Summary
Game Type – Competitive Maze Solving
Number of Players – 2 - 4
Mechanics – Real Time, Maze Solving, Variable Player Powers
Difficulty to learn – Easy
Set Up Time – Fast
Release – 2021
MSRP - $24.99
Publisher – WizKids Games
Recommended for fans of – Captain Sonar, Mazes
Overview: If you’ve been playing board games for a while, there’s a good chance that you’ve encountered some weird mechanics at some point, I know I have. There is, however, one mechanic though that I never expected to see in a board game, solving mazes. I’m sure everyone ran their pencil through a maze in grade school at some point, but I’ve never known anyone who’s loved doing maze past the age of 8, so it is a little odd to see a game completely based around this. As it turns out though, it this gimmick actually works better then you might expect!
Gameplay: As you might guess, Dungeon Scrawlers has fairly simple mechanics. Both players will be simultaneously drawing their way through one of the game’s ten different mazes. When you enter a room with an object you’ll have to interact with it depending on it’s type by filling it in, outlining it, etc. Each player also has a unique class that changes how they score points or interact with things. A game ends when a player reaches the exit, boss, or the timer runs out, depending on which map was played. You then gain or loose points depending on if you filled out object spaces correctly and stayed within the lines of the maze. The player with the most points wins!
Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes ofUndermountain
Wizkids
Buy on Amazon
Rulebook: The rules for this game are so simple there’s not much to be said here. It does a good job explaining how to play and even though it’s not very complex it still explains things as thoroughly as possible.
Components: No complaints when it comes to what’s in the box. The individual dry erase maps are good quality, with pens that seem like they’ll hold up to repeat plays. The tokens and character cards all punched out nicely and have a decent chunk to them. This game looks great too! There’s a lot of colorful and vibrant art on display, with dungeons that stand out from each other. My only qualm is that some of the icons look a little too similar, but not so much that it was a problem.
Theme: The theme here is so on the nose and perfect that I can’t imagine anything else paired with these mechanics. Having adventurers race through a dungeon, fighting monsters and finding treasure, comes across better then in some bigger and far more expensive dungeon crawlers I’ve played. I have to wonder which came first the mechanics or theme.
Final Thoughts: Well I have to say that there’s literarily no other game quite like this, and that uniqueness is a big draw. Don’t just think Dungeon Scrawlers is a one trick pony though. When we played this the first time, my group played over half the maps in one sitting. We’d get done one and someone would say “Let’s do just one more”. Of course that one more turned into two more, and five more, and eight more. There’s an interesting strategic element here, where it’s not just plotting the best route, but determining on the fly whether you should go fast and get sloppy or take your time. It’s almost a dexterity game in that respect, which may turn some people off, but I think adds to the replayability. The dexterity element is also something of an equalizer. It doesn’t matter if I know the maze better if I can’t navigate it as deftly as someone else at the table. This is a hard game to rate because it’s so simple and so quick, but I’d say if the mechanics sound interesting to you it’s definitely worth the buy. You won’t come to game night to play this, but you’ll probably be thinking about it after you leave.