"D&D Wrath of Ashardalon review part 2" Topic

The gameplay part of the review is now up on my blog along with pictures of how the game flows and all the components not explained in the previous part. I also included a small rulebook segment where I discuss some of the "left out" rules that seem to pop up.

link

Nicely written review. A few typos here and there (" off" for "of", etc.), but otherwise very clear and informative. I think you've captured the flavor of the game spot on. Thanks also for the clarifying notes, particularly about the Encounter card draw question. And I had failed to notice the provision that a hero who doesn't explore has to draw an encounter card. Yikes! So thanks for alerting me to that.

Thanks, yeah this game needs players to pay attention to everything as small things can amount to a big deal, such as the encounter cards or who controls what monster. As for the encounter cards , it's often for the best to kill as many monsters as fast as possible to get a few experience points stacked up to discard those really bad encounters :-)

I simply can't wait until the release of "Legends of Drizzt", cavern tiles, dead ends, "underdark" theme and Icewind Dale characters! :-P

How hard would this be for younger players to grasp (8-9 years old)? My kids love Dungeon the boardgame but I get bored of the simplistic rules and objectives. This looks like it might have a similar feel but with more crunch.

Another question: Are the plastic figures suitable for painting? Hard or soft plastic?

*Edit* Soft plastic it seems, I should have finished reading your review.

There's a lot of reading involved during play, but other than that the concept is not difficult. You move your character and or/ attack a monster using one of your Power cards. After that, if you're near an open tile edge, you add another tile and place a monster on it and/or draw an Encounter card to see if any special events happen. Then you move any monster card you have drawn according to the instructions on the card. Resolve the monster's attack, and then it's the next player's turn to follow the same pattern of actions. Very simple.

As the game is entirely cooperative and not adversarial among the players, a more experienced or mature player can easily guide younger players through any questions that arise. If your sons are above average readers, they should have no problems carrying themselves through a game. If not, you can still easily oversee the reading as necessary when you play together.