If you loved the old HeroQuest game you will absolutely love Mantic’s new Dunegon Saga game. You have to see this one folks!
Via Mantic Games
Dungeon Saga is a classic dungeon crawler, and for that to be the case, there needs to be a dungeon – one we wanted you to be able to fully interact with.
The Dungeon Floor
The Dungeon Floor itself does two jobs. One is that it features a functional square grid used for movement, but much more excitingly is that it plunges you straight into a fantasy dungeon setting
There are 33 room and corridor tiles in Dungeon Saga, each with art depicting an ancient dwarfen hold of yesteryear. There are several different shaped rooms and corridors, and each tile is double-sided. This creates more variation, particularly as dungeons get bigger in later scenarios. It also gives you more options should you wish to build your own dungeon.
Here’s a selection of the different tiles you will be playing on:
You’ll notice the red background on this tile sheet – this is to denote that these tiles are used for the Getting Started scenarios. Here is the reverse side of this sheet:
The reverse side of this tile features art in the style of a theme called “The Black Fortress”. The Black Fortress will be available as a separate purchase and will be a completely new theme for your dungeons. Some of the double-sided art is designed to match up with it, so that you can mix it with both themes and make bigger, more impressive dungeons.
Here are a few more examples of the tiles and counters in the Dwarf King’s Quest:
These dungeon tiles are made of 2mm-thick card with a linen finish. This is high quality card, far better quality than anything we’ve been able to make before, with the same finish as the card in the X-wing miniatures game.
Left: Thick tile from Dungeon Saga. Right: Tile from our old Dwarf King’s Hold: Dead Rising game, which is noticeably thinner.Dungeon Saga also comes with a bag of tile clips. These are designed so that the tiles don’t slip around the table. The tile simply slots into the clip which is grippy enough to hold it in place, but not so much that it damages the card. Here’s a few clips working with our card tile samples:
Dungeon Furniture
We’re really pleased with the high quality sculpts of the heroes, villains and the minion you’ll find in the Dungeon Saga game, but the thing that gets everyone’s dungeon-adventure juices flowing is the furniture.
It’s plastic, hard-wearing and there’s a good selection to choose from. Chests, weapon racks and bookshelves can all be interacted with by your heroes – who knows what potion or new piece of equipment you’ll find.
Dungeon Doors
In Dungeon Saga, the Overlord (essentially the game master who plays the Necromancer in the Dwarf King’s Quest) only places the number of tiles up to the first set of doors for our hero to explore. What lies beyond the doors will remain a mystery to the party until they open it.
There are both mundane doors and magically warded doors to deal with. The mundane doors will need to be opened (a good kick or smash with an axe should do it!) whilst the warded doors will require the attention of a magic-caster. Some doors are more difficult than others, represented by a color-coded counter placed next to the door. All of the information you’ll need to break through them is right in front of you.
There are 10 doors included in the Dungeon Saga game, such as the gated door and the double-door, and both the furniture and doors will be available as separate purchases should you wish to get more of them.
Build your own dungeons
In Dungeon Saga: Dwarf King’s Quest and the following expansions there are lots and lots of different maps and scenarios for you to try out but of course, with the tiles, clips, furniture and doors at your disposal, there’s nothing stopping you building your own dungeons of course.
And with the Adventurer’s Companion there’s a mechanism for randomly-generating dungeons, creating an all-together different challenge for your heroes.
Dungeon Saga: Dwarf King’s Quest is now available to pre-order from your local retailer or the Mantic webstore.
Pre-order before the 31st June and get a free exclusive Legendary Mortibris figure.
About the Author: Rob Baer
