One Deck Dungeon, For 168 months to 9600 months

So I played this on Steam first. Idk, looked like a fun little game and had good reviews. I wound up really liking it. So, I decided to buy a physical copy - and let me tell you, it's just as much fun, if not more so, to play with a physical copy. I got use to the video game version taking care of all the little details for me, so it's a lot of fun to "get your hands dirty" with a physical copy. For those who have not played: This is a dungeon-crawler aimed at 1-2 players (although there's a 4-player variant). The game is designed to be a completely unique playthrough each time, even for solo players. The encounters you face, the luck (or unluckiness!) you encounter, and so on will be different each time. There are also "campaign sheets" so you can track your progress and level up from game to game, if you wish. This game is very dice-heavy - and that definitely does not mean "random." Yes, since there are a lot of dice rolls there will be a certain amount of randomness - but this game has about a million ways to manipulate your dice rolls, use them strategically, and so on - so even if you roll a mediocre roll, you can strategically use the dice to still come out on top. It's a really unique game mechanic and one I really enjoy. And, you get to roll millions of dice. There are easy dungeons and hard dungeons to customize your experience. As you level up you can gain skills to help you tackle more difficult dungeons. Overall just a great game and highly recommended to anyone who likes solo board/card games.

Update: I am updating my review after playing the game for a couple of weeks. The rules are not as intuitive as I would like, but once you learn them and work out all the kinks its fine. The game has a good flow and momentum about it. I think there are a good number of rules, but it is not to the point of being overloaded. This game really shines with two players. I was having a hard time on one player, but I was also learning the rules. When I switched to two player, I enjoyed the game even more. It overs a good bit of decision making and dice action for both players. No one is sitting around, because everyone is engaged and making decisions. I like the aspect of sharing items, skills and experience points. It makes you have to strategize a little bit and takes some of the chance out of the game. I enjoy this so much I am going to buy the expansion just to have additional cards and features. I also like that its compact and fast to set up. I have found myself taking it with me on trips or to work and using in one player mode. I did find that the game tie extends on two player mode, mostly because of the time it takes to talk about each action and strategize as a team. The dungeon exploration sort of reminds of me of Munchkin - but this game has more gameplay mechanics and gratifying items/skills - and of course dice. Also, it is much harder and holds true to the rogue-like category. If you are a light to heavy gamer - try this out! I hope you find that it is a fun game as well. I hope to see more expansions or card decks for it in the future. Original review: Received my copy. This game is brutal. At first I thought it was easy and I would run through it. Then I realized I was playing it incorrectly. Now I can’t get through the first dungeon. This is a rogue like game in a card deck. It’s cool because it takes a few minutes to set up and begin playing. Games are very quick, unless you get a lucky streak. I’m happy with what you get for the money and the game rules are decent. The rule book is very nice, but I wish they would structure it a little more clearly. I have had to hit several videos on YouTube and message boards to make sure I have understood the rules correctly. The game has high replay value. I like that it’s not so overloaded with mechanics and items that gameplay is interrupted. It’s a good game for any gamer collection. It definitely has a place on the shelf and is good for Saturday morning or easing into Friday night. I may or may not pick up the second release. The second release has poison mechanic added to it and I think it would be too much to track. I would rather of had a new card and hero deck expansion without the poison added. I do recommend this game, but I am giving it 4 out of 5 because I think it will be too hard for most and it relies more on luck than skill. Again, approach this game as a rogue-like game. You play it expecting to die quickly.

My 13 year old son and I finally got around to playing this dungeon crawler over the long weekend. It’s a small-box card game with no board and 30 dice, plus some life counters and potion tokens, super easy to set up and put away. It took about 30 minutes for us to wrap our heads around the rules, and then we were hack-and-slashing away — or just as frequently, fleeing for our low-level character lives (both options are fun, and there’s some good co-op strategy and player interaction in deciding whether to fight or flee). Games last about 30–45 minutes, if you know what you’re doing — longer if you don’t, as we discovered. The game supports 1–2 players ( I love a good solo game). The rules outline both single session and campaign play, and in the box there’s an optional campaign sheet to record XPs, items and skills acquired over multiple sessions. Brief gameplay description: Choose your level 1 character (choices are Warrior, Mage, Archer, Rogue and Paladin — I chose Paladin, as usual). Choose the dungeon you wish to assault: Dragon’s Cave (tough), Yeti’s Cavern (tougher), Hydra’s Reef (even tougher) or Lich’s Tomb (Suicidal). Shuffle the dungeon deck, with the “stairs” card at the bottom. Going through the deck represents finishing a level of the dungeon. Once you get to the stairs, you descend to a lower level. After going through three levels, you fight the boss (if you survive that long — this game is tough). Explore: Draw four cards face down. There will always be a maximum of four cards in active play. Enter a room: Flip a card over to “open the door”. This will reveal either a dungeon monster or a trap. You may now choose to encounter the monster or trap, or flee (hysterical screaming adds to the flavor, I find). If you choose to fight a monster, there’s some intricate and fun dice-rolling, and using relevant skills, and counting modifiers, that I won’t go into here. Suffice to say, I think the combat mechanics are swift, elegant and satisfying. In the happy event that you defeat the monster, you can choose how you will take your reward: a. As Experience points - earn enough of these, and your characters advance in level, making them more powerful and skillful. b. As Items - these increase your character’s combat, agility, magic (mana) or health points, or a combo thereof c. As Skills - these give your character enhanced special abilities to make you more badass As for traps, you have a choice of solving/evading/dismantling it, which is easier but takes more time (represented by drawing more dungeon cards from the deck), or destroying the trap, which is tougher but quicker. Defeated traps can also be taken for either experience points, items, or skills. Summing up, my son and I had a blast playing this game. It plays fast but not shallow, has some decent strategy, good co-op interaction, lots of dice-chucking, and reproduces the feel of the best PC game rogue-likes in the real world. It’s a lot of bang in a little box, all for around 25 bucks. Highly recommended.

Un juego super compacto, muy económico y con un montón de horas para disfrutar. Muy contento con la compra.

A brilliant little box of a game. Hard as nails to beat but what fun ! I wish those who make RPGs to take note that it is not the huge board, hundreds of pieces, cards, dice etc that really makes an enjoyable game, it can be done with a small scale in a small box ! The first couple of tries might be a bit confusing, afterwards you will keep coming back and even try to make your hero stronger ( in Campaign mode) because this little beauty has a long life span. The additional attraction: it is great, if not greater , it can be a soloist haven. Cannot wait for the expansion ...not that it will be needed for quite a while. Ten out of ten.

Très bon petit jeu de dés qui s'emporte facilement et qui peut se jouer en mode campagne sur du plus long terme.

Instructions were a bit over whelming at first but after getting them, the game is a fun one player game for those who don’t have lots of people to play DND with. Would recommend

戦士や魔法使いとなって地下深いダンジョンを探索、モンスターと戦い罠をくぐり抜け、レベルアップしてボスキャラと対決する、まさにRPGの王道ゲームです。 戦闘はダイスロールですが「何点以上で成功」ではなく、モンスター毎のChallenge Boxを指定されたダイスの色と数字の組み合わせで埋めてゆく、パズル的なシステムです。獲得したItem（ダイスの数が増える）やSkill（追加ダイスや出目の変更）を駆使して調整もできるため、ダイス運だけに左右されない面白さがあります。ダンジョンは山札のカードを捲って進んで行くのですが、５種類のボスキャラそれぞれでダンジョンの制限が異なるためリプレイ性も高いです。また、１回でクリアできなくても、「キャンペーンモード」なら繰り返しプレイすることでTalent（特殊能力）が使用可能となるなど、「やり込み要素」もあります。 ドラスレやアンドール、パスファインダー（カードゲーム）といった有名なRPG系ボードゲームでもソロプレイは可能ですが、どうしても複数のキャラを操作しなければいけなかったり、コンポーネントが大きくセットアップが煩雑になりがちです（いずれも大好きですけれど）。一方、このゲームは準備が簡単で場所もそれほど取りません。1プレイにかかる時間は30〜45分程度と、平日の夜でもサクっと遊べる手軽さです。そして、「ソロプレイ可能」ではなく「ソロプレイのための」ゲームであることこそが重要でしょう（一応、２人での協力プレイもできますが、各自の能力が抑えめに設定され物足りません）。 数年前から国内のボドゲ・サイトでも評判が良い割に全く日本語版が出る気配がなく、今回遂に英語版で購入してしまいました。幸い、ルールについてはネットで丁寧な和訳を見つける事が出来、プレイする分には困りませんでした（紹介動画もいくつかあるようです）。ただし、カード類の和訳は見当たらず、それほど難しい文章はないのですが、英語に苦手意識のある人にはなかなかお勧めできないのが残念です（というわけで、★１つ減です）。