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- 7.3
Wanderlust: Discover the World
- 1–5 players
- 40–100 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2024
- BGG rank
- BGG #26,313
- BGG rating
- 5.9
Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana
2016
Rules assistance for Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–5 players
- 30–60 min
- 13+
- Complexity 1.7/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana is a board game released in 2016 for 1–5 players, 30–60 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Sean Howard and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Set Collection.
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About the game
From the publisher: You receive a mysterious letter from a distant Uncle Alfredeus "Alphie" Maleficus asking for your presence at a family meeting at his Victorian mansion. As you arrive, you discover you are not alone. Some people are family you recognize, others you don't. The door opens and you all enter. The door locks behind you. A spectral form of Alphie greets you and informs you he is stuck in an interplanar portal. He needs your help to be saved. All you have to do is make your way through his mansion to his laboratory and pull him out. He promises to share his wealth and knowledge with whomever among you can reach him first. The Mansion of Mana is a sequential set collection, unique power, engine building light-strategic game with a modular game board. In the Mansion of Mana, each player represents a distant relative of Uncle Alphie who are attempting to earn their fortune and knowledge by helping to save him. Players navigate the mansion- collecting runic elements, playing them sequentially to acquire keys, to enter new rooms in the mansion. With each room entered, a new ability is gained allowing each player to become quicker at acquiring the runes to enter more rooms or to slow others down who would beat you to the objective of saving Uncle Alphie. The Mansion of Mana gives players a medium to light weight strategic game in a small box. Player's seek to get through the mansion as quickly as possible while engine-building their special abilities to gain more cards, hold more cards, add more options, steal from other players, or allow them to bend the rules in their favor. The Mansion of Mana is strongly strategic with the only elements of luck in the cards available to draw from (similar to Ticket to Ride). However, every player has a hand limit, so you cannot save up your cards, but you can play them on the table, partially completed, and add to them. However, watch out! Someone could steal from your partially completed set. Will you efficiently navigate the Mansion? or will you prey off of those who would be so careless to leave their runes in the open? Or perhaps you will Unlock the secrets of the mansion to find your way to Uncle Alphie and achieve victory!
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Good Knight Games, LLC
Questions and answers
Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana supports 1–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana is 30–60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana for ages 13 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana has a complexity rating of 1.7 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana belongs to these categories: Fantasy and Racing. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Hand Management, and Set Collection. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana are: Sean Howard. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Unlocked: The Mansion of Mana as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.