hand, you get temporary relief, and others gain more madness. The game ends when a player reaches ten or more madness tokens, and whoever has the fewest tokens (and is still in the game) wins. It's an insane race against time and sanity!
Gallery
Box and component photos
Tap any photo to open fullscreen. Photos submitted by the community or publisher.
Rules videos
Learn by watching before you open the box
In English
Best player count
BGG community vote
2
REC
3
BEST
4
REC
Soundtrack
Ambience suggested by Melodice
Loading playlist...
Where to Buy
Prices monitored daily
Finding best prices...
Prices unavailable at this time.
Price history — last 6 months (lowest new offer)
Alert enabled!
Join the BoardGamesBot deals group
Get the best board game deals every day — without message spam.
Join the WhatsApp groupGame details
Mechanics, categories, families and credits
Mechanics
Categories
Families
Publisher
Arclight Games, Broadway Toys LTD, Funforge, Gemenot, Korea Boardgames, Mancalamaro, SD Games
Designer
Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc
Artist
Mathieu Leyssenne
Community
Data from BoardGameGeek
1,765owners
141wishlist
14want to play
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers before you buy
What is the average playtime for Pocket Madness?
Games are quite fast, typically lasting around 30 minutes, as indicated.
Is Pocket Madness very complicated to learn?
No, the rules are quite straightforward and easy to grasp, making it accessible to most players.
Is the game good for playing with 2 people?
Yes, Pocket Madness works well with 2 players, offering a more focused and tense experience.
What is the main objective of the game?
The objective is to accumulate the fewest madness tokens, as the game ends when someone reaches 10 tokens, and the player with the least madness wins.
Is there a lot of text dependency?
The text on the cards is minimal and easily memorizable, making the language dependency very low.
Is it a game focused more on luck or strategy?
Pocket Madness has a mix of both, with luck influencing the available cards, but strategy in hand management and portal usage being crucial.
Other Games You'll Like
Based on mechanics and theme