Die Hard: The Nakatomi Heist Board Game Review - with Tom Vasel

Tom Vasel takes a look at Die Hard the board game!!

00:00 - Introduction
01:15 - Overview
08:27 - Final Thoughts

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[FMD-FullMetalDragon]

My favorite Christmas movie. Looks like a potential gateway game.

[leadbones]

This has to be a good time when played with the movie running in the background, at least once a year on Christmas. The movie is the same every time too.

[bloodrunsclear]

They are not common thieves...they are EXCEPTIONAL thieves!

[jean-francoislessard]

I find there is no accurate translation of the tension/risk of death for the hero player. Only played once but I doubt the thief-hero victory ratio is not heavily skewed toward the hero also

[estrathmeyer]

Here's a fun fact: Die Hard and Die Hard 2 were both based on books.


Die Hard was based on "Nothing Lasts Forever" by Roderick Thorp. The setting was moved to the 80s and a couple names are different, but the plot is otherwise almost identical. (The book was a sequel to his previous book The Detective.)


Die Hard 2 was based on a book by a different author: "58 Minutes" by Walter Wager.

[Eron_the_Relentless]

Honestly, this should be a hidden movement game of 1 v 2+ where John is hiding and trying to fly in Han's ointment, then when he finally kills somebody (giving him a victory point or the like) Karl goes nuts and stops taking orders from Hans, rummaging around and hunting John down (his victory condition changes from "brake into vault" to "revenge brother"). The other two players control Hans and Other Terrorists, of which there are only 10 all together. Hans and co have to manage not just John McClane's monkey shines, but also the needs of the 33 hostages and other events presented by Holly Genero, Ellis T Douchebag, Argyle, Dwayne T Robinson, Al Powell, and eventually the brothers Johnson. Maybe even throw in that the pregnant secretary goes into labor.


Not to mention opening the vault (hell there were 7 locks and they needed the FBI to unlock the last one, which could be tied to that point in the game). I think this whole thing would be very doable and make it have more replayability with ultimately the same premise. Instead of defined goals for every segment, the hostage takers have to set up their anti-police assault, lock down the compound, get all the hostages in one place, plant explosives on the roof, etc and if they don't there are consequences, but also that time John is free to wander about setting up traps, gathering supplies, escaping through service corridors and vents, killing the odd guard searching for him alone. I'd also (using a random tile system) use the fact that the Nakatomi Plaza has 35 floors. That's why it was such a pain in the ass to find John in the movie. You have 8 dudes maximum searching 35 floors, because somebody has to stay with hostages and somebody has to cut into the vault.

[mitchalibi]

Thanks, Tom!!! I am a Die Hard 1 & 2 / Bruce Willis fan, but I'll wait for a Streamlined Edition, where Characters have many different options to choose from, to defeat each other (like all movie-themed games do).

[odsonic]

could say the same with the Jaws game i guess...if you like the movie its a good one

[jcb]

Component drop shows red and green cards = yep, it's a Christmas movie!

[pakrats]

Playtested this at GenCon. Didn't really care for this one. Love the movie, didn't like the game play though.

[Hawkeye]

John McClane doesn't talk to "Carl", he talks to "Al Powell".

[KH-ftut]

Miami Dice - Die Hard: The drinking game. Every time Tom says "John McClane", take a shot.

[LatenightLyle]

I doubt you’d want to add another seal category, but perhaps this would work extremely well as a public game library pick. It might only be great to play once, but if EVERYONE wants to give it a go once...perhaps it needs to be marketed as such.

[fugazigamer]

so do they have the rights to the IP? Tom suggests possibly not.... I personally don't like people using IP they have no rights to so if that's the case it's a no for me.

[mescaLEO]

This game looks horrible: bland gameplay, bland graphic (except for the cover), repetitive.
Big pass for me