Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game

I won't attempt to review this game in total, or go over the rules, as this has been done effectively many times before. I wanted to review it, however, as an experience for playing with young children. Summary - 5/5 I have 2 kids, one 4 one 6.5. This game is excellent for introducing children 6+ to gaming concepts, and enjoying some quality time together. I would not recommend it as a first game, but once your kids have some basic ideas of gameplay, its cooperative nature offers a perfect blend of progressively independent action and bonding. Theme and appeal - 5/5 The theme and appeal of the game is obvious. By the age of 3 or 4 most children will have been bombarded with a variety of fantasy narratives, and enjoy them. Spooky dungeons. Scary dragons. Heroic knights. While some parents may be concerned at the idea of crawling through caves and killing monsters, my personal view is that this comes very naturally to kids these days, and is in fact quite empowering - see a monster, whammo! blast it with a magic wand. This game creates a very tactile upfront experience of the things they have seen on TV or in story books. The little miniatures are very appealing, both to my 3 (almost 4) year old girl, and to my 6.5 year old son. Is it kid proof - 3/5 This game is sturdy and durable. You will, however, need to keep a close eye on all the bits, which can be easily lost if not kept in themed baggies, and without very clear 'putting away when used' rules. The miniatures can probably take some abuse, but also need some care as there are bits that could be snapped off. You will also need to be disciplined with the cards. When my son gets excited, he waves his arms and is sometimes tempted to squish them inside his hands. Assuming you play on the floor (which I do) you may also need to make clear no walking or rolling over the board rules... Can a 6/7 year old contribute meaningfully, and feel fulfilled? - 4/5 Most certainly, but with guidance. Even a three year old can choose which corner of a new tile to explore, and count out spaces (although it helps if they have learned space counting in other games first). A 6/7 year old can choose which powers they want to use, although may need some tactical/strategic guidance. I found the game offered plenty to make my son feel very fulfilled playing the game. We died in our first adventure, but despite this setback he was delighted to recall some of his more heroic moments, and how if we had only done this or that we might just have made it. Can Dad enjoy it while playing with the kids? - 5/5 Certainly he can. One way to view it is as solo plus, in which you still may have to make a majority of the strategic decisions - which (despite some complaints about the game being too easy) are not always simple - but you also get the pleasure in sharing the experience with others. You can also use the game to practice your story telling skills to a sometimes quite demanding audience! Is it educational? - 5/5 OK, let's be clear up front that this is not going to enhance your child's understanding of world geography, or the way plants grow. It is fantasy. But first up, I consider fantasy to be an important part of human culture, and one of the shared experiences that bind society together. Beyond that, the game teaches social play. Teamwork. Tactical and strategic decision making. Logic. (If-then, if not-then something else). Basic AI. Planning. It encourages reading, and thinking about maths and probability. It teaches rule systems, and how to best use them to your advantage. What's not to love about this, especially in an era of electronic solitude? Is it easy to learn/teach? - 4/5 Again, this puts a certain amount of onus on the parent. I highly doubt your 6.5 year old will be able to read and understand the rules without guidance. I made the mistake of trying a first game without understanding everything myself, and my poor son was stuck watching me sweat my way through the rules (as can be seen from another posting I made). It might be a good idea to do a solo run first. But once you get the basic concepts (how monsters move!), it comes quite easily. Yes, you do need to explain how the powers work. How the exploration works. How the monsters work. It is a lot to absorb at first. But if your kid is interested, they will pay attention, and it can be revealed progressively through gameplay. I am also amazed how much space a 6/7 year old has in his/her brain to absorb new rules... more than once I've opened an old card game and asked - hmm, how many do we deal to start? - only to have my son answer for me... Does it play out reasonably quickly? - 4/5 I am assuming, with this score, that you know that you are in for a substantial game. i.e. This is not a ten minute frisson. The question is whether it can keep a kid's attention or not. In my first game, I found myself wishing it would take a little less time. Not a lot less, but right at the end - when it went past bedtime, and was starting to drag a little. That said, the denouement came roughly about the time I expected, and my son's attention was pretty gripped (allowing for a couple of short breaks). And there would be no harm in tweaking the game a bit... one or two fewer tiles, perhaps, before the final boss, could be one approach. Is it fun? - 5/5 Yes! Its theme, fairly simple gameplay, and balance of achievement and challenge works well for kids. Everyone loves receiving a treasure. Everyone hates getting a nasty encounter. Great game. And given it is a system more than a game, with a lot of variety, I hope to be playing this for quite some time.

Who am I: Middle aged married guy who loves Sci fi, video games and fantasy novels. Used to play D&D and then AD&D around twenty years ago. Haven't been involved with any serious groups since then so I have no experience with any editions of D&D that cause such a rift in the community. This means that I am not hopelessly in love with any specific Edition of D&D. -Note for various D&D Edition FanGirls and FanBoys- If you are a 4th Edition Hater and can't get past that, you most likely will not enjoy these games as they are based, in general, on the 4th Edition rule set. If you don't know what that statement means, or if you are capable of enjoying what each Edition has to offer, you should have no problems. Why I love the D&D Adventure Systems: Castle Ravenloft(CR), Wrath of Ashardalon(WoA) and Legend of Drizzt(LoD): They work as a stand alone product and offer a dungeon crawling, limited leveling, monster slaying experience with no previous knowledge of how D&D works. And all in sessions that can be finished in an hour or two. The minimal time commitment involved is fantastic. Or, if you find yourself filled with nostalgia and desire a fuller, longer campaign with further leveling options or new characters, these games can be tweaked to allow for that. Especially with some of the user created content online, the photoshop templates on boardgamegeek.com in particular are wonderful. Also this [....] address has a plethora of new content. The extra leveling options are definitely my favorite. The truth is that I screamed in happiness when I ran across them. I sounded like a ten year old girl getting a pony. A unicorn pony. with wings. A Unicorn Pegasus Pony that appeared in a shimmer of rainbow colors. And now I am deeply ashamed...........*sigh* I am such a nerd. The game system totally allows for expandability in many ways. It's kind of a gateway drug for D&D honestly. I find myself consistently wanting just a bit more of the actual RPG experience. We tweak the game a bit and suddenly our experience is just a bit fuller and more satisfying. Not nearly as detailed and time intensive as an actual D&D or Pathfinder game though. Such a great balance for us. They don't have to be expanded upon though, to be immensely enjoyable. Any of the three games are enough in and of themselves to be hugely gratifying and offer much re-playability. The expandability is just something that makes them extra cool and versatile in my opinion. All three systems use totally interchangeable materials. Some of the cards may be context sensitive and not seem to fit in a particular environment but other than that you can use everything in each of the games. This provides Awesomeness Bonus of +2. The map tiles and figurines both are an unbeatable value and can be easily incorporated into a "real" D&D session. Everything in the box, other than the manuals, is of superb quality. The figurines alone would easily cost you double what you pay for the set here. And if you paint figurines, which I do, you will have just gained around forty new minis to paint. Joy in and of itself there. Possible Cons: I saw in the review for one of the three games that some dude was just totally disgusted with how these games "punish" the players for almost every activity they engage in. The guy was totally a Hater. However, he wasn't necessarily wrong. The game does seem to be constantly throwing things at you that often don't feel fair. Notably, the Encounter cards. Which brings me to the next con and a solution to the "punishment" issue.... The instruction manual will not answer every question that will come up. It is left up to the players to decide how certain things should work. Which is how a "real" D&D game works. Your group plays the game the way they want to play it. If you simply cannot function without every rule spelled out for you, this may be a problem. Otherwise you'll be fine. And in terms of rule tweaking and the punishment issue- we decided to change how often we draw encounter cards as well as a couple other minor aspects of the game. This has served to make our sessions a lot more fun. Don't be afraid to tweak the rules in order to play the game how you want to play it. The manuals are pretty cheaply put together. They may not hold up well to use by younger players or spilled drinks. I took ours apart and put the pages in plastic binder inserts. We now have all the material for all the games in a single, sturdy, custom decorated notebook. Which is awesome btw. (Disclaimer for claim of awesomeness: I created the custom artwork:) Space. With all the cards and map tiles and bags of monsters and tokens that get used in a typical session, you may find you need a bit more space than an average board game. All of the aforementioned items can quickly end up being a mess. As a solution we have everything securely contained in varying sizes of ziplock bags. Including the map tiles in a 1 Gallon size bag. Perfect for storage and during play. There is no actual role playing or in town scenarios. If you want to get into a brawl over the serving wench's honor at The Yawning Portal Inn in the city of Waterdeep, then you should just find a gaming group and play Pathfinder or D&D(any Edition). Or perhaps, after stumbling into a gathering of Dirty Orcs in the Gloomy Forest of Gloom and Terror, you want to attempt to use an illusion to convince them you are a deity and sell them into slavery in the Land of Thay. As opposed to just killing them. Again, just go find a full-on game of D&D. These systems can be worked to allow for things like that to some degree, but they aren't designed to be open world or allow for anything other than a dungeon crawl with combat and a final, combat based, objective. So: If you want "real" D&D, then you may be more satisfied finding a group and getting involved. If you want a game that allows you to engage in D20 based combat, with figurines, that represent a character with minimal leveling capacity. And that can be played by anyone. These systems may be just the thing for you. Also of note: The Dungeon Command games have interchangeable map tiles, monster cards and figurines that can be used seamlessly with the Adventure Systems. I love this as it ads even more expansion options.

If you have always wanted to play D&D, this is what I would recommend to begin. The game is easy to set up, learn, and play. A great way to dive into the franchise. I know trying to play D&D is hard; having to create and manage a character, finding a group, or a dm to run the group through a campaign. It can be stressful, but getting this game eliminates all of that. The game comes with character cards with everything on it, all you have to do is follow the instructions, you get good quality miniatures, a d20, and a lot of the stuff relevant to the game. You can play this game solo or with a couple of people. The adventures are fun and can last a couple of hours and you can run shorter adventures if you are in a time crunch. We have played this game for a family game night and my daughters loved it. After they played this a few times, they wanted to play the pen and paper version and are hooked on d&d. If I don't feel like being a dm and running a campaign for my kids, we pull this game out and have a blast. There are too many good things to say about this game and the system it is built on. I could talk forever about it. Overall, it's a great introduction into d&d, you get awesome minis, and it's fun. It is worth every penny and it's at a great price. If you also pick up the other games (Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft) you can use those pieces and monsters in this game as well. You should definitely buy, buy it now, buy it..5..4..3..2..1 buy it now.

I will start this review by saying I've never played the Dungeons and Dragons pen-and-paper game. I am, however, very familiar with D&D and Drizzt. I've played most of the D&D video games, my favorites being: The Temple of Elemental Evil, and the Baldur's Gate Series. I've also read most of the Drizzt books. This game is fantastic in that it perfectly catches Drizzt's adventures from the book and feels very much like a turn based dungeon crawling video game. I'm very familiar with the D&D rules, even without playing true D&D. While this game is watered down to the extreme, there is still enough of the essence of the rules for you to know that it is Dungeons and Dragons. On to how fun it is, and BOY IS IT FUN! There is one single player adventure, and some of the other adventures are easily adapted into single player use. Single player is not boring, but doesn't give you a grasp of how great this product is. Multiplayer is where it shines. There are 40 or so durable miniatures, including a few really big ones, and durable puzzle pieces that build your dungeon, or cavern in this game. It feels like you are building a puzzle and playing with a big box of toys all at the same time. Jokes come fast and plenty while playing with friends. This game proves to be just as enjoyable making fun of, as it is playing it. Encourage your friends to get in character too, which makes the whole thing sillier and even more fun. There are 13 adventures that come with the game. The adventures last from an hour, to an hour and a half. Each dungeon is randomly generated because you shuffle items like the dungeon tiles and monster cards everytime you play. If you go back and use different heroes as well, and there a lot to choose from, this game has considerable replay value. This game really does feel like playing a CRPG. It proves to be more fun though. With the interaction of friends, choosing random scenarios, and characters to play through this game proves to be simply PHENOMENAL! I didn't realize that board games could be this fun. I heartily recommend this to fans of RPGs, fantasy, and board games in general. Wizard's of the Coast has put forth an unbelievable product that is well worth the buck.

I no longer own my copy of this because I was going through a phase where I wrote it off as too simple or repetitive, but I didn't delve very deep into the content, didn't play all the characters, didn't try all their ability options, etc. I've got one of the newer D&D Adventure System games (Dungeon of the Made Mage) and have yet to play it, but it does have me wondering if I may end up picking up my original intro to the series, Drizzt. I've never played the Ravenloft or Ashardalon boxes, but the consensus seems to be that of the original 3 games Drizzt was the winner in terms of interesting content, characters, minis, etc. It plays very quickly once you know the rules - which are conveniently [slightly] derived from D&D/D20. This could make it a gateway game for introducing players to the [significantly deeper, more complex, narratively/emotionally richer, but also inherently fuzzier and rules lawyer-inducing] world of D&D and other tabletop RPGs. It can also serve as a toned-down echo of a true D&D experience for players who can't/don't feel up to playing a real session of the "granddaddy of all RPGs" game, which certainly can involve a lot more commitment, effort, and heartbreak, not to mention serious arguments and infighting. Unlike the big bro game, the Adventure System games don't require a Dungeon Master! This is a huge selling point in terms of overall commitment, and specifically the need for someone to be in charge of creating an ongoing world for the players to navigate, fresh non-player characters to talk to, etc. These games are co-op, with all players winning or losing as a team. They can also be played solo, which is a big draw for some of us shut-ins and folks who can't regularly manage to find a playgroup. The rules include some rather smart solutions to common problems in other dungeon-crawler/tactics games: Players can just sit and wait for enemies to spawn and kill them for loot endlessly, and players have no serious time limits/urgent drive to explore and accomplish tasks. In these rules, if you don't explore, adding a new tile during your turn, you must draw an event card, which tends to be a Bad Thing, usually traps. Exploring a new tile, however, always results in adding a new monster, which adds additional complexity and risk to manage itself. It's the main recurring trade-off in the game, event card, or new monster. It's always some fresh hell, in either case, rest assured. Exploring new tiles is also the only way to reach whatever your current scenario's objective is, whether that's killing a Big Bad in its lair, recovering a precious treasure, or similar. The game is a good time, and it can result in some great memories made with your group. Helping one another not only by contributing via your hero's actions, but discussing tactical options and general ongoing strategy can be both crucial and one of the best parts about the game.

This is a great game for beginners or those looking for DnD fun without having to prepare a game session. It plays like 4th edition lite and most adventures can be played in under 2 hours once you get the hang of the rules and setup. I also have the Castle Ravenloft game set which is a good purchase as well and Wrath of Ashardalon is currently in transit to me. Just keep in mind this is mostly a combat and trap oriented game. There is little to no role playing involved. Most Dungeons and Dragons style board games are similar in this respect. Newcomers to Dungeons and Dragons may be a little confused by the rules at first, but they are not so numerous as to be impossible to figure out. Setup for people not used to table top gaming or more involved board games may be a little intimidating, but if you are patient then you will get the hang of it. As someone who also plays table top Dungeons and Dragons, the value in the miniatures from this box set alone is worth the price (It comes with 42 minis including 4 large and one huge). If you have ever tried purchasing minis you know that they cost way more than $1 apiece unless you find deals on ebay or craigslist that don't require high shipping prices. The minis are unpainted true, but they are durable and can easily be painted if you desire. The minis of all of these games provide a decent mix of bad guys and heroes for regular Dungeons and Dragons as well as the game. I especially like this game more than Castle Ravenloft because you get to play Drizzt and friends. Its compatibility with the other box sets also means you can take Drizzt, Wulfgar, Bruenor and the others through adventures outside of the Underdark. I highly recommend this game to DnD fans and Drizzt fans as well as people who want to start playing Dungeons and Dragons type games.

This is without a doubt one of the most addicting and entertaining board games I've ever played. My boyfriend and I frequently play board games together, and oftentimes we meet with another couple for dinner and game night. On nights like that, this game is perfect. I have no experience with tabletop RPGs, but fortunately, the rules are very straightforward. There are some rare instances where the rulebook isn't clear, so sometimes you will have to decide for yourself how to respond in those situations. The game play is fluid, and there are multiple ways that you can play the game, which means that the fun is always a bit different. There are TONS of pieces, so it helps to find a good system for organizing them all. The game is relatively quick too! Most games last between 30 and 45 minutes, BUT the setup takes about 10 to 15 minutes. It's almost not worth it to dig out all the pieces if you're only going to play one game, simply because it takes a minute to get everything situated. Typically we play 2 or 3 games back to back while we have everything laid out. You do need ALOT of space to play as well. Usually we just play in the floor, that way we can build the dungeon without fear of running out of room. Overall, it's a great game. I love it, and I'll definitely be purchasing Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft. I would recommend starting with Legend of Drizzt, because it is very...beginner friendly.

I'm a bit newer to board games, only have a few modern ones so far. But this one has been the best by far! The Box: The box contains everything perfectly, it uses a plastic divider to assist in keeping the components well organized, all while being covered in some fantastic art. The Components: This board game has some seriously high end components, tons of highly detailed miniatures, lots of cleanly written and easy to understand cards, loads of top notch tiles and tokens. And of course, a beauitful slightly clear purple 20 sided die. The Books: This comes with two books, a clear and easy to understand 15 page rulebook, and an adventure book, that will guide you through the scenarios of each dungeon. Gameplay: The game can be played solo, co-op or competitive. Solo is fantastic and co-op is the best fun I've had with a board game yet. Replay value is huge with how high the random and customizable factors both are for each session. The fact you can combine this with with the two other cooperative D&D board games from Wizards of the Coast is just insane and triples your content and replay value. My only complaint is that I received two barbarians and no dwarf, instead of one barbarian and one dwarf. But easily forgivable! If you're into board games, DEFINITELY check this out! Dungeons and Dragons is considered the best for a reason