2023Michael Keller (II), Andreas Odendahl, Tony Boydell, Stefan Feld, Kevin Hendranata, Błażej Kubacki, Adam Kwapiński, Andrei Novac
- Videos
- 51
- Creators
- 39
1 - 4 players90 - 120 minHeavy weight

2023Błażej Kubacki
Mostly reviews. Nightmare Cathedral is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 17 reviews, 4 how-to-play guides, 2 recorded sessions, 1 unboxings, and 1 other video.
From BoardGameGeek
Nightmare Cathedral prominently features the haunting artwork by the late polish surrealist painter and sculptor Zdzisław Beksiński. Nightmare Cathedral is a strategy game for 1–4 players, where victory is gained by controlling the map, managing resources, following objectives and selecting when to engage in fast and furious conflicts to gain strategic advantage. Over the course of the game, you will perform actions - and follow the actions of other players - to produce units, build fortifications, maneuver around the map, and spend your followers to climb the ritual track. Throughout the game, a haunting Cathedral will grow in the center of the board, and once it is completed, you will face - and gain the ability to control! - the physical manifestations of nightmares that are released upon the world. Nightmare Cathedral is a game of both strategy and tactics, where finding clever ways to follow your objectives and combining different strategies is the ultimate route to victory. Each player has a set of Action cards. These Action cards display various effects that may be activated either on that player's own turn, or as a reaction when other players perform that action. When you are the Active Player, you will move your Dreamer to a Day space that is not adjacent to its current Night space and perform the Action associated with that Day space, as outlined on your own Action card. Inactive Players may react to your chosen Day Action. The game is divided into two stages. During the first stage, the titular Nightmare Cathedral is built, piece by piece, as the game progresses. Once the final Cathedral piece is placed on the main board, the Nightmare Cathedral is finished, at which point the game transitions to the second stage. From this moment on, Nightmares, powerful beings channeling the presence of the completed Cathedral, enter the game board, Devouring Units in their path. However, as a player, you may also take actions to control a Nightmare, Commanding it to do your bidding. The game end is triggered in one of the following ways: The Time marker reaches a certain space on the Time track. A single player reaches the final step of the Ritual track. A certain number of Units have been devoured.
Nightmare Cathedral has 25 videos from 5 creators: 17 reviews, 4 how-to-play guides, 2 playthroughs, 1 unboxing and 1 other video. They date from 2022 to March 2024.
To learn the rules, start with "Nightmare Cathedral - Learn While Playing!", which runs 1 h 16 min. For a quicker teach, "OFPG - Nightmare Cathedral Preview" runs 11 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Nightmare Cathedral - Surprisingly Addicting For A Cathedral Of Horrors". 4 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Nightmare Cathedral - Playthrough and Preview", one of 2 playthroughs.
If you like it, try La Granja: Deluxe Master Set, Mistfall, Snowdonia: Deluxe Master Set and Mistfall: Heart of the Mists, also by Błażej Kubacki.
4 of 5
2023Michael Keller (II), Andreas Odendahl, Tony Boydell, Stefan Feld, Kevin Hendranata, Błażej Kubacki, Adam Kwapiński, Andrei Novac
1 - 4 players90 - 120 minHeavy weight
2015Błażej Kubacki
1 - 4 players120 minVery heavy weight
2019Sebastian Bleasdale, Tony Boydell, David Brain, Matthew Dunstan, Hisashi Hayashi, Błażej Kubacki, David J. Mortimer, Alan Paull
1 - 5 players30 - 90 minHeavy weight
2016Błażej Kubacki
1 - 4 players120 minVery heavy weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Nightmare Cathedral prominently features the haunting artwork by the late polish surrealist painter and sculptor Zdzisław Beksiński. Nightmare Cathedral is a strategy game for 1–4 players, where victory is gained by controlling the map, managing resources, following objectives and selecting when to engage in fast and furious conflicts to gain strategic advantage. Over the course of the game, you will perform actions - and follow the actions of other players - to produce units, build fortifications, maneuver around the map, and spend your followers to climb the ritual track. Throughout the game, a haunting Cathedral will grow in the center of the board, and once it is completed, you will face - and gain the ability to control! - the physical manifestations of nightmares that are released upon the world. Nightmare Cathedral is a game of both strategy and tactics, where finding clever ways to follow your objectives and combining different strategies is the ultimate route to victory. Each player has a set of Action cards. These Action cards display various effects that may be activated either on that player's own turn, or as a reaction when other players perform that action. When you are the Active Player, you will move your Dreamer to a Day space that is not adjacent to its current Night space and perform the Action associated with that Day space, as outlined on your own Action card. Inactive Players may react to your chosen Day Action. The game is divided into two stages. During the first stage, the titular Nightmare Cathedral is built, piece by piece, as the game progresses. Once the final Cathedral piece is placed on the main board, the Nightmare Cathedral is finished, at which point the game transitions to the second stage. From this moment on, Nightmares, powerful beings channeling the presence of the completed Cathedral, enter the game board, Devouring Units in their path. However, as a player, you may also take actions to control a Nightmare, Commanding it to do your bidding. The game end is triggered in one of the following ways: The Time marker reaches a certain space on the Time track. A single player reaches the final step of the Ritual track. A certain number of Units have been devoured.
Designer
Błażej Kubacki
Artists
Zdzisław Beksiński, Franek Wolski
Publisher
Board&Dice
Categories
Mechanics