Stats:
No. of players: 2-8
Amount of time to play: 30-60 min
Age requirements: 10+
Set-up time: 5 min

Dungeon Saga is a classic, fantasy-themed, miniatures dungeon crawl. One player is the evil overlord and faces one to four players.

Dungeon Saga Rules Description:

Dungeon Saga is a remake of the Dwarf King’s Hold series. This updated version comes with assembled miniatures, some updated rules and four unique adventurers to play. There are two introductory scenarios with just two heroes and eight full scenarios.

On your turn you may move and then take an action (usually attack). The heroes go first and each takes a turn in whatever order the players choose. The scenario will dictate how many bad guys the overlord can activate. I addition the overlord has a hand of cards that can give him extra actions, create skeletons or hamper the heroes in other ways.

Combat is resolved much the same as it was in the original game. The attacker rolls dice equal to their combat stat. Any dice that are equal to or lower than the defender’s armor stat are removed. Then the defender rolls dice equal to their combat stat and you compare both players’ highest rolls. The defender wins ties. Each comparison that the attacker wins is a hit on a monster. Different monsters require a different number of hits to eliminate. But any number of hits on a hero results in just one wound. After five wounds a hero is crippled and the overlord wins.

The number of dice you roll is modified if you are injured or outnumbered. But you always roll at least two dice. If you would be required to lose dice that would force you to roll less than two, you subtract one from your armor stat instead.

The heroes are your typical fantasy archetypes with a barbarian, dwarf, elf and wizard. The barbarian rolls a bunch of dice to attack but has subpar armor. The dwarf fights pretty well and is hard to hit. The elf rolls more dice when attacking from range. And the wizard can cast spells to help the party or hinder the monsters.

The spell system is very straightforward. You can cast two minor or one major spell on your turn. You have a card for each of your spells. When casting a minor spell you turn the card 90 degrees. When casting a major spell you turn it upside-down. At the end of each round you turn your spell cards back 90 degrees.

I mentioned the overlord’s deck of cards earlier. In addition to letting him mess with the heroes it is a timer. If that deck runs out and the heroes have not reached their goal, the overlord wins.

A Quick Review of Dungeon Saga:

Dungeon Saga is a well-made, easy-to-learn dungeon crawl. It is very tactical and requires teamwork for the heroes to win. It is also very accessible. My six and eight year old can play it.

The components for this game are great. The box looks like an ancient tome, the tiles look nice and the miniatures land 3D furniture look really good. You can paint them if you want but that is not required. The rules are well written but a bit disorganized. And like before I wish there was a player aid. The tile clips are also inconsistent but I don’t bother using them.

For its simple rules there is a lot of tactical depth to this game. You need to be aware of your position, facing and when you are going to act.

The game is set up to teach and learn quickly. You learn most of the rules while playing the first two introductory scenarios. You don’t need to assemble the miniatures so it is ready to play right out of the box.

Dungeon Saga doesn’t bring a bunch of new mechanics to the genre but it is a solid, fast-playing, tactical dungeon crawl. If you enjoy dungeon crawlers pick his up.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6