Stats:
No. of players: 1-5
Amount of time to play: 60 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5-10 minutes

Caverns of Bane is the first expansion for Thunderstone Advance. You need the base game from Thunderstone Advance (or Thunderstone) to play it. So should you pick this up or not?

Thunderstone Advance Caverns of Bane Description:

This section is going to cover the new elements Caverns of Bane introduces. If you are unfamiliar with the basics of Thunderstone, you can read my full review here.

The biggest new element is treasure cards. If you have played the original series of Thunderstone you may recall these were introduced in the Doomgate Legion expansion. Just like some of the mechanics from the original game these too have been tweaked in Thunderstone Advance. When a treasure card is drawn from the Dungeon Deck you place it on the empty space closest to the Dungeon Deck. Then you place the next card from the Dungeon Deck on top of it. This monster is considered to be carrying the treasure. It even gets a benefit for having it. If you defeat the monster carrying the Treasure it is yours and goes into your discard pile.

There are also new monsters, heroes, weapons, items and Thunderstone bearers. The theme seems to be light and dark in this set and many of the cards relate to that. Owl Eye’s is a spell that removes the light penalty then penalizes you for having light. The Albino Worm gains +1 health for each light you bring to the dungeon.

Heroes in Caverns of Bane gain strength and/or attack when you have specific items or discard cards. Many of the monsters require you to draw a card from your deck and apply effects (often gaining health) based on the card drawn.

Three new scenarios are included with this expansion one for each of the three new Thunderstone bearers.

Quick Review of Thunderstone Advance Caverns of Bane:

As you can see Caverns of Bane is a pretty straight forward expansion. This is nice since players have only one new element to learn about. The new implementation of Treasures is very good and much better than the previous mechanic. Now you must earn the treasure by defeating a monster using it.

The theme of light and dark is nice and these cards play well each other and those from Towers of Ruin. Some of the monsters and be difficult but that might depend on the make up of your deck. Knowing what monster type you will encounter and if they require a card draw can be key. If you are able to navigate which items or heroes to avoid you may have greater success in the dungeon. The Patternmage hero also helps here. She allows you look at and arrange the top of your deck.

The new backgrounds for the cards are nice and make it easy to discern the type of card it is. The cards are high quality. And the art is well done. The rules are short and easy to follow. I also like the box. It is smaller and more portable than the box from Towers of Ruin.

If you have just started playing Thunderstone and only have Towers of Ruin I highly suggest adding Caverns of Bane. The extra cards and new treasure will add to your fun. On the other hand of you have a few of the expansions from the original Thunderstone you might want to try this before you buy it. There is nothing so amazing that you have to have it, but if you are getting bored of the cards you currently have this set will give you more variety.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6 (This might be considered a four if you already own a few of the old expansions)