Favorite Dungeon Exploring Boardgame

Danger · August 24, 2007, 06:18:08 AM

Dungeonquest if you can get it.

Always wondered what the two expansions for the game brought to the table, in a manner of speaking.

JamesV · August 24, 2007, 07:34:12 AM

Descent is pretty sweet, but I think that Heroquest got em all beat.

cmagoun · August 24, 2007, 08:23:50 AM

Quote from: KenHRDang, my favorite fantasy boardgame is Magic Realm. It takes two hours to set up, though...some really dedicated fans have made a computerized version called RealmSpeak that's an incredibly good tool for learning the game, however...but not what you're looking for here.

Oh BTW, we have cut the setup time for our MR games down to around 20 minutes or so by not setting up the monster/treasure board beforehand. The game board is setup normally and all of the pieces and cards are separated and kept in trays, but the only thing on the M/T board at the start of the game is "treasure in treasure". When monsters are activated, or treasure locations found, it is a very easy thing to quickly get the correct pieces and place them on the game board or on the M/T board.

We haven't yet found a problem with our "inverse setup method" that could not be solved with a little common sense.

Hopefully, this prompts you to get our your Magic Realm game a little more often,

KenHR · August 24, 2007, 08:40:55 AM

Quote from: cmagounOh BTW, we have cut the setup time for our MR games down to around 20 minutes or so by not setting up the monster/treasure board beforehand. The game board is setup normally and all of the pieces and cards are separated and kept in trays, but the only thing on the M/T board at the start of the game is "treasure in treasure". When monsters are activated, or treasure locations found, it is a very easy thing to quickly get the correct pieces and place them on the game board or on the M/T board.

We haven't yet found a problem with our "inverse setup method" that could not be solved with a little common sense.

Hopefully, this prompts you to get our your Magic Realm game a little more often,

You know, I'd never thought of that.

Last year, I organized my MR game pieces (2 sets) into Plano trays. Last time I played, I got setup time down to about 50 minutes or so because I didn't have to hunt for the proper tiny ziploc baggie, dump it out, etc. But skipping the majority of the monster card setup...that's genius.

Thanks for the tip!

DeadUematsu · August 24, 2007, 08:41:29 AM

Warhammer Quest with some mods from Mordenheim.

enelson · August 24, 2007, 12:11:42 PM

Thanks for the suggestions!

Would you please tell me more about Magic Realm?

Is HeroQuest even available anymore? I remember Advance HeroQuest...

Heroscape does look very very cool. I found a website that had the guy mod the board for his Melee/Wizard games.

Mystery Man · August 24, 2007, 12:16:22 PM

Heroscape is a lot of fun, setup takes a large chunk of time though.

Drew · August 24, 2007, 12:23:56 PM

Quote from: JamesVDescent is pretty sweet...

I recently played a few games and had a great time. We were just getting a campaign off the ground when three of the players had to drop out, leaving just me and the GM. It wasn't quite the same after that, so it's on hiatus for the moment. Shame really, as I thoroughly enjoyed the scenarios we played through. The figures look quite natty when painted, too.

arminius · August 24, 2007, 12:27:01 PM

MR links:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/22
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/9049/mr00.htm
http://www.thewinternet.com/magicrealm/

My friends and I generally played with everything but the spellcasting rules; by the time I'd deciphered them, we'd moved on to something else. However years later I got the 2nd edition rules, which are much clearer, and now a bunch of fans have made a 3e rules set.

Joey2k · August 24, 2007, 02:25:29 PM

I know it's old and simplistic, but the Dungeon board game from TSR is still my favorite (preferably Classic Dungeon, it's the best looking).

Drew · August 24, 2007, 03:12:43 PM

Quote from: TechnomancerI know it's old and simplistic, but the Dungeon board game from TSR is still my favorite (preferably Classic Dungeon, it's the best looking).

I loved that game. Many a happy hour was spent delving into the further reaches of level 4 with my Hero or Elf character-- my thinking being that if I managed to draw one of the weaker monsters I'd be that much closer to a quick win.

Of course I usually got trashed by a Purple Worm or something equally deadly, but even 25 years later I still maintain it was a sound tactic...

architect.zero · August 24, 2007, 03:16:45 PM

Depends on whether you mean competitive or cooperative dungeon crawl.

In the cooperative dept. I've only ever played Hero Quest and found it pretty limited. Somewhat fun, but really just a lobotomized RPG. Big black box D&D, the one with the "Dragon Cards", map, and counters was almost as much a board game in the same vein and far better than Hero Quest.

I'd pick Cave Troll, designed by Tom Jolly, and produced by FFG as my favorite but it really isn't much of a quest game. The "dungeon" theme is tacked onto an area control game with no quest elements.

Descent AND Runebound both look to be leaders in the cooperative and competitive categories, respectively. I'm looking forward to giving either a shot.

I'm stunned that anyone could nominate Dungeonquest OR Talisman. Most boring, randomized, nonsensical games I've ever played. Beautiful bits, terrible gameplay. To each their own I suppose, but... jeez... eeewwwwwwww.

J Arcane · August 24, 2007, 03:25:09 PM

Two further suggestions:

The Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game is actually quite similar to HeroQuest, though obviously without the dungeon setting. One player plays The Master and controls the various vampires and vilains, while the players each take on the roles of various main characters from the show. It's surprisingly good for a licensed boardgame.

There is also a Dungeons & Dragons boardgame in print, though it is onyl available in Europe, so it would have to be imported. There's also two expansions for it.

Akrasia · August 26, 2007, 02:47:30 PM

Quote from: TechnomancerI know it's old and simplistic, but the Dungeon board game from TSR is still my favorite (preferably Classic Dungeon, it's the best looking).

I loved that game! Pity it's no longer available...