We picked Victorian Masterminds as our first game to feature in Season 2. It offers just the right amount of weight, tons of player interactions, and can be played quickly. Games like Victorian Masterminds are a good fit for our play throughs because they feature variable player powers so it’s easy to come up with three very diverse ways to play. I have tried all of the characters in this game and here are some basic strategies for each of them…
Albatross - The base power of Albatross’ engineer is to gain a bolt or copper plate when it is activated; once it is upgraded the engineer can complete missions from any location if able. This mastermind’s strength lies in building all of the machine segments quickly and rushing the end of game before other players have a chance to catch up. Start by unlocking the green bonus power asap then prioritize what to do next based on the mission cards available. Early on, stick with London and Washington for building materials. Once you build the siren and crew crest, you can go for scientists occasionally in order to play your engineer from the discard pile.
Beluga - Beluga’s engineer can gain the spoils of another city where they have an agents, so when and where you place/trigger your engineer is very important. Rather than relying on luck to bring this agent to the top of the stack during this game, prioritize Rome early on and obtain 5 Da Vinci Codex asap in order to have flexibility to play any available agent in the stack. This way you can plan your turns and maximize the potential of your power.
C.L.A.W. - When this engineer resolves. the player can place another agent under the topmost agent in any stack. (If you have 5 Da Vinci Codex, you can play any agent in the stack; however, you lose the benefit of this bonus action if your stack is empty. ) Therefore, this mastermind will place more agents than their opponents by default. Like Beluga, having 5 Da Vinci Codex is key so that should be an early goal. Once that’s unlocked, you need to decide if you want to be the ultimate saboteur by disrupting your opponents plans or chase the buildings by earning extra firepower whenever you have a chance.
Mephisto - Like C.L.A.W, Mephisto’s engineer power is flexible so this player has the ability to mix things up once they obtain the green bonus upgrade. This mastermind can easily mimic the strategy of Albatross or Tarantula, but they could also play the role of a trickster and create lots of chaos. If you have played this game a few times, consider using Mephisto and try to get inside your opponents’ heads in order to stay one step ahead. Making sure to place your engineer on empty locations so you have first dibs on mission cards and/or builds. If you don’t have enough firepower or could not accomplish the mission, then you could either be nice and go with No.2 or be a villain and go with saboteur.
Red Kraken - This mastermind’s player board comes with not 2, but 3 scientist cells unlocked at the start, and the engineer bonus power is to take a scientist. It’s not hard to see that Paris would probably be a good place to go. Focus on unlocking the green bonus engine room as well as the fourth cell early on and don’t even bother with firepower at all. After all, when you have three scientist you can spend them and take any building, anywhere, even if you don’t have the fire power. The longer the game goes on, the more points this mastermind can generate since its engineer power comes with free Da Vinci Codex. Remember to take a scientist action if able every round so you won’t get stuck with too many scientist and nowhere to put them.
Tarantula - Tarantula’s engineer can capture buildings so essentially, they have two gunners. Firepower is no doubt the biggest focus. Focus on unlocking the green engine bonus power asap then build the cannon and pincer machine segments to supplement your fire power. If you gain an early lead by getting firepower and capturing buildings, the secret service level will go up too quickly for the other players to catch up, and you’ll be at a huge advantage, ending the game quickly.
-Jackie
(About the author - Jacqueline Chao is the executive producer and main content contributor at Show Me How to Win. Follow her board game journey on instagram @boardgamesetc )
Victorian Masterminds is designed by Eric M. Lang and published by CMON, limited.