Recommend Fantasy Quest/Dungeon Crawl Board Game

The Expanding Man wrote:

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.

You've got Blood Bowl AND Necromunda? You're one awesome dude.

Adventure games are quite different from dungeon crawls as most have pointed out. As for my thoughts on games I own/have played:

Adventure Games
Prophecy: It's is pretty good. It's pretty simple, you move, fight stuff, get stuff, try to take out the big monsters guarding these artifacts. Gain 3 of the 5 and you fulfill the Prophecy (that means you're the winner). I like the flexibility of the guilds in buying skills and in movement. It doesn't have the goofy charm of Talisman or the expandability (yet).

Talisman: I've only played it twice. With two players. The 3rd edition. Online with crappy implementation. I wasn't thrilled. But the new 4th edition is out and looks shiny and tempting.

Arkham Horror: You've already got it, good work.

A Touch of Evil: Kind of like a cross between Talisman and Arkham Horror. You can play co-op, competitive or on teams. It's not mind blowing, but I like it. It's got the same goofy style artwork of Last Night on Earth if that bothers you.

Dungeon Crawls

Descent: I love it. I think it is totally awesome. It's big and it's huge. And it's in print. And it's got lots of expansions. It has tons of characters, monsters, items, weapons, traps, maps and with Road to Legend you've got a campaign going on. The weapons dice are really cool and yes, it really is more of a tactical minis game. But that's OK! Again, the main benefit is that it's in print, and there really aren't very many big dungeon crawls that can say that.

Doom: Haven't played it. But since it is basically Descent v1.0, I'm sure it's awesome. Again, also in print, but not as well-supported as Descent.

Dungeoneer: A card game version of a dungeon crawl. Avoid it, it's not that great.

In-between games
HeroCard: Orc Wars: It's kind of like a twist between an adventure/dungeon crawl but the battles are resolved like a CCG. Pretty cool.

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer The Game (US version): Pretty simple game where you run around trying to beat each other up. There's only 4 scenarios for the first 4 seasons of the show. If you like fast games it's good. If you like Buffy that makes it better.

To come
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Middle-Earth Quest
Prophecy expansions
Thrilling Tales of Adventure (maybe?)
A Song of Fire and Ice (who knows when?)

Descent is decent (see what I did there?) but it can get bogged down especially if people are really hardcore competitive and strive to extract every little advantage that they can get.

Be that guy who hurries everyone up, just don't be an ass about it. After 3-4 grueling hours, everyone will be glad you were pushing them. Get an hourglass if you have to.

I don't have it yet, but I'm looking at Cutthroat Caverns, it seems like an awesome dungeon crawl game, very easy to set up too.

metalface13 wrote:

Talisman: I've only played it twice. With two players. The 3rd edition. Online with crappy implementation. I wasn't thrilled. But the new 4th edition is out and looks shiny and tempting.

Talisman plays much much better with more players than two, IMO. I'd say four is the sweet spot and each player less than four would be progressively less fun.

Mr MOTO wrote:
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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.

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Just got back from taking the wife & mother-in-law to some swop meet they wanted to go to.

I managed to pick up Space Crusade & the Dreadnaught expansion mostly unpunched. Total cost - $5. Needless to say, I am one happy gamer!!

Thanks for the recommendation - heaps of plastic & looks like fun.

The Expanding Man wrote:

Just got back from taking the wife & mother-in-law to some swop meet they wanted to go to.

I managed to pick up Space Crusade & the Dreadnaught expansion mostly unpunched. Total cost - $5. Needless to say, I am one happy gamer!!

Thanks for the recommendation - heaps of plastic & looks like fun.

Shhhhiiiiiiiiiiiit - I don't think you'd even find those in the UK. You'd better let everyone know about what part of the country you live in ... virgin swap meets fresh for the picking.

The Expanding Man wrote:

I managed to pick up Space Crusade & the Dreadnaught expansion mostly unpunched. Total cost - $5. Needless to say, I am one happy gamer!!

Thanks for the recommendation - heaps of plastic & looks like fun.

WHAT THE HELL?!?!
That is the steal of the decade. I'm pretty sure mission dreadnaught goes for a few buckerroos on ebay.
The only problem with that expansion is you only get 3 missions - fucking lame! Otherwise awesome find!

The Expanding Man wrote:

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

Before you buy, have a think about Memoir '44. I'm certainly in a minority here but in my opinion it's the best of the Commands & Colours games. The C&C system is fundamentally fast and furious and IMO C&C:A weighs it down with too many rules and too much analysis.

The Expanding Man wrote:

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

It is. But there is a team play option for 3-4 players, and there's certainly a school of thought which says that playing with 3, with two players on the shadow side is not only more thematic but actually sorts out the minor balance issues in the game as well.

The Expanding Man wrote:

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

My pleasure. It's nice to be thought of as experience and informed