Hey kid! Do you like to put together and paint plastic miniatures for tabletop games? You do? Then have I got a game for you. And maybe a job.
Super Dungeon Explore is a tabletop miniatures game with a huge dollop of loving affection for the JRPGs of the olden days. Everything about the game, which is essentially a sort of multiplayer Gauntlet-esque dungeoncrawler with 1-4 characters taking on the role of various chibi heroes versus a human-controlled Dark Consul representative, is informed by Dragon Quest and other games of its ilk. Even the game terms are pulled straight from video games, with the stages of the game called “platforms” and the weaker monsters slated as 8-Bit, the stronger as 16-bit.
I love that the game is colorful, fun to play, and puts absolutely no fluff text folderol or byzantine rules crap in the way of beating up monsters and taking their potions, loot, and hearts. I also think the miniatures are just fantastic when they’re put together and painted up. There’s nothing else like this game on the market.
But, sadly, I’m not a miniatures guy anymore. I don’t have the time, patience, talent, or money to keep up with miniatures. I actually used D&D minis as proxies when I was reviewing the game and it worked OK, but it sucks that there isn’t a better option for the modelling averse like cardboard standups or something. Plus, since it’s a miniatures game, that means that this is a $90 starter kit that is going to make you want to buy more. That said, it’s a very nice $90 package with lots of value.
So Super Dungeon Explore gets a tentative nod. I do like it quite a lot, but I’m just not into the miniatures thing and I find myself wishing that it were packaged as a board game product. But hey, you might think otherwise. Read more at Gameshark.
Hey Barnes, sorry to attempt to hijack this thread rather than talking on Tom’s comment section, but over there you mentioned a deck-building game called Nightfall. Can you tell me about it or put out a link to something you’ve written, because I’d love another stupidly fun deck-building game to get addicted to in real-life and then again on my iPhone as well.
Yeah…you get these bags of pieces. Very, very small pieces. And lots of them. With no instructions in the box. I was hoping it would at least be like Space Hulk, where they’d at least clip together without glue. It’s definitely a product for modelers.
There is a review at Gameshark, I’ll dig up a link. Nightfall is a vampires vs. werewolves vs. ghouls vs. humans postapocalypse scenario, the drafting pool is small and each player has two card types that only they can draft. But two things make this a great deckbuilder. One is that it uses this really unique card chaining mechanic which can include cardplay by every player at the table. Also, mandatory attacks every turn. It’s the most aggressive and bloodiest deckbuilder by far. I think it feels more CCGish than most games in the genre, the combos are more intricate and the cardplay is more compelling than Dominion.
Funny enough I played this tonight along with Mage Knight. I thought the game was enjoyable and nice and quick. I actually have a copy on my xmas list, then my friend told me it took him 4 hours to get the miniatures together…not painted…just put together and well now I don’t know if I want it.
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