Fans of dungeon crawlers enjoy them for a few reasons.
One is the light at the end tunnel, meaning they get to reap the rewards of great loot.
Another is the thrill of exploration, not knowing what traps and enemies await.
Finally, it’s the joy of camaraderie, surviving and working through challenging scenarios with fellow adventurers in tabletop games.
Get ready to start rolling dice again as, in this article, we’ll discuss the best dungeon crawl board games out today.
Without further ado, let’s get to our list of the best dungeon crawlers:
1. Gloomhaven
Playtime: one to two hours.
Players needed: one to four.
Gloomhaven’s a popular choice for fans of dungeon crawlers and arguably the best dungeon crawl board game, even though it isn’t the easiest game.
It’s based on tactical combat and is set in a world of ever-changing motives.
Players assume the role of an adventurer with a particular set of skills (almost, but not quite like Liam Neeson in Taken).
They’re tasked to work together, with or without a dungeon master, to clear out dangerous dungeons and ruins.
Personally, we think that the game boasts (while it can be argued) one of the best dungeon-crawler combat systems.
It even has endless customization options for enemies and different scenarios.
Adventurers fight monsters using a card system, which determines the play order and what they can do during their turn.
Players have to cope with an overall menacing world with their decisions ultimately steering the trajectory of the story.
The board game is set in the city of Gloomhaven and its surroundings.
Player characters are each given a goal at the start of a campaign.
Upon completion, this leads to the retirement of that character.
However, that’s not the end all: this game boasts high replayability as no two campaigns are alike and because the game boasts an infinite amount of content.
Once players get through the learning curve, this game becomes a wonderful (and highly addictive) experience.
Buy Gloomhaven at:
2. Myth
Playtime: two hours.
Players needed: two to five players.
Assume the role of one of five heroes as you work together to defeat the forces of darkness.
Okay, this might sound a bit cliché, but we assure you it’s anything but, for instance:
- The board game boasts detailed miniatures that help you better envision the battles; the bosses look pretty intimidating and help add to the already daring nature of a boss battle.
- The characters are designed for some co-dependency. So, unfortunately, nobody’s John Wick here. But this is great fun and creates a team element: each character does better in particular circumstances. As they say, teamwork makes the dream work.
- The game boasts interesting world-building features that grant you many options to create fun combat and other scenarios.
In short, it’s not just another dungeon crawler board game but a well-thought-out one, offering players a lot of flexibility, encouraging teamwork, and generally making the world as enticing as possible.
In addition, the campaign mode lets players persist in leveling their heroes from session to session, improving their character’s stats and generally developing their character over time.
Are you ready to create a story with a band of fellow heroes and defeat the not-so-cliché darkness?
Then Myth is the right board gaming for you.
Buy Myth at:
3. Doom: The Board Game
Playtime: two to three hours.
Players needed: two to five players.
Suppose you already know the old-school shooter Doom, the even-older-school comic book, or just the new hit video game (Doom Eternal, anyone?). In that case, you’ll probably already be quite familiar with the characters and themes the game introduces.
If not, let me say this: it looks pretty cool with its menacing miniatures of the demonic forces of hell.
The game is a fight between earth’s elite marines and some of the most terrible monsters that the pits of hell can spawn.
One player, known as the invader, will play the demons, working hard to defeat the team of up to four marines.
Players will have to work through operations, striving to restore power or doing extremes such as going down to hell to end the carnage.
The invader’s job is simple, quell the efforts of the marines and destroy humanity as it stands.
So, look no further than Doom: The Board Game if you want a sci-fi dungeon crawler experience with a nostalgic flair.
Buy Doom: The Board Game at:
4. Descent: Journeys in the Dark
Playtime: two hours.
Players needed: two to five players.
Descent: Journeys in the Dark pits a single player, putting them in the position of the overlord against four players who act as brave heroes.
Heroes are to embark on various quests and search through dungeons, caves, forests, and ruins, all while gaining riches and moving closer to their goal of ending the overlord’s evil plot.
The game is centered around a campaign, boasting tactical combat and a rich story.
And the journey to the strength required to defeat the overlord is long, with players growing in experience and might over time, leading up to the climactic showdown.
It’s based in one of the realms of Terrinoth, the same lands where Runewars is set.
Remember that this land is perilous, so teamplay is vital to survive the challenging and often hostile areas.
Buy Descent: Journeys in the Dark at:
5. Deep Madness
Playtime: one to two hours.
Players needed: one to six players.
This board game is worth mentioning solely because of its fascinating theme as a survival horror game.
As a team of five investigators, you and your crew are tasked to explore a deep-sea mining facility infested by horrors beyond your imagination.
It’s a team survival game inspired by the Alien series and H.P. Lovecraft, so you know it’ll be spooky.
In a long-term storyline, players are to survive various scenarios, each with its own rules, board, and the rest.
Investigators must achieve all their goals before the limited rounds of the scenario end: failure to do so will lead to everyone’s death.
Buy Deep Madness at:
6. Arcadia Quest
Playtime: one hour.
Players needed: two to four players.
Arcadia Quest takes things much lighter and far away from the scary-sounding Deep Madness and, frankly, the direction most dungeon crawlers take.
It boasts adorable miniatures made after various anime characters that are more cute than intimidating.
Players, unlike other dungeon crawler games, do not only take control of one character.
Instead, a player controls a team of three of their own.
Arcadia Quest pits you up against other players in a curious way: while you’re tasked to end the reign of the vampire lord, only one can dethrone him and become ruler.
It’s also a lot more fast-paced than other games on this list.
Buy Arcadia Quest at:
7. Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Playtime: one to two hours.
Players needed: one to five players.
Set in the Star Wars Universe, Star Wars: Imperial Assault is a fantastic game to enjoy with friends.
In classic Star Wars fashion, it pits the powerful Imperial army against the Rebels during the Galactic Civil War and after the Death Star was destroyed.
In Imperial Assault, you can either play as a Rebellion hero or use the strength of the Imperial army.
The campaign boasts 30 thrilling missions and has immense replayability.
You can even just play a skirmish game for some quick fun.
Buy Star Wars: Imperial Assault at:
FAQs
What board game is most like Dungeons and Dragons?
While there are many board games like DND, some do stand out.
Gloomhaven, for instance, while lacking the extreme roleplaying element of Dungeons and Dragons, is a lot like DND due to its fantasy world, races, and scenarios.
It’s also, like DND, driven by a campaign.
What is a dungeon crawl board game?
Dungeon crawler board games are board games that incorporate scenarios where heroes navigate dungeons, which are labyrinth environments.
Here heroes will solve puzzles, battle monsters, cope with story events, handle traps, and loot treasure.
How long should a dungeon crawl be?
In DND, these can last a couple of hours; however, the exact length of one depends on the game.
Each game has different mechanics and a different way of conducting dungeon crawls.
How many rooms should a dungeon have?
Using DND as an example again, a dungeon should have about five rooms, but you can have more.
It all depends on the specific settings of your campaign.
In other games, it may be better to have either more or less than this.
What makes a good dungeon?
A good dungeon is comprised of various routes to explore, a nice mixture of safe and dangerous rooms (including places to rest), as well as numerous challenging (but not too difficult) encounters, and of course, some great loot.