"Best Dungeon Boardgame?" Topic

What is the best dungeon-exploring boardgame of all time?

By boardgame, I mean a commercial game with a gameboard or playing sheet.

Always been found of Dungeon. Even the newer versions.

Great question, I'm curious to see the replies too.

If you mean "of all time" as in a personal sense, what got me hooked ages ago was a little game I saw on a bargain shelf called, Caverns Of Doom. It had a companion called, Crypt Of The Sorcerer, that I found about later on. Came with a 8x10 paper one-color dungeon map, a few metal figs and a strip of plastic pots with cheap acrylic paint. Rules were only two pages (most of which was white space), so was definitely quick-play. Bought it for a couple bucks, took it home and played it solo-I've been hooked ever since. Used those games back-in-the-day to introduce numerous people to miniature fantasy gaming as well. Great little games and great times.

I liked Heroquest and Warhammer Quest the couple of times I got to play them.

Are we strictly going with the fantasy setting? Because Space Hulk certainly operates largely as a dungeon crawl.
And are we also restricting it to a "dungeon" setting (e.g., underground labyrinth/lair)? Because Search for the Emperor's Treasure largely works like a dungeon crawl in many ways, though it certainly isn't a dungeon crawl itself, and doesn't involved tactics (aside from using the random encounter distance element to make the most of missile fire and/or multiple opportunities to escape).

As to more traditional dungeon crawls boardgames, my experience is limited to Dungeon, Descent and the new D&D Wrath of Ashardalon. Oh, and I suppose Mertwig's Maze, though that's very abstract.

Of these, Dungeon is probably the most readily accessible, easy to play and fun, though there is no tactical element to speak of (enter room, kill monster (or not), get treasure (or not), head to next room).

I didn't care at all for Descent; I disliked the non-heroic heroes and it has a lot of fiddly elements— but mainly, I didn't like the Overlord adversarial aspect of it. As a DM, my goal was never to defeat the players but to build a good story. Even in a stereotypical dungeon crawl adventure, I wanted the players to reach the end, defeat the monsters, and walk off with the loot. It just doesn't feel right to me that the Overlord player is out to "win" the game. YMMV.

My jury is still out on D&D:WoA as I've only played it once. It seems to handle monster encounters well, but I can't stand the video-game terminology that WotC has embraced, don't care for the "Dragonborn" wizard character (who pretty much reacts like the standard magic user class of old, so why bother with the stupid "dragonborn" racial designation?), and is a bit confusing as to when you encounter beasts and bad events and when you don't. It also seems to have a tendency to throw too many disparate creatures at the party at once. Otherwise I do like the cooperative element and the fact that it's not an adversarial game.

Oh, I forgot Munchkin Quest (yes, it's a board game). I've read the rules (but never played it). Honestly, the monster "control" system was very confusing to me, and the game is like Munchkin in all other respects: completely silly and in the end completely adversarial. So not what I want in a dungeon crawl game.

I'm still holding out hope that my group will want to try D&D:WoA again. But if someone has a recommendation for a simpler, DM-less cooperative dungeon crawl (without the appalling x-box-era jargon ("utility powers" GAAAA!)), I'd love to hear about it.

Are we strictly going with the fantasy setting?

yes

And are we also restricting it to a "dungeon" setting (e.g., underground labyrinth/lair)?

yes

The new Wrath and Legend of Drizzt are fun, but are less exploration and more kill the monsters. They also don't have a lot of tactical decisions to make.

Warhammerquest has a large amount of back story and lots of neat chrome. In the end, however, your tactical options are limited.

Heroquest has the simpliest system. It has a nice greed vs danger aspect….do I search fgor treasure again and risk
pulling a monster card? It does however need a gamemaster. It also suffers from single square hallways and door that limit tactics.
So…. all are fun, but the perfect dcrawl hasn't been published yet.

Off all time then I would have to say either HeroQuest or Warhammer Quest.

Citadel of Blood.

Cave Troll is actually pretty neat little game.

little game I saw on a bargain shelf called, Caverns Of Doom. It had a companion called, Crypt Of The Sorcerer,

Some of my earliest miniatures and probably my first miniatures-based games. They're still really fun to play, actually. Just the other day I was thinking about resurrecting them in the form of Dwarven Forge-based set-ups and running my game group through them.

Still like Dungeon.
Beer and Pretzel fun.

I'm hoping the answer is WarhammerQuest. I played this once or twice when it came out and enjoyed it. My best friend has just given me his complete copy after it has been sitting on his shelf for the last 10? years. Of course, he game me his copy of Magic Realm 15 years ago (which I enjoyed 20 years ago) and I keep meaning to play that one… On the plus sides I now have two small children, so I am sure I get get in a few games ow WarhammerQuest with them when they are older.

warhammerquest

I'm enjoying Super Dungeon Explore
far more than I ever liked Warhammer Quest.
Its really too soon to see if it will have the staying power
to be labeled "Best of All Time" of course.

I suppose Talisman doesn't fit the strict criteria, so it would have to be Dungeon for me. :)

HeroQuest, but that's the only one I think I have ever played. Still pretty fun, too.

I agree with Mad Monkey. Citadel of Blood was a great solo dungeon. I wish someone could redo it.

Descent.

I like Labarynth the family board game…

Mick

My thoughts:

Hero Quest: Too simplistic, no challenge for the heroes

Adv. Hero Quest: Too complicated without lots of preparation, gets pointless after the first hero buys the best armor

Warhammer Quest: Too simplistic for the basic game (the way the monsters appear), challenge is extremely luck-based, combat is too easy due to the wizards ability to pull fireballs and healing spells out of his bottom ad infinitum every round.
The advanced version has the same problems plus a fairly long playing time and some serious overlookings in the stock scenarios (possibility to gain infinite gold in the first scenario if the GM plays it strictly by the rules :) )

Descent: Takes far too long for one session, becomes too hard for the Overlord to even slow down the heroes after they gained the first magic items a few turns into the game. Gets worse after that. The bosses are just a joke, too.

I have very fond memories of Advanced Heroquest.

WarhammerQuest, always popular at the club.

No intention whatsoever of hijacking this thread, but…

darthfozzywig, you're one of less than a handful of people I've come across in over 30 years of gaming that has played (or even knows of) CotS or CoD! Very cool. I based much of my homebrew fantasy game (using figs) on those two games with a mix of the 1st gen D&D for some extra zip. Man, talking big time "old school" here.

Does it have to be a dungeon? If not then Dark Tower, while not stricly a dungeon, was the best of the genre.

(just read the second post, I still go with Dark Tower, all the rest were meh).

Change that – Munchkin Quest if it has to be a dungeon.

Warhammer Quest

I own a good number of the games listed. Each are fun in their own way and it depends on my 'mood' which one I play. That said, Warhammer Quest always brings a smile to my face and I'd play it any chance I get. As for Super Dungeon Explore, unfortunately that went right to sale in consignment.

Advanced wizard .
My new favorite is Wiz War , sort of a magic dungeon

Heroquest
Dark World
Dungeon Twister

Chutes and Ladders

Sorcerer's cave was a great little fun game.

Citadel (FGU) – was a great little more serious game.

Another vote for Warhammer Quest. It can be played solo, co-op, or as lite RPG with a GM. Characters can level up, there are a ton of characters and adventures/missions, and the fluff is great. On the down side once your characters get to higher levels it bogs down because of the shear number of opponents thrown at you and the number of abilities each character has to juggle.

Jason
Stafford, VA

WarhammerQuest ..
Have a few of the games mentioned and would play warhammerquest again without question.
Easy to learn and get into .Good solo and fun social .
This game is responsible for one of the funniest games I have ever played, when we took 4 chaos warriors on a few crawls.

I've only played Hero Quest and Warhammer Quest, so based on that I have to go with Warhammer Quest.

The one and only Sorcerer's Cave link

Complete with apostrophe

> Chutes and Ladders

Not a dungeon game, but we can let that slide…

I've always wanted to play Dungeon but that's yet to happen.

I always had fun with Dungeonquest… probably because of how it so often ends up with everyone dead. Surely not the greatest ever… but fun.

I also quite like Hybrid/Nemesis… which were Rackham's dungeon battle games. I'm not sure if there are rules somewhere for playing them solo or as a cooperative between several players against a GM, we've only played it head to head.

Warhammer Quest

It's more balanced when you have a "GM" control the monsters and use some good common sense.

wiz war.

"Sorcerer's cave was a great little fun game."

Not so little! We played a game which had the various levels of the dungeon on every flat surface in the room we played in – including much of the floor :)

I always loved DungeonQuest. Sure it is deadly, but when you managed that one trip to the dragon's lair where you managed to stay a couple of turns without waking the dragon up, get a good haul, AND get out in one piece. That's the moment you (well, at least your character) live for.

Chill- Blackthorne Manor

I like Descent. A lot. WarhammerQuest was ok, but… I'd rather play Descent now

I forgot about Mattel's "Electronic Dungeons & Dragons," which can be a very challenging little race-through-the-maze game, especially as you try to figure out where the heck that dang dragon is and if you're fixing to walk into him or have him drop down on you. My son and I still get it out from time to time.

Warhammer Quest sounds fun, but I'll bet it's an arm and a leg to get a copy these days.

Anybody know where one can find a copy of the rules to Caverns of Doom? I could go for a little nostalgia play system like that.

DungeonQuest!!!!!!!!!

Here's another vote for Citadel of Blood.

I bought Warhammer Quest last year and sold it after a few months. For one thing, I hate the art style (the over the top, 13-year-old metalhead Games Workshop art grates on me)). More importantly, though, I didn't find the gameplay that engaging. Too many swarms of trash monsters. And, as others of have said, your tactical options are very limited. I will admit, though, that their mechanic for random dungeon generation is very clever.

I've also played Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon. My big problem with them is their exploration mechanic. Either you explore a new tile which ensures that a new monster pops up or you stay on your current tile which ensures that you will have to draw an encounter card that could very likely be worse than having a new monster show up. Also, I wish that the combat was a little more simulationist and a bit less "gamey".

Anyway, back to Citadel of Blood. It's very simple in some ways, yet very old school and fun. The fact that it uses tables instead of cards makes it very easy to add in your own monsters and treasures. I just wish that it had better components (cardboard chits don't really create much immersion for me).

Interesting serendipity over at BGG:
link

1. Descent: Journeys in the Dark
2. Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game
3. Warhammer Quest
4. HeroQuest
5. Dungeon Run
6. Thunderstone
7. Dungeon Twister
8. DungeonQuest
9.Tomb
10. Dungeon

Parzival, you can find a readable scan of the CoD rules on boardgamegeek, just do a search on CoD.

A year ago, my answer would have been Heroquest with Warhammer Quest a close second. Today, my answer is Super Dungeon Explore. Although it loses the exploration aspect, it has more strategic options while playing just as fast.

I like: (in no particular order)

Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game
Dungeon Run
Thunderstone
Dungeon Twister
Super Dungeon Explore

Tomb & Cript Keeper are pretty good.

Deathmaze by SPI

One of the true grand-daddies, and a different game every time.