Award winner · 1 organization

Molly House

Cole Wehrle, Jo Kelly · 2025

A semi-cooperative historical game set in 18th-century London's underground social gathering scene. Players manage secret gatherings while evading informers through tableau-building and resource evasion. Won the ATTA Complex category for its innovative blend of theme and mechanics.

Players

1–5

Time

120 min

Ages

14+

Difficulty

Heavy

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Why you'll like it

Historical theme is unique and boldly realized
Semi-cooperative tension between individual and group goals
Tableau-building with genuine narrative weight
Component design reinforces the secretive atmosphere
Pushes boundaries of what board game themes can explore

How it plays

Molly House is set in early 18th-century London, where players are "mollies" building a hidden community at a time when it was dangerous to be part of it. Players move around the streets of London, collect vice cards and host festivities at molly houses.

Festivities are the main way to earn points, but the same cards that make a good party also attract the attention of the Society for the Reformation of Manners. Players may be pressured into becoming secret informers who work against the community. The game ends in one of several ways depending on whether the community thrives or is persecuted, which decides who can win.