Dungeon Review - with Tom and Melody Vasel

Tom and Melody take a look at this classic game from Wizards of the Coast

00:00 - Introduction
01:05 - Game overview
07:37 - Final thoughts

[danielboggs]

It was designed by David Megarry in Oct 1972 based on Dave Arneson's Blackmoor games. Arneson went on to design D&D with Gary Gygax. TSR then published Dungeon! in 1975. Dungeon came before D&D but was published after.

[erl]

i have loved this game since i was a kid. i play with my kids and we have a blast; when we don’t have time for a proper dnd session. we have added treasures and monsters as well as house rules which make it a little juicier. btw, i’ve glued my hero pieces and they stand up just fine, but you could also use a different miniature as my son does. this is a truly great game when you don’t have time for a serious dungeon crawler.

[federali]

This game was originally released by TSR in the late 70's. As far as I can remember it is exactly as it was back then.  I believe it might have been an alternative for people who coulden't get into D and D.
It would be ice to see an update that included miniatures instead of the card board standees. It's easy enough to use your own, though.

[donaldthompson]

I have the late 80's version which came with a Paladin, Warrior, Wizard, Thief, Dwarf, and Elf. There was a extension pack for it with new characters. We could attack another player an take some of their treasure too. We also had the option of playing a short game just collecting the amount of treasure you needed to win or a long game by clearing all the treasure from the board with winner being the one with the most treasure.

[bardthebowman]

I made some homebrew rules so u can play as a team

[CGPacifica]

Bought this today. Haven't seen it in 25 years. Thanks for the video! Way more enjoyable than reading the instructions.

[monopolycriminals]

@ Unbridled Flame.  You stand outside a room with your character & roll the TWO dice.  At the start of the game, when determining how many spells you begin with, you roll ONE die & add SIX to establish the grand total.   Choose between FIREBALLS, LIGHTNING BOLTS, & TELEPORTATION.

[ivannowskii]

I'm looking for other options for similar Dungeon Crawler board games like this one (Simple and fun). Any other recommendations?

[WildDieWoodard]

I picked one up via a game auction a couple years ago. Great to have in my collection... The rather plain purple box, the paper fold-out map... The simple (and very tiny) cards... Fun collectible!

[elangelmon]

I found that playing with the Character Variant rules posted by DMPastor and the alternative rules posted on D&D website by Chris Tulach a couple of years ago, really improves this game a lot.

[NeverZitrone]

I just turned 17 and I love this game, don't know how long it'll last but I really think it'll last a while. I mostly love it because of the fantasy like you said and how its d&d-like, but my main reason is that its short and simple and my friends(my age) completely cant play a game more than once that continues. Plus this is very versatile, i want to work on my own game modes. I just want to say that its the perfect kid game but also one for teens that don't have time for a huge game of d&d.

[sandal_thong]

I remember how frustrating it was in the higher dungeon levels. I think you needed an ESP medallion and a crystal ball to see what's coming. Also the rooms had treasure but the chambers didn't unless someone dropped some and you had to go through a chamber to get to a hall of rooms. Then I think the wizard had to cast a spell BEFORE drawing the monster card, unless it had been revealed previously.

It looks like they added character classes, but the board seems the same, so the play is probably the same too. Losing half your treasure was a drag.

[dorf]

I never played this game as a kid, but now that I own it it's great fun if you add these rules: use a dragon as a "hunter" that chases players around the board; all level 1-3 creatures +3 AC; player maxes out +2 attack bonus (and loses the power if treasures are lost); player has 3 lives / lose a life when creature rolls 12; discard monsters face up under pile / level closed when all monsters are dead (no recycling); all doors are secret; no monsters in chambers; mix "fireball", "lightning" and "teleport" into treasure piles; roll 20 die for fireball; use lightning for one lesser "consequence" from attack from monster...

[bevoburn]

I have the 1980 version of the game. I love the artwork on the box.

[larvarela]

Thanks Tom...this actually make me get the game to play with my 7 yeard old !!

[WaynesbooksNet]

Great review! Getting ready to play Dungeon with the boys this evening, and the quick rundown of how the game works was helpful.

[CesarIsaacPerez]

I think I'm getting this one as an introduction to fantasy board games for my little sister. hope that it will spark interest in playing Descent and then getting into Pathfinder!

[monopolycriminals]

i've had a copy of this for around a month now.  As Tom did a number of years ago, i too teach ESL in Korea.  As young as 6-7 year olds: my kids absolutely love it !!!    He's bang on about the player tokens, too.  WTF ???  Gonna try "jimmying" a few little pieces of paper into the slots next time we try it.  If not, everytime you lift your 2 piece character, it falls apart !!  Other than this, for the price you can't go wrong.  Highly entertaining kids game, well worth the value.   8.5 / 10 

[ZakMStanley]

I am a big fan of DnD, and this looks like a lot of fun. Very nicely done, this would be a great way to introduce people to advanced roleplaying games.

[vincentprice]

Id'e love to see a series where he compares editions of this...particularly the artwork on the monster cards. His version seems more realistic which I like more.