Stats:
No. of players: 1-8
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Dungeon! is a dungeon crawl in which you must kill monsters to get their loot. The first player to snag enough loot and get to the Great Hall wins.

Dungeon! Rules Description:

To begin Dungeon! you must first select the class of character you want to play. The choices are cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard. Each class requires a different amount of loot to be declared the winner. The deeper into the dungeon you go the harder the monsters are to kill and the more loot they have. So each class has a range of levels that are safest for them.

Rogues require 10,000 gold pieces (gps) worth of loot to win the game. They are safest on levels 1-3 and can find secret doors much better than the other classes. Clerics require 10,000 gps to win and are safest on levels 2-4. Fighters must have 20,000 gps to exit for the win and are safest on levels 3-5. Wizards win with 30,000 gps in loot and are safest on levels 4-6.

Wizards are unique because they get spells at the beginning of the game. The three types of spells are fireball, lightning and teleport. The first two help them attack monsters and the let helps them move around the dungeon.

On your turn you can move up to five spaces. If you come to a room or a chamber you must fight. Rooms contain one monster that has loot and chambers have three monsters that are loot-free.

Combat is pretty simple. You draw one monster from the deck that matches the level you are on. Monster cards show what each class must roll on two six sided dice to kill the monster. There are even target numbers for the fir ball and lightning spells. If you hit you kill the monster and take a treasure from the deck that also matches the level you are on. If you miss the monster it attacks you. Monsters may miss you, or hit you and force you to drop a random treasure, plus you may lose a turn, be sent back to the Great Hall treasureless or outright killed.

After killing the monster rooms are marked cleared. It takes three cleared markers to pass through a chamber and you can only attack one monster per turn.

Once you grab enough loot to win you head to the Great Hall. The first player to arrive in the Great Hall with the required gps in treasure wins.

Quick Review of Dungeon!:

Dungeon! is a reskin of an old game. And though I had never played a previous edition, I don’t believe much has changed. This game is fun for all but I think it is even more fun when played with kids. It plays quickly and is easy to teach and very accessible to your non-gamer friends.

The reskin is a success. The game looks awesome and the components are high quality. That said, I do have one thing I wish was different, the characters. They are durable but the way they for into the bases is annoying. They aren’t tight and so if you pick your piece up the base comes apart.

This game relies on luck and is not too deep. But for kids and price I think it is a great buy. My son and nephew both enjoy it a lot. It can be a little long for younger kids but that will depend on the rolls. This may not be a game if you are looking for an in-depth, strategic game Dungeon! is not for you. But for kids this game is very enjoyable. They’ll cheer as they defeat tough monsters and grab treasure. And you can cheer about the price.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 2 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6