What a game. What a fun freaking game. I wanted to blow off everything the last few days just to play this game on repeat. Kind of like when I discovered Balatro. Man, I love this game. When life kept pulling me away, I just kept thinking about it, aching to go and play it again. I went at this game hard, folks.
How I wish I’d had the foresight at a much younger age to consult some kind of career counselor. If only, if ONLY, someone back then had had the wisdom and charity to inform me of the existence of something called “spy plane pilot”, and advised me to study hard, behave myself, keep my mouth shut, and avoid leaving a drunken trail of scribbled opinions about all my personal views. I have asked myself many times, if I wasn’t a nurse, what else on God’s green earth would I possibly want to be? And friends, I have been totally unable to answer that question…until now!
Yes, being a Cold War era spy plane pilot would RULE! Sure, I’d probably last 12 minutes in real life before succumbing to frostbite or being eaten by a bear, but Siberian Manhunt lets me live my My Side of the Mountain fantasy without the inconvenience of, you know, dying.
It’s got all my childhood fantasies wrapped up in one package…getting shot down in a wilderness, MacGyvering survival gear, crafting a shelter from twigs and a soda can, and somehow ending up with a three course meal, a roaring fire, and a fully functional bluetooth speaker (ok, there’s no speaker). Unfortunately, it does seem to take a little more planning, discipline, and time travel than I’ve ever demonstrated. But thanks to Jesse Eyer, I and other poor shmoes who’ll never get to feel like a badass in that cockpit can now peek behind the iron curtain.
Let’s set the scene. It’s 1960. The US is playing a high-stakes game of peekaboo with the Soviet Union, sending U-2 spy planes over Soviet airspace to take pictures, thinking “Ha! They’ll never see us at 70,000 feet!” *Record scratch*: they absolutely did. So, when pilot Francis Gary Powers got shot down, he was promptly scooped up by the KGB.
But what if he hadn’t been caught immediately? What if he’d managed to hoof it across the Siberian wilderness, dodging the KGB, living off the land, and trying to escape to China? That’s the premise of Siberian Manhunt, and my God, what a premise it is.
This game is an absolute gem of historical fiction. Imho, board games rarely nail storytelling unless they have history’s weight to lean on, and Siberian Manhunt does this flawlessly. It drops you straight into the tension, the desperation, the Oh crap, I hope I don’t get captured feeling.
Playing as the Fugitive is an anxiety-fueled, edge-of-your-seat survival experience. You start with two character options (both doomed, but in slightly different ways), and then you’re off, tracking your movements on a pad of paper secretly behind a screen. Your first goal is to scavenge supplies before Siberia eats you alive.
Do you root through the wilderness deck, hoping for food, an animal to kill for a warm pelt, or some sticks to use for a fire? Or do you risk creeping into a town to steal some gear and rest, knowing the Government player must draw from the Manhunt bag each time you enter? You might encounter a “silent citizen” who will hide you, or a “loyal communist” who will turn you in. You could end up walking right into the arms of a patriotic snitch. Every decision is tense. Every step forward feels like maybe you’ve outsmarted your pursuers…until you don’t.
The survival mechanics are chef’s kiss. Crafting is essential but difficult, which forces you to weigh the risks of breaking into houses for supplies. At first, you smugly think, Ha! I have a snowmobile! and then immediately, you’re desperately whispering, Oh crap, I have a snowmobile because you just made a LOT of noise (yes, there is a mechanic for this!). And let’s not forget the ever-looming threat of a Siberian freaking tiger popping up at the worst possible time.
The encounter deck (that you draw cards from at the start of your wilderness turns) is efficient; it doesn’t waste an hour of your time when you just want to take your actions. It’s thematic and fast. Something I dread in various game encounter decks is the subsequent 15 minute battle or whatever before I finally get to do the stuff I planned. The game keeps the fun parts (hidden movement and searching) front and center.
Now onto the Government side. I was worried the Government player would feel passive and less dynamic, just waiting for the Fugitive to slip up. It does not. This side is just as engaging, albeit in a different way. You start out with one KGB agent, quite weak, but with immediate goals to power up, including hiring Yakut trackers who are terrifyingly good at sniffing out their target.
Your goal is to close in. Cut off escape routes. Sniff out any trail made by the Fugitive within the last four spaces (or six, if you’re a Yakut tracker). And when the Fugitive inevitably makes a desperate break for it… call in those helicopters. Or send the Red Army after them. Or just ambush them. The tension builds so naturally that every move feels like an intense game of chess…with motorcycles and interrogation tactics (again, real, well-done mechanics!)
Now, there is less to do on your turn as the Government player than there is as the Fugitive. But because you’re paying such close attention to their every move- everything is open information except the actual spaces moved- your focus is locked in the whole game.
Siberian Manhunt is HARD and it is meant to be. The Fugitive will probably lose the majority of the time, which is how it has been designed, but it IS possible. A successful escape is exhilarating because you have defied the odds.
I absolutely love two-player asymmetric games, but they are tough to get right. Kelp was my most recent let down. Twilight Struggle and Watergate are two of my favorites. And- spot the theme here- all historically based.
So to put Siberian Manhunt up there with those two giants in the same sentence is saying a hell of a lot. But I LOVE this game. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are totally sucked into this world and eating up every moment. Both sides are a complete thrill to play. This is easily one of the most immersive, wildly entertaining, and downright exhilarating games I’ve played in a long time.
It’s a true choose-your-own-adventure, but instead of flipping to page 394, you’re actually living it.
While I don’t mind reading stories in those games, here you actually just play it all out. You are actively creating a story of your escape or chase, depending on which side you play. And it all feels very palpable. When you stumble into that Siberian tiger, you don’t read about it- you feel it. When the KGB is closing in, you’re not rolling dice and hoping for the best- you’re sweating bullets, trying to outthink an actual person who wants to catch you.
For a debut design, this game is insanely good. If Jesse Eyer keeps making games like this, I’ll be first in line every time. Until then, I’ll be playing Siberian Manhunt again. And again. And again.
Thank you to Dangerous Games for the review copy.
Andy