If you enjoy the encounter aspect of Dungeons & Dragons, then you’ll love Guild of Dungeoneering — the turn-based, dungeon crawler card game that gives you the ability to be, both, Dungeon Master and adventurer. The objective, of the game, is to crawl various dungeons, while clearing objectives, collecting loot and earning gold to spend on perks and power-ups. Each dungeon is different and fleshes out depending on the cards you’re dealt. Each turn, you’ll receive a hand of Seek, Dread and Hope cards and you’re expected to play at least three cards per turn.
Seek cards are map pieces that you can place down to expand the dungeon. However, pieces must fit the dungeon’s layout. Dread cards are monster encounters that can be placed in empty rooms? Why the f— would you want to place monsters down, you ask? Well, it’s simple, winning encounters earn you loot, adding cards to your battle deck. You can create your own grind, this way you can get strong enough to take on the dungeon boss. Hope cards are treasures that can be placed down, in rooms, to influence your dungeoneer’s direction. The game has an easy learning curve, but requires some premeditation when placing cards down. If you think that you can run-and-gun, straight for the boss, you’re in for a rude awakening.
The battle system is simple, yet strategic. If you enter a room with an enemy, you’ll begin an encounter. An enemy’s attack card will be face-up, allowing you to counter attack on each turn (unless you’re fighting a goddamned Bandito). If you deplete all of your hearts, you die and it’s back to the beginning of the dungeon with a new character. However, winning an encounter earns you loot options, unlocking cards with higher attack stats. Picking up gold and treasures, along the way, can be spent in the guild shop to unlock additional character classes, battle traits, blessings and skills to help you on your journey. If I can offer any piece of advice, it’s read the battle and loot cards carefully. Picking up an item, that may appear covetous, can net a loss of other important cards.
As for visuals, the charming, buoyant music compliments the hand-drawn art style rather nicely. If you’ve ever played Munchkin, the card game, you’ll make a quick connection between the two. Guild of Dungeoneering offers a unique dungeon crawling experience with a load of replayability. There are lots of dungeons to explore, and it will definitely take you some time to get your sea legs.
Guild of Dungeoneering, developed by Gambrinous and published by Versus Evil, is available for Steam.
