1.7.2011

Don't be put of by the Dungeons & Dragons prefix, because this is an excellent dungeon hack which, while punishingly tough, is a hell of a lot of fun.The Ashardalon of the title is a gigantic Red Dragon who lives beneath the depths of Firestorm Peak. Being adventures (read idiots) you team up with up to 4 friends to explore the murky depths. Think of it like old favourite Hero Quest, but more punishing.And let's not make no mistake, you will be punished in Ashardalon and brutally so. This is a game which gives you no quarter, with its ruthless encounters and constant monster assaults, and yet it's so well balanced, you'll be laughing all the way to your death.While it takes elements from the D&D RPG,Wrath Of Ashardalon is obviously geared around board play. Each players turn is split into a number of phases. One for your hero, one where you explore the dungeon and the final phase which is used for controlling any monsters or traps under your control.A hero can move and attack, attack and move or make a double move. Movement and damage is designated by your hero card (of which there are 5 distinct characters). Once this is over, you can explore the multi-tiled dungeon. Every time you reach the end of a tile you put a new one into play. Each new dungeon piece has a monster (randomly drawn from the top of the monster draw pile) and if you draw a tile with a black arrow, you'll trigger an encounter. Once any encounters have been resolved you move to the villains phase. This is where you control any monsters under your control. Monster cards show their strategies, meaning play flows rather smoothly. Once villains have moved play goes to the next player.One word of note before we move on though. The encounters are amazingly tough, meaning you should all work together in order to succeed. Traps can range from moving boulders, to volcanic gas and ambushes and while they can be disabled, it's at the expense of making an attack for the turn. It's a constant gauntlet that may frustrate many, but we felt the action was balanced enough to keep it just the right side of fair.Defeated monsters go into a shared pile and experience points are awarded based on a creature's toughness. Should you have enough experience points you can either stop an encounter from taking place (handy, because the game is incredibly tough) or use it to level up your character, although you'll need to roll a true 20 in combat first. It's an elegant enough system, but we would have liked to level up our characters beyond level 2.Defeated monsters yield useful treasures and there are a number of different quests to complete that range from simply clearing the dungeon of a set amount of monsters, to seeking out a specific room (which is shuffled into the tile pile beforehand) or defeat the equivalent of a boss character, including the mighty red dragon Ashardalon.Gameplay roughly takes around 70 minutes, but expect your first play to last much longer, due to getting to grips with the sometimes clunky rules. While most of the instructions are fairly straightforward, many need to be reread several times due to conflictions with other rules.It's fairly pricey as well, but you do get plenty of components in the actual box including plenty of sturdy tiles, nicely modeled monsters and an insane amount of counters. Another nice touch is that its backwards compatible with Wizard Of The Coasts' previous game in the series, Castle Ravenloft, meaning you can combine both titles together to create some truly epic quests.Wrath Of Ashardalon is certainly not an easy game to get into and we've already seen examples where the Dungeons and Dragon's logo has actively put people off, but they're losing out. Once you get to grips with its rule set, you'll find an excellent dungeon hack that will please anyone who enjoys a good challenge.

18.7.2020

I have been fascinated with the exotic D&D game since the early 1980’s. Yet there was a total lack of fellow players on the continent so I had to satisfy my D&D cravings with painting the figures, reading the books and playing the blocky video games.About a year ago I bought the excellent pre-fab D&D Dungeon family board game that to my delight and surprise gets the children very excited, even my wife likes it. So I thought it a good idea to step up and buy one of these curious large D&D boxes and see if I could get a more genuine family D&D gathering.Other than I expected, this is not a single adventure that can be played over and over again.The set includes 13 scenario’s and even a solo player version to start and get familiar with the game. And the connectable tiles make it a different experience every time. I play-tested it on my own in single player mode, and that works actually quite well and is enjoyable.The box contains many thick, good quality cardboard pieces that have to be removed from the sheets. This is a time-consuming exercise in itself. You’ll also have to familiarise yourself with the rules, the many game pieces and game play, so that will add another hour or so before you can play. Not only because you’ll have to sort out the pieces required for your selected adventure. One drawback I would point to, is the lack of storage and organising capacity, despite the large box. It would have been great if there were plastic trays that hold the various stacks of tokens and cards, or perhaps bags included, the box now contains 3 large compartments and only 2 card sections - while there are 9 different type of cards.Despite having a lot of interest in D&D I have never really played the game in a proper manner. So it took me some time and effort to get a grip of it even though the rules are far less sophisticated and complex than the real D&D. And I didn’t find it easy. Yet playing our first adventures with the family each turned into an exciting hour. I think this board game version is great as it is a bit more familiar to my wife and children.The plethora of included plastic figures make the set very attractive, in particular to my children. I feel a great urge to decorate the plastic figures with paint. The figures are marked and carry a name on the base which is helpful if you are looking for the heroes that unfortunately do not really resemble the depiction son the character cards very well.All in all, extremely pleased with this set and the game. The children keep begging me for the next adventure. And the overall quality of the pieces and cards is outstanding. Will buy one or two of the other D&D board games in the range as well. And perhaps move on to the real D&D at some stage.

4.6.2016

I played D&D a lot when I was 16-20 back in the eighties. Ran out of mates who liked it after moving but still have very fond memories of the endless fun and laughs we had with that awesome game. My 10 year old and I watch the Big Bang theory a lot and they play it on there fairly regularly. This to my utter joy has made my son very interested in Dungeons and Dragons. So as he likes board games like Cluedo monopoly etc.I thought best to start with a board game version as less players were needed D&D is best played with at least three as you need the Dungeon Master plus player characters. Also board game is familiar territory for my 10 year old.

31.1.2019

This is an overall review of not just Wrath of Ashardalon, but also Legend of Drizzt, Temple of Elemental Evil and Ravenloft.Great games, fun and exciting. Not as in depth as real D&D of course, but its not meant to be. My two sons love this game and its a great intro into the world of D&D and fantasy. For what you pay, the miniatures are superb quality, plentiful and good to paint once youve applied a baselayer. My gripe with this game is that the monsters dont appear in enough numbers to be a real threat. E.g one Orc at a time. The encounter cards (which are random bad things that occur, e.g a trap) are more likely to kill your players off than the monsters.

11.4.2012

This is the 2nd boardgame in the D&D series and its a lot of fun to play. The models are of a very high standard and the components match the models.An easy game to get into and play. Basicaly you pick a floor tile and lay it down to build an everchanging dungeon for you and your party to explore. Its a co-operative game, so players are not against each other they are against the game itself. While it can be played quite happily at the basic level of pick a tile add monster, fight monster. It also has different scenerios that are more complex, and is a better game because of this.If you like Fantasy games, and are looking for a way to kill some time. Then this is a good fun game to have in your arsenal.

20.7.2016

I bought this when Amazon was running a special free same day delivery service. It was indeed delivered on the same day and in perfect condition.The game itself is excellent, as are the other two games, Castle Ravenloft and Legend of Drizzt (there is a fourth game, Temple of Elemental Evil, made by a different company, though still compatible). It is a worthwhile purchase for the figures alone, especially if you need them for role-playing games.The game is designed to be played with a group of 2-5 players, though there is no reason why it cannot be played solo (the monsters in the game act according to instructions on their cards). It can be played stand alone, or even combined with the other games.

17.6.2012

I have to say that Wrath of Ashardalon is probably the best and most balanced of the three D&D boardgames to date. Where Ravenloft was difficult, and Drizzt's characters were very powerful Wrath of Ashardalon is balanced and included options for a campaign as well as a series of linked narrative adventures. Like all D&D boardgames it is solo-able and also comes with a lot of unpainted miniatures, including a Red Dragon (the aforementioned Ashardalon) The miniatures are some of the most useful for regular D&D - orcs, cultists and the like as well as some more gribbly creatures.Like all D&D adventure games it can be combined with the others of the series.In particular,

23.11.2014

Being new to D&D, I'm loving this product. The first co-op adventure turned out to be a massacre, but the 2nd attempt went much "smoother". Loots of randomness fun and dispair to be had, so I think this game will fail hard at being repetitive.This game is really designed for co-op, which makes it a fun and rewarding experience for family and friends.The rule and adventure books are very simple and get you ready for action in a few minutes of reading.The miniatures are very cool and look very nice even without paint, although it's tough to resist giving them a more detailed look.All the cardboard pieces are tough and well-made.

10.3.2019

I was amazed at the quality of this product. The dungeon tiles are thick and chunky and the quality of the miniatures are quite good too. The box itself was of a very good quality of card and doesn't look cheap or tacky, it will last for many years. I haven't opened the cards as yet, but I am sure they will be of equal quality just by looking at them through the cellophane. I can't wait to play the game, I am just reading through the glossy adventure book and separate rule book at the moment. They are very well illustrated with lots of photographs, not horrible black and white drawings that you see in some games. The product was also sent to me well packaged and it came earlier than expected.

23.8.2020

There's a lot of game in this box. The game mechanics are pretty straightforward (my primary school age kids got the hang of it fairly easily with a bit of help). The floor tiles are nicely designed and pretty robust for card. There's a good number of miniatures included representing a fairly diverse cast of characters.It doesn't quite get five stars because while the core story is ok, the various missions that can be played are (naturally) limited by the tiles and characters. Also, while there is a generous number of miniatures, the quality is adequate but not amazing - quite a few flashes and small imperfections that need filing away if you want to paint them,

13.5.2011

This is a very enjoyable game if one like dungeon crawlers. For more information about gameplay, reviews and such I would recommend [...] fro thoose not already familliar with that site.The information on the box states 12+ but I did play it with my 6 year old son and he had no problems with it. It helps that it is cooperative gameplay and noone has to play "dungeon master" or such.The contents in the box is of ok quality even tho I found the cards to be slightly thin and easy to damage but I sleeved them and that works for me. The models are detailed and would paint well I think (haven't gotten around to that yet though).The game theme works best if one likes "Dungeon&Dragons".

6.5.2016

Yes, this game comes in a deep box, but open it up and you can see why. For one, the first thing you notice after the rule books is the large dragon figure taking up a fair bit of the component tray, then the other section crammed with all of the other figures - nicely bagged per colour/type.The component quality is good - the tiles and tokens on thick card a la Fantasy Flight's games.The game is good, and it is not an easy strole thru a dungeon, prepare to get killed quickly and often at the start of adventuring, until you devise tactics to beat the various monsters. The events cards are great as you donot know what is going to happen until that card is turned, so you cannot forward plan.So,

30.7.2020

I bought this game primarily to get the miniatures included to practice my painting. The quality of the minis is pretty good. Each shows some signs of casting marks, so needs a bit of tidying if you're buying the set for the reason I did.What I did not expect was for the simplified game to be so much fun! Lots of different game versions and stories are included, and it's very simple to jump in and play. I've had a few sessions on it now and was surprised by how well balanced the rules are, and how different the results of each game were, based on the tiles we pulled.It reminds me of betrayal at the house on the hill, it has a similar vibe of exploration and panic. Great for all ages, I would say,

14.4.2017

I mostly bought this for the figures and tiles, as I am running my own DnD campaign, so I haven't tried the rest. The figures are great, fairly numerable, with mostly 3 of each of the smaller figures, and a good mix of larger figures including a dragon, as well as a mix of hero figures. The tiles allow you to build fairly large dungeons, as shown, I think there were a few tiles unused in that pic. It also comes with various mini tiles with things like gold, coffins, altars etc on them so you can lay out your dungeons with things to find. A very hefty box overall, Definitely worth the money.

9.5.2020

What a brilliant way to get in to D&D! Easy to learn, I'd recommend watching a couple of you tube tutorials ('watch it played' is fantastic). The box is filled with goodies, nice selection of 28mm scale figures, high quality card components, not too many tokens and cards, but enough to make it interesting and varied. The campaign book is great, I'm on mission 4 now and it's been challenging for sure, but still beatable to this point. I've played solo and with my family, my 6 year old could cope with most of the mechanics, my four year old stole the dragon.Highly recommended!!

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