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Quick Look: Shuffle Dungeons
Designers: Jeremy Stark, Kyle Talbert, Isaac Serafini, Luke Schwanger
Artist: Isaac Serafini
Publisher: Zero Strategy Games
Year Published: 2024 (Currently live on Kickstarter, Aug, 2024)
No. of Players: 1-4
Ages: 12+
Playing Time: 60-90 minutes.
Foreword:
I received this title for review from the Zero Strategy team and unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to it right away due to several things that came up within my family, work, and personal life. I regret not getting this review out earlier as I am usually punctual and also because the title itself is worth discussion. Let’s dig in and see what it has to offer.
From the Publisher:
Shuffle Dungeons is a cooperative dungeon crawling board game for 1-4 players. Heroes begin in separate rooms on the outskirts of the dungeon and must build their path to each other. Along the way, you will find powerful weapons and armor, as well as dangerous monsters. You will need to work together and build a path to the center where the Dungeon Boss lies in wait. Only by defeating the Boss will the heroes escape the dungeon and be victorious!
Disclaimer: The publisher provided the copy of Shuffle DungeonsThe opinions expressed in the review are completely my own.
Review:
Initial Impression/Components:
The image below is taken from their Kickstarter campaign and shows the current included items though that may change due to stretch goals and/or final printing. The copy I received was technically a prototype but it appeared to be a top-quality manufacturer prototype. I am not sure if anything will change in terms of gameplay or visual appearance, but I know the rulebook I received was being edited at the time and I had a work-in-progress PDF (that was in its final stages). I was pleased with the look and feel of all of the components but especially impressed with the dungeon tiles which were all multi-use cards. I thought it was an excellent use of components to make 86 unique dungeon tiles on one side, while at the same time there we 86 unique other objects from single use items to equipment and spells.
Favorite:
The puzzle aspect of using the tiles in each player’s hand to slowly piece together a path to the final boss while always knowing their final location was a fun twist. I also enjoyed how you could combine strengths and interact based on your location and proximity within the dungeon. Each hero additionally has a special ability to assist the team. Even though it was mentioned above, I have to say my top favorite was likely the double-sided dungeon tiles. I like how you could decide whether you laid a tile as an object or a tile and needed to ultimately weigh which tile was best for each turn but also which side of that tile as the other side would never be able to be used once played as the other.
Least Favorite:
I was bothered by the graphic design showing area of effect layouts on some of the cards. I mention it elsewhere in this review as well but I really feel they could have kept that piece flat and oriented the same as the tiles you lay in the dungeon so that it isn’t visually jarring. Every player that I tried the game with said the same thing and felt it made a simple thing hard to understand just because of how it was visually delivered.
Mechanics:
– Cooperative Game
– Grid Movement
– Map Addition
– Modular Board
– Role Playing
– Unique Player Abilities
– Once-per-game Abilities
– Tile placement
– Solo game (can be)
– Movement Points
Rules:
Each turn you can do a bunch of different actions in any order; move, draw a card, play any number of cards, use a card power, trade cards, and/or fight. Even though this may seem like a fair bit to get through, turns are concise and fast between players. Your overall go is to build a path to the boss and combine your efforts to destroy them.
Here is a link to the full rulebook:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0852/6043/5735/files/SD_Rulebook.pdf?v=1722617296
Areas they did well:
– Double-sided tiles (multi-use)
– Sense of growth in a short game
– Mixture of loot, items, equipment
– Monsters and additional bosses
– Varying difficulty and able to provide a challenge
– A lot of unique art and content with few repeats of the same things
– Ability to band together against enemies
– Making the dungeon a puzzle that all players contribute to
– Having certain attacks, enemies, shrines, traps, etc. that affect specific areas within and outside of certain tiles
– A movable dungeon, not set. Tiles can be manipulated in different ways.
– Turns that can contain multiple actions
– Little downtime and a lot of player participation
– Game length appropriate for the game experience
Areas they could have improved:
– I wasn’t a fan of how the art on the tiles that show area were done as a 3-dimensional image that was at a 45-degree angle from the plane of the tile placement. It made each tile difficult to understand its area. Granted they had an arrow for orientation and you will get used to this over the course of a couple of games but I feel it could have been done differently.
– The rulebook was still in revision, but if it is finished, I’d like to see more explanation on key terms like status effects. In line with that, an example of Shift, and if it can be into a completely blank space.
– Extra Health having a marker
Interesting moment:
There were a couple of linked shrines/keystones that two additional players used to enter an area close enough to the boss to assist with the final assault. This was both an exciting and critical turn as the final roll-off was successful by only 2 pts and would have failed without the added support. I think it’s really cool that you are more-or-less doomed if you try to take on the dungeon (especially the boss) alone. This is not a game where you can simply all power up separately and have your own solo games while one person stumbles into the boss and ends the game. It’s a cooperative mission that you will either succeed as a team or be defeated trying to be a lone wolf.
Overall:
People familiar with dungeon crawlers will get a lot of the familiar feelings from other titles they enjoy while having a different experience offered through Shuffle Dungeons that, if it looks interesting to you, will justify adding it to your collection even if you have several titles in this category. It’s also a bit faster to play that many titles I have played that are dungeon crawlers. I feel it has made the experience more accessible to casual players or new players so that it can be shared and enjoyed by a much larger group whereas as you get into heavier crawlers, your audience drops off to include just veteran players and game enthusiasts.
Final Thoughts:
I’m going to recommend this title for a few reasons, as mentioned above, but mainly for its ability to deliver a chunky experience in a smooth, quick-to-play package that is digestible enough to introduce to brand new players.
I’ll see you next time, back here at The Game Table,
Brad Hiscock, aka Zerility
Here’s a link to the game on their website and kickstarter page:
After reading Brad’s review, if this sounds like a game for you at the time of this posting Shuffle Dungeons: The Co-op Board Game of Endless Dungeons will be live on KICKSTARTER until Thu, September 5 2024 11:59 PM PDT, and has surpassed its funding goal of $5,000. HERE.
Did you get it based on our review? Please comment below letting us know!
Check out Shuffle Dungeons: The Co-op Board Game of Endless Dungeonsand Zero Strategy Games
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Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”, is a construction project manager and electrician by trade who was the owner of a 6-time award winning electrical company. His passion for board games has led him from playing hundreds of original titles to creating a design and publishing company of his own, Convivial Games. As an up and coming collaborator on many projects, he is always eager to try new games and meet new people.
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All of Brad Hiscock, aka “Zerility”‘s reviews can be found HERE.
