Review Tiny Epic Dungeons

COMPONENTS

 In the deluxe box, everything is very tight, the lid closes only if everything is carefully packed. At the same time, the components are very high-quality: the tablets of heroes, bosses and torches are made of linen, as are all maps of loot, henchmen and goblins. All small components are of good quality, and the wooden henchmen and goblin figures have a stylized shape (all different!) and pattern. The miniatures of the heroes resemble "Blood and Fury" in both size and quality.

PREPARATION FOR THE PARTY

 Game-mechanically, we have a co-op dungeon crawler with a gradually opening map. The preparation consists of laying out the entrance to the dungeon + 4 rooms around it, as well as pouring the rest of the components from the box onto the table. Choose from 2 to 4 heroes, take their tablets and figurines - and go on an adventure! Well, you still need to mix henchmen and the boss in the deck of rooms according to special rules. It's very fast by the standards of the genre; By the way, cleaning in the box is also done quickly.

GAME PROCESS

 Heroes have 3 stats: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, which can vary from 1 to 3, indicating how many dice will be rolled on the corresponding checks. It is they who determine the path of the hero's development, because they almost never change during the game (there are things that can increase one characteristic by 1, not higher than 3, but there is always a lack of space for them). There are starters, which are the maximum values of lives and energy, a special skill of each hero and 2 items. One of them is a basic weapon, the other is usually a skill, like running or learning spells. Unfortunately, this skill is usually replaced by something more useful by the middle of the game. Special skills stay with the heroes permanently, rather than being valuable. The barbarian can add +2 to melee for 3 energy (it's pretty strong, believe me), and the sorceress can shoot a long-range, magic arrow, perfect for shooting goblins.

 Our goal is to find and kill the boss of the dungeon, and first his two henchmen. So that life does not seem like honey, goblins are constantly climbing on the heroes,  and if there are 4 of them on the field, a fifth instant loss should appear. That is, you need to constantly reduce their population, because they die from any scratch, having only 1 life. The battle is simple: we choose the weapon we attack with and roll the dice according to the characteristic to which it is tied. We choose one, get bonuses from the rest, apply modifiers. We compare with the defense of the enemy and deal as much damage as it exceeds this defense (now it is clear why barbarian +2 is so strong?). The values of 1 and 2 on the dice are +1 and +2, respectively, and can be added to the base. Well, you can collect energy and health from unused cubes if they fall out. And here's why it's bad to do something other than your own: some "non-combat" classes have -1 dagger and 1 dice for strength at the beginning of the weapon. To kill an ordinary goblin with armor 4, you only need to roll a six, and if you fail, he will also crack in response. It remains to cast a spell. For magic, we roll on intelligence and on success we always deal fixed damage that ignores armor, although we will have to spend energy. Warriors, of course, can learn cool spells, but they struggle with maximum energy, and even 5 or 6 checks are difficult to cast from one cube.

 After all, there are henchmen and a whole bunch of different bosses. Henchmen have a lot of health, nasty abilities and can ruin the heroes' lives. Bosses are a separate topic. They can't just be thrown with dice like "I hit, he hit." To win, you need to drag the boss through 1-3 altars in the dungeon, and then kill, even the ability to "tease" appears. After all, he does not just follow the hero like a sheep on a leash, but actively snaps, and no one canceled the goblins that appear. All this is strange, but interesting.

 What's a dungeon without loot and treasures? Swords and staffs, chain mail and rings - all according to the laws of the genre. The most desirable are the equipment sets: they give bonuses for the set, even if it is incomplete, and the items themselves are very strong. The point is to collect such a set. There are rooms with treasures or traps, but you have to spend a turn searching for them, which is wasteful, so goblins remain the main source. From each green you can get an item and either keep it or drop it in the open for allies to pick up later. Heroes have a limit of two items in hand, armor, two accessories, and 2 spells. This is how we develop characters, no levels or skills are provided in the game.

 Our heroes cannot be killed, only knocked down — and they will spend a turn climbing. There are two main defeat conditions: 5 goblins or a timer that has popped up. The gradually decaying torch is responsible for the latter. It drops by one division each turn, as well as for particularly unsuccessful monster counterattacks or the failure of some tests. The torch is raised for the murder of henchmen, which is rare. After meeting the boss, the torch switches to a new track, allowing time for the final battle. The third defeat condition is quite rare: the dungeon is ringed and the boss cannot be found.

EXPANSION

 The deluxe version adds potions, new goblins (potion-bound), a potion room, two henchmen, and two bosses (without potions). Can you guess the name of the mini add-on? Disposable flasks are a bit controversial, but they are not included in the normal equipment limit and can help a lot against the boss (or not).

 The Story Pack adds a ton of everything: 8 new heroes, new rooms, gear, kits, bosses, henchmen, goblins, as well as quests and story mode, all for $10. I would recommend it, even if there were only 8 heroes, so it is mandatory to purchase. The only downside: you won't be able to stuff the add-on into the basic box.

MINUS

 I cannot call the high difficulty of the game a drawback, rather a feature. Once they've mastered the game, mature adult players will win about a third of their games. But in order to figure it out, you need not only to carefully study the rules, but also to study the FAQ. It is also advisable to have a file with the decoding of abilities, items, monsters, etc. in electronic or printed form at hand. Of course, all this is in English, but on the game components themselves, only the names of items, monsters, classes, etc. are from the text.

USEFUL LINKS

Tiny Epic Dungeons on BGG

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/331787/tiny-epic-dungeons

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