Recommend Fantasy Quest/Dungeon Crawl Board Game

I've got the itch to add a good fantasy type boardgame to my collection.

Reviews of FF Talisman and Runequest seem a bit lacklustre.

Descent: JitD seems to be on top of the heap for this genre at present.

Anyone care to share opinions / experiences for the best board game to fill this niche in my collection?

They're really two very different kinds of games... Descent, I suppose, is the best of the in-print tactical dungeon-crawls and even though it's not Fantasy, Arkham Horror is one of the best available Adventure Games.

Another fantasy adventure game I'd recommend is Return of the Heroes, although the best by far has to be Magic Realm, as long as you don't mind the complexity. It's OOP, but Karim Chakroun has posted a complete redesign of all the components, so you can print your own copy of the game with great looking components. You can also try it on the computer thanks to the java version: RealmSpeak

Last, Dungeon Plungin', a free print and play tactical dungeon crawl that can be played without GM (or Overlord), so everyone plays the heroes, seems to be getting good reviews.

Dungeonquest.

fortressat.com/index.php?option=com_cont...ew&id=574&Itemid=318

There's a certain charm about Mystic Wood, which is unfortunately out of print. Here's a nice review: www.boardgame.de/reviews/mystwood.htm

The gameplay is nothing breathtaking and many consider it outdated. That may be true but the only similarly-paced fantasy game I've played is Dungeonquest, and there's just a different feel between the two. In Dungeonquest, most of the fun is in hoping you don't die, and then dying, but in Mystic Wood you never die - you get locked up in a big-ass tower.

Mystic Wood just works every time I bring it to the table. It's fast-paced, fun, and has a unique atmosphere.

It really depends on your audience and how many people will be at the table. For light fun you can't go wrong with either Mystic Woodor Hero Quest. Both are good if your playing with your kids or your introducing new people to the whole fantasy/dungeon crawl genre. They are out of print but used copies can be had for reasonable prices.

Descent is very good but it can be a bit much for the uninitiated and for the wallet. The base game has quests that are more designed to teach the game rather than to really push the heroes. As the overlord you'll find yourself getting your face melted time and again. After you add in some expansions (Alter of Despair, Well of Darkness) the power shifts more towards the middle as the OL gets more tools to work over those cocky players. Where the game really shines is once The Road to Legend expansion is added and Descent is turned into a campaign. I love Descent but it takes a lot of time to get the most out of it and it isn't cheap. Make sure you know what you're getting into before you take the plunge. (I recommend reading the rulebook on FFG's website)

The absolute best adventure game of all time is Magic Realm. Unfortunately it's OOP, hard to learn and expnesive. I would save this one until you either find a teacher or you've gotten your feet wet with some other games in the genre first.

Last I hear that WoW: the Adventure Gameis pretty good. FFG is supporting it with new character packs and you can read the rules online. I haven't played this myself but if given the opportunity I'd definitly give this one a shot.

-Will

The Expanding Man wrote:

I've got the itch to add a good fantasy type boardgame to my collection.

Reviews of FF Talisman and Runequest seem a bit lacklustre.

Descent: JitD seems to be on top of the heap for this genre at present.

Anyone care to share opinions / experiences for the best board game to fill this niche in my collection?

War of the Ring, Battlelore and Small World are the best fantasy games.

Descent, Runebound, Talisman, War of the Ring all come highly recommended.

If you can find it, the Czech game DORN is well worth your time. It's a fantasy quest/dungeoncrawl game but unlike some of those mentioned here, it's pretty easy to get straight into, plays in about 2 hours, and it has the whole co-op against a single player thing going on. It's very much like a stripped-down DESCENT.

DESCENT is really kind of the Cadillac of the current dungeon game crop. It's a great game, but it does take some comittment to really get the most out of it.

If you want more of an RPG/questish thing, TALISMAN is always a good pick but some prefer PROPHECY, which is also a great game in its own right. It feels less "stupid" than TALISMAN, but TALISMAN's stupidity is one of its selling points as far as I'm concerned.

The older games mentioned here are all awesome, but be warned that they're all pretty expensive. Even MYSTIC WOOD aint' cheap.

The best fantasy dungeon crawls are definitely Descent and Warhammer Quest. I like WQ for its speed and amazing random dungeon generation toolkit. (As well as a second book that fleshes it out into a nice RPG-lite.

Also, a copy of the D&D4e Player's Handbook and the Dungeon Delve supplement are basically a board game. Dungeon Delve even includes rules for an antagonistic GM. It is kind of like playing the multi-level dungeons of Descent:RTL but with a cohesive theme in the encounters. You've also got the works for a massive campaign in Dungeon Delve. Let the players level up after each 3 encounter dungeon.

As to the best fantasy questy game....I'm the one who always says Prophecy. Talisman has the very light stupid factor, but until it amps up the stupid via a new Timescape, I might be more tempted to play The Insane Clown Posse Quest for Shangri-la. (It is a real game, and proudly includes an HBV. )

There are a lot of kinds of fantasy quest and dungeon crawl boardgames. What kind of game are you looking for?

Fantasy Quest and Dungeon Crawl are two different types of games. What is in your collection now? What do you like? What are you expecting out of your games.

Fantasy Quest Games...

Talisman is one GREAT game, it's all about the journey and not about beating the system or brilliantly elegant rules. You need to have people that can ham it up and roll with the shots. By far the most beer and pretzels of the bunch.

Prophecy is a good game, it doesn't have the expansions (available in the US) or the depth of theme that Talisman does. It has more rules but doesn't seem to have quite as much flavor as Talisman has in it.

Return of the Heroes has the most rules behind it of the three and some clever mechanics, I'd rate it as a good game once you get past the poorly written (English translation) rulebook.

Other notables... RuneBound, World of Warcraft.


Dungeon Crawls...

As Dungeon Crawlers go... my favorite of all time still has to be HeroQuest. It's a breeze to pick up, looks great, has a lot of scenarios, a ton of supplements, and if that isn't enough - some seriously huge fan base sites that have more of everything you'd want. It isn't much of a tactical game but imparts some serious fun in the dungeon 'crawl' appeal.

Descent will likely be recommended alot but isn't tops with the people I game with. It is highly tactical compared to the nearly every other dungeon crawler. You have to spread out to cover line of sight to protect from monster spawning and you have to dash to each and every available treasure chest and power up or the gamemaster will slag all your heroes. It gains in tactical but loses in mood/feel for our group. The presentation is top notch, and the characters have a massive amount of variety. FFG is serving up plenty of supplements so if you like it, you will likely have a lot to work with for a long time.

Warhammer Quest is also very highly reccomended. It doesn't require a dungeon master, has quite a bit of supplemental material and retains the crawling atmosphere. It has a good size fan base so you can find a lot of additional materials to add flavor.

Space Crusade is another favorite in our group. It has a little more rules meat to it than HeroQuest and some boss expansions. It is OOP (like many of the games I'll mention) but if you can find it, you will have a blast.

Others to mention... DungeonQuest, Dragon Strike, Warrior of Hilltop Mountain, Dark World, DOOM, First Quest, Dungeons and Dragons Adventure game (only released in Europe AFAIK), Advanced HeroQuest, Advanced Space Crusade.


I'm sure others will mention Magic Realm or Mystic Wood. I'm not the expert in either so I'll leave them to give you more insight on those two.

Michael Barnes wrote:

DESCENT is really kind of the Cadillac of the current dungeon game crop. It's a great game, but it does take some comittment to really get the most out of it.

Cadillac is nearly bankrupt, no?

TREASURE QUEST V is a two-hour game that you can download for free, but is better than DESCENT. You'll need to provide your own miniatures, dice, and terrain (HEROSCAPE terrain works well) to play. The rulebook is attractive and fun to read. The game uses the D20 combat system, so you might need to have a D&D (3.5) Players Handbook around.

www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/29151
or
games.groups.yahoo.com/group/pschronicles/

The designer, Steve Lefort, has been working on this game for years.

A revision of these rules, TREASURE QUEST VI, is currently in development. It replaces the D20 heritage with a card-driven combat system that Steve calls the TAC Engine.

XENO-TERROR is a SPACE-HULK style game that has already been converted over to the TAC Engine (it's also at games.groups.yahoo.com/group/pschronicles/ )

Juniper wrote:

XENO-TERROR is a SPACE-HULK style game that has already been converted over to the TAC Engine (it's also at games.groups.yahoo.com/group/pschronicles/ )

Awesome! I just applied to join the group.

My personaly recommendation is to stay away from both Hero Quest and Warhammer Quest because both sets of rules have what I'd consider a flaw and make the game not as enjoyable as they once were before I figured this out. Basically in both cases it has to do with movement.

With Hero Quest, what made the game a challenge was rolling for your characters to move and as younger kids tend to do, splitting the party up. If you hold back, clear all exposed areas of monsters you can move your characters on the map freely around as long as you don't reveal any unexplored areas and have a monster pop up. So it gets to become a process where you line your guys up at a corner, have a new turn start and have one poke their heads around the corner, if there is a monster, proceed as normal, if there isn't, pick your line of dudes up and move them to the next corner you want to look around and repeat.

With Warhammer Quest it is a similar thing where you'll get into the habit of moving your guys as a block. Then since monster events appear every time you enter the room, but only after the player's turn is over, a process starts where you pick a corner, throw your wizard or weak person in the corner, the average fighters on the sides of him and then the heavy fighter at the point. You'll end up doing this for every single room you enter.

Both games have some great ideas and concepts, but for me, movement can get a little exploited or if not exploited at the very least repetitious.

If you're looking for a good dungeon crawl though, I think Descent still packs the best package in terms of tactics and startegy. It as well has some problems but those are more just dislikes rather than what I'd see as a flaw in the game. Sadly I don't have much else in terms of recommendations since I don't do a whole lot of fantasy gaming.

LvT

Thanks everyone for the time taken to respond. For a bunch of elitist, sarcastic smart-arses, you really go out of your way to genuinely help new members!!

I already have Arkham Horror, and love it.

This fantasy/dungeon crawl genre doesn't push my buttons as much as other genres, but I feel I should have at least 1 game of this type in my collection.

I have smallworld - it's great.

I've decided to buy CC:Ancients over Battlelore. Supposedly better game play.

War of the Rings is on my radar, but isn't it predominately a 2 player?

Mr Moto was asking about my current collection, it's here on TOS:

www.boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/The%20Expanding%20Man

Thanks again, great to hear some experienced and infomred views.