Maniacal is a strategy game where 2-5 aspiring supervillains compete to become the most infamous in the world. Pick from one of five villains, each with unique abilities and weaknesses. First, construct a secret base by drafting from over seventy different rooms, such as a Robotics Lab, Massage Parlor, or Torture Chamber. These rooms attract a motley assortment of henchmen to your lair: Beasts, Criminals, Scientists, and Mystics. Want even more brainy Scientists around? Construct rooms that appeal to them (a Planetarium? or perhaps an Intrinsic Field Chamber?). In this way, every player will construct a unique secret base and recruit a unique crew of henchmen.

Then, assign your henchmen to evil contracts posted around the world. Become a warlord in Asia. Steal a nuclear weapon in Europe. Construct a floating fortress of doom in South America! Time, however, is a crucial resource. The farther away a contract is from your secret base, the more weeks you will spend and the fewer contracts that you'll complete in a round. Succeed at contracts to gain infamy and money. Fail, and your henchman might end up injured, captured, or serendipitously gain a superpower.

Construct your secret base, recruit henchmen, and complete as many missions as you can. Along the way, hatch schemes, hire mercenaries, and chastise your lackey. Do so, and the history books may remember you as the best of the worst!