Descent: Legends of the Dark

[YellowKing]

Giving this its own thread since it's the hottest (and most controversial) game of the moment. This could get lengthy, but for a game that is this much in the spotlight, I think it deserves an honest review.

We just got finished playing through the first scenario. All told it took us about 3 hours, but a lot of that was rules lookup and figuring stuff out. All the terrain stuff had already been built so that was just a matter of grabbing it when asked for. We spent much more time looking for specific tiles than we did setting up terrain.

First off, let's address the elephant in the room - app-assisted games. I'm not opposed to app-assisted games in any way, shape, or form. I believe dismissing a game just because it uses an app is a great way to miss out on some fantastic gaming experiences. Why? Because apps can create new mechanics and ways of doing things that can't easily be replicated in a physical game, and the best app-assisted games do just that. Does Descent lean more heavily into the app side of things than previous FF games? Yes it does. And I can understand why that may be a turn off. However, it also does some pretty neat things that enhance the physical game, as we shall see.

I also wanted to address some common misconceptions I've heard from people who haven't played the game:

- "You can just play the app." - I think Tom Vasel was exaggerating a bit in his review. The app displays map setup, tracks enemy damage and status effects, tracks hero/enemy phase, and manages terrain interactions. The app DOES NOT track player position, player status effects, individual player turns & actions, and a myriad of other little things that it would need to do to be completely playable in digital form.

- "The app does all the dice rolling." - Nope. I even fell for this one. The app does not roll dice, it only inputs successes rolled by the player (physically), and then determines enemy damage based on weapon type, weapon damage, and enemy defense. The reason the app handles this is that effectiveness of enemy defense is a random modifier. It also offloads the upkeep of having to track enemy damage and status effects, and allows for random special attacks and enemy behaviors.

- "The terrain is pointless." - I'll admit it's a *tad* gimmicky, but let's face it - it's also kind of cool to build out a multi-story dungeon and have your little minis running through it. This is one of those things that you're either going to embrace the sheer audacity of it, or you're not. The thing I didn't realize before playing is that all terrain has a purpose - you can interact with almost anything for an action cost, and most of the time you'll get something beneficial in return. And it's really nicely constructed - we were tossing columns and trees around all night and nothing came apart, even without glue. These are solid little constructions, and you won't need to take them apart after putting them together since the box is big enough to hold everything.

So on to the game. The rules for this one are very simple, but I don't yet feel like I've fully grasped the nuances yet, even after a successful run of the first scenario. The main game mechanic is flipping cards. Every card in the game, be it your character card, your weapon, or abilities, has a reverse side with slightly different effects. These cards have a "fatigue" limit. Turning + symbols into successes, as well as certain special abilities, cause you to suffer fatigue tokens that must be placed on your cards. If you ever have to place fatigue and can't because you've reached the limit on that card, you take damage.

The good news is that you can "ready" a card (flip it), for the cost of one action. And flipping a card removes all tokens from it, good or bad. On the surface during our playthrough, this seemed a bit overpowered. One action and we can just erase any bad effects and fatigue on our character? Umm....OK. But, we also saw glimmers of how this becomes a constraint as the scenario got more difficult.

One neat mechanic (and one I greatly enjoyed in the Octopath Traveler video game) was that enemies have weaknesses against certain weapon types, but you don't know what that weakness is until you attack them and figure it out. Now flipping weapon cards becomes crucial, as once you discover what an enemy is weak against, you'll want to hit them with that weapon exclusively. Towards the end of the game I got into a situation where I was up against a strong enemy weak against blades, but my blades were fatigued and suffering a couple of other negative effects. Now I had several choices - flip to my bow and hit the enemy once with a weapon type I knew he wasn't weak against? Or keep my blades out and attack twice, knowing I risked taking damage should I somehow gain more fatigue? Or forfeit my attack altogether to flip to bow and then back to blades, setting myself up for next round?

Ultimately the game is forcing you to constantly change up your weapons, your skills, and your special abilities - so those (like me) who tend to find something that works and stick with it may find themselves outside their comfort zone. Which in this case I think is a good thing.

As far as the app itself goes, it's very nicely presented and certainly feels the most polished of FF's apps to date. I referred to some neat things it does that could not as easily be replicated in a physical game, and off the top of my head: hiding enemy weakness info, offering several interactive options for different terrain types, revealing maps/terrain upon certain triggers, adding in enemy special attacks (and dropping clues as to when to avoid them), interactive questions that affect the campaign over the long-term, etc.

So, is it fun? Yes, it's definitely fun, with some caveats. If you're a Gloomhaven veteran, or have played other complex dungeon crawlers, you're going to naturally find this game feels lighter. Typically I wouldn't consider that much of an issue, but we all know this game is pricy. For around the same amount of money (or less!) you could pick up Middara or Gloomhaven and have a lengthier campaign with a richer (some might say more satisfying) rule set.

So let's talk about price. I sometimes hesitate to get into debates about the cost of things, because cost is relative to individuals. Does the game feel overpriced? Sure, it feels high, considering you can get something like Gloomhaven cheaper. On the other hand, the miniatures are INCREDIBLY good, the terrain components are sturdy and well constructed, and the campaign appears to be quite meaty, with 16 missions in the 2-3 hour range. So if you can afford it, I can't say it's not worth it. That's an individual decision based on your own finances.

It's important to note we only played through the first scenario and stopped short of getting into the campaign mode stuff which has you visiting town, crafting items, etc. Supposedly that's a big aspect of the game experience that could very well sway my opinion.

TLDR; I love the minis, I love the terrain, I like the app. I'm enjoying the mechanics but don't feel I've quite grasped the strategy yet. I think there's a big layer of tactical play with enemy positioning that I'm overlooking in favor of running in and getting chewed up. It has not blown me away the same way Middara did after my first scenario, but few games have ever done that so don't take that as too big a knock. Cautiously optimistic, perhaps? I'm intrigued by the idea that there are tons of weapons, items, and abilities waiting to be unlocked, and that those will likely greatly affect strategy. Not to mention the 2 classes we haven't seen yet. So while I don't think this is the blockbuster reinvention of Descent that FF thought it might be, it's certainly not the complete disaster that social media deemed it to be before it was even released.

[hepcat]

That was pretty much my take as well.

However, the mechanic that surprised me the most was fatigue. While it’s basically the same as in previous games, it’s now more of a “currency” than in any previous iteration. You have to manage your weapons and items, yes. But even more importantly you have to manage your fatigue since it fuels..well…almost everything. Do you place fatigue on a weapon card or yourself? Do you flip a card to just clear it of fatigue? Do you push your fatigue knowing you might take damage if you do later? It makes for a form of hand management I wasn’t expecting.

The terrain is also something that I’m digging. I love interacting with things. And the game doesn’t seem to be on a strict timer like Mansions of Madness, lotr or Descent 2e. So you can actually crawl in this dungeon crawl.

The only thing that I’m finding troublesome is that this one is a massive table hog. I’m stilly playing the first scenario and I’m definitely going to have to disassemble some prior map pieces, or just turn the entire bloody thing a few times as I go. It does help in the app though that you can zoom out and see a rough outline of a 3x3 area that you’re going to build into. That way you can maybe position it well enough to start to compensate for later tiles.

[Skinypupy]

Dammit, you guys are going to make me spend $180, aren’t you.

Descent 2nd Edition is one of my all time favorites, and the price point was really the only thing keeping me away from this new version. Between YK’s comments and the No Pun Included review I watched this week, my resistance is starting to crumble.

[hepcat]

See if you have a Gaming Goat Game store near you. They’re selling it for 122 bucks. I’m betting if you poke around, you can find it just as cheap somewhere.

Of course, if you can hold off, I bet there will be holiday sales on the asmodee site.

One thing I’m still not sold on is putting the combat die type on the character. I kind of prefer Middara’s method of getting different dice based on your buildout. But I haven’t done any customization yet, so that may become a non issue at some point in the near future.

[Smoove_B]

GameNerdz had them for $140 shipped, but yeah, out of stock now.

I'm not sure I will purchase a copy (based on my limited space), but my interest in playing has definitely increased. I really like that "flip" mechanic and how the game seemingly encourages you to play as different characters. The idea of not being locked into a single character (or character path) for the entirety of a campaign is a draw for me, personally.

[Skinypupy]

I caved. Of course, the $30 store “rewards” credit and a $60 gift card I got as an early b-day present took most of the sting out of the price.

[YellowKing]

I started sundropping the enemies and they're turning out pretty well. Honestly I don't know how the hell you're supposed to paint some of the areas on these minis anyway - they are way beyond my painting to be able to do them justice. I may enlist the kids to help since it's just throwing on a couple of washes. This game would look gorgeous fully painted, but we'd be done with this campaign plus most of Frosthaven by the time I finished them.

[hepcat]

Just finished the first scenario. App says I played for 3 hours and 57 minutes…which sounds about right considering rules referencing and what not for my first game.

Can’t afford any upgrades just yet, but the game just gave me some new skills. The fatigue mechanics I mentioned earlier also apply to skill cards too. I rather like that.

I may bump up the difficulty on the second quest to heroic as the first one felt a little too easy. However, it was a tutorial more or less. Still, I want to see if it’s more challenging. Since you can change difficulty between quests, it’s easy enough to change back if I get ganked early.

[hepcat]

What difficulty are you playing on, YK? I did normal/standard on the 1st mission and it was kind of a cakewalk. I’m wondering if that was intentional because it was a tutorial of sorts, or if it’s an indication I should bump up to heroic.

[Fishbelly]

I may bump up the difficulty on the second quest to heroic as the first one felt a little too easy. However, it was a tutorial more or less. Still, I want to see if it’s more challenging. Since you can change difficulty between quests, it’s easy enough to change back if I get ganked early.

This is the part I'm most curious about, as I've seen posts and YouTube reviews (such as No Pun Included) that the game is quite easy on even the highest difficulty levels. I don't like games that are super punishing (ie. Ghost Stories, which I still have never won) but I do like a good challenge that gives me a sense of accomplishment. Games such as Gloomhaven and Too Many Bones are good examples--as I learned and mastered their mechanics, I could up the difficulty to keep it challenging.

If I have to play Descent at the highest level right away, will it turn into a VERY expensive cakewalk that leaves me disappointed?

[hepcat]

I’m going to replay the first scenario today on heroic and see what happens. However, I will say there are two levels above normal and you can change difficulty between scenarios.

[Skinypupy]

If you guys are playing solo, how many characters are you using? The rule book says two, but it seems lots of folks are using four.

[hepcat]

I used four for my first game and it wasn’t really that much trouble. Keeping track of how many actions I took was the only issue, and it wasn’t too bad.

[YellowKing]

What difficulty are you playing on, YK? I did normal/standard on the 1st mission and it was kind of a cakewalk. I’m wondering if that was intentional because it was a tutorial of sorts, or if it’s an indication I should bump up to heroic.

We played on standard and only one character suffered a (minor) wound. So I'm a bit up in the air as well, as I don't know if that's just because it was the first scenario, or because of four characters, or if it genuinely is too easy.

I'm keeping the game since I'm painting the minis, so I'm going to start a separate solo campaign in parallel. I have read four heroes is easier than two, so I'm torn on running four heroes on Heroic, three heroes on Hard, or two heroes on Standard. Looking forward to your Heroic experience review hepcat.

As much as I understand the attraction of being able to use whatever heroes you want at whatever difficulty you want, I kind of hate it when those decisions are left up to me. It sends me into total analysis paralysis.

[Skinypupy]

Played through the first 90 minutes of the first campaign. Really enjoying it so far, ended up playing with four characters. The fact it's a bit less complex than some other games is actually a big plus in my book, as the more fiddly a game gets, the less interested I become. The card flipping mechanic adds a very interesting strategic layer, and I really like how the fatigue mechanic works. I also really like how there isn't any sort of threat timer (at least so far). Maybe one comes into play later, but I like being able to actually explore without feeling like the game is pushing me out the door.

The app is far better than JiME or the original Descent/IA app, and you can tell they've learned a lot in how they've built it. I haven't had any issues with the app at all, but I generally quite enjoy app integration so that was never likely to be a downside for me.

Only a couple nitpicks:
1. It looks fantastic on the table, but is a massive table hog. I must have had to reposition the entire map half a dozen times trying to get it, my character sheets, and my iPad to fit on the table.
2. It suffers from one of the same problems that Middara did, in that a few of the minis are WAY too big. Good luck trying to get mobs in adjacent squares if Syrus and Vaerix are next to each other.
3. I'm sure it was just bad luck, but one of the mobs in the first dungeon area one shot me from full health. That was quite surprising for an early enemy in the very first scenario on Standard difficulty. A Bandit did 9 attack, and Vaerix only got one success on his defense roll (and a Surge, which doesn't do anything on defense, as I understand it).
4. The cardboard scenery, while really neat, is definitely not made for people with big sausage fingers like mine. I've tried to be super careful, but have already bent back the tabs on two of the small pillars. And every time I start digging around in the box, I feel like I'm going to break something. i finally just took the dragon altar out and set it on the shelf...I'm 100% sure I would have broken that.

So far, so good. Already starting to think about how some of the card and ability synergies, which is always a good sign.

[YellowKing]

I re-organized my play area to maximize table space, though my table is still not deep enough to accommodate some of these maps. Will just have to get creative and split them where possible.

I found an old 3-door plastic art supply drawer that I'm using to organize the terrain, and that's working like a champ. Doors/gates/stairs in the top drawer, columns and trees in the middle drawer, furniture and chests in the bottom.

Starting a solo campaign with a party of 4 because if I can run Middara 4-handed this should be a breeze. Since people are saying Standard is too easy, and Heroic feels like something I shouldn't tackle until I know the game better, I'm just going to roll through on Hard until I hit a wall.

[hepcat]

Didn't get a chance to start a new game Sunday after all. Also, is there a Hard level before Heroic? I didn't realize that. That's probably where I want to go next if so.

Hopefully this weekend I'll start a side campaign with one or two others.

[YellowKing]

Sorry, hep, just had my terminology mixed up. It's Journey --> Standard --> Heroic --> Warfare. I wish they would just call stuff by normal names, this isn't a &*#$(#& Starbucks.

[AWS260]

When you say table hog, like, how much? My table is basically 3'x4', and I have a couple of TV trays I can use when things get desperate.

[YellowKing]

When you say table hog, like, how much?

The map area by itself can take up to 3x3. I have the width covered, but my depth is around 2 1/2 ft so I sometimes have to split a room off to the side. Sounds like you have the depth covered, so you may be OK. Worst case you may have to move the hero cards over to the TV trays.

I played through the first scenario last night on Heroic (Hard) difficulty with 4 heroes and I think that may be the sweet spot for me. I wouldn't say it was *difficult* but I did get one-shotted at one point (note to self, don't let your mage run off without protection), and the end of the scenario was a bit of a nailbiter.

I also felt like a had a much better understanding of the rules this time around. For instance, our first play through we missed the fact that if an enemy can't reach his target, he will target the closest hero instead. We were just moving him towards his selected target as close as possible and skipping his attack. Fixing that certainly made for a greater challenge.

I also wrapped my head around fatigue and card flipping in a way I didn't on the first playthrough. While the beginning scenario doesn't really put you into many situations where you *need* to flip cards around, it gave me enough of a taste to understand how critical it could be in more advanced scenarios. While the solo game is very easy to run 4 heroes, my biggest challenge with the solo experience is remembering what skills and abilities each hero has that could be effective in various situations. That's just going to take some time to learn.

So if my first impressions were positive, you can consider my second impressions even more so. I really like how the simplicity of the rule set doesn't prevent you from having to make meaningful decisions.

[AWS260]

When you say table hog, like, how much?

The map area by itself can take up to 3x3. I have the width covered, but my depth is around 2 1/2 ft so I sometimes have to split a room off to the side. Sounds like you have the depth covered, so you may be OK. Worst case you may have to move the hero cards over to the TV trays.

Thanks!

[hepcat]

I found in my game on Sunday that I was able to just disassemble earlier parts of the map as I went along. There was no reason I would be heading back there as far as I could tell. And that proved to be correct.

Also, if you pull back on the view of the map in the app, there's an outline showing you how the space is going to be used in the map building process. That's really helpful in deciding the initial map orientation.

[YellowKing]

I went through about 3/4 of a second scenario last night and let's just say I'm rethinking my decision to play on Heroic.

The crafting/weapon upgrade stuff is pretty cool. Last night I crafted a new haft for lizard-guy's (haven't learned the names yet) war mace thing that has a chance to proc damage against ALL enemies. The best thing about it is that the app handles all that for you, so other than adding it to your weapon, you don't even have to do anything.

[hepcat]

Okay, restarting the campaign. I tried the second quest on heroic and it did not end well. Unfortunately I accepted the loss and returned to town, otherwise I could have just reset to last visit to town and replayed just that one scenario again. Lesson learned.

[YellowKing]

Yeah I got my ass handed to me on that one as well.

I'll be starting over as well, but AFTER I paint those damned minis. I sound like a total snob, but I can't handle doing a dungeon crawl with unpainted figs like some sort of primitive. It's not necessarily going to be a GOOD paint job, but I've got to slap some color on those bad boy before I go insane.

[tylertoo]

Yeah I got my ass handed to me on that one as well.

I'll be starting over as well, but AFTER I paint those damned minis. I sound like a total snob, but I can't handle doing a dungeon crawl with unpainted figs like some sort of primitive. It's not necessarily going to be a GOOD paint job, but I've got to slap some color on those bad boy before I go insane.

I agree but I know nothing about painting and have no time to learn. I don't own this version of Descent but I have 2nd edition, along with a bunch of other crawlers, and not one single mini is painted.

I guess I should learn.

[AWS260]

Joel Eddy really likes it:

[Skinypupy]

SU&SD just trashed it. Oof.



Interestingly, while I don’t necessarily disagree with anything about his take, I do still enjoy the game more than something like Gloomhaven. I’m not generally a big fan of brain-burning combat, so I find that the low difficulty and lack of complexity in Descent are actually positives.

[YellowKing]

I like SU&SD but I always take their reviews with a huge grain of salt. They're generally just much more negative and unforgiving than I am.

[hepcat]

I played another solo, four handed game today. I’m about 5 scenarios into the campaign now. I see all the issues the critics have with the game, but when I’m playing they just don’t matter that much to me. I get lost in the “fatigue balancing” mechanic, as I try to figure out when to flip a card to dump fatigue/conditions, and when to stay pat and hope I don’t get hit with too much later.

My last game was frigging close. 3 characters wounded, one with a major wound (if he’d been hit one more time, the game would’ve ended in a loss, so I kept that character behind a wall of others). Just as it looked like I was done for, I managed to find a spell that brought my heavy hitter into the fray again after they’d been sent away earlier to search. It was a nail biter.

I keep jumping between this and Middara right now.

[Ertic]

Rare post from me:

I am also playing both Descent and Middara currently. We are about five scenarios deep into Descent, playing on Heroic, and so far I have been enjoying it. I don't have a problem with app driven games, and so far this is hitting most of my dungeon crawl buttons. I believe we are 4-1 in those five scenarios, losing the dream based one.

In Middara we are still in the MAST, having last killed the Gevudan. We are still very much in rules lookup mode, trying to ensure we are doing everything right. Funny enough I setup Middara on the table but also had it on a screen via TTS for easier viewing. The tiles are so small, which so far is my only complaint about the game. My guess is that I am going to end up enjoying Middara more than Descent. More customization, better mechanics, however I do like the aesthetics of Descent.

[hepcat]

I tried playing Descent on heroic and got my ass handed to me. You're a better player than I.

[YellowKing]

When I beat a game that someone else can't:

"Wooo, I'm the game MASTER! Guess you just need to GIT GUD! Haha, sucker. Maybe Candyland is more your speed."

When I can't beat a game that someone else can:

"What rule are you getting wrong that is allowing you to cheat?"

[Archinerd]

Well, $180 was too rich for my blood, but I just found a ding/dent copy at Noble Knight that was heavily discounted.
Dings and dents don't bother me that much, especially when it's almost $70 off of list price, and still $30 cheaper than Amazon.
Of course, I had to add some other stuff to the cart to get the free shipping...

[Scoop20906]

So I am now pretty much a solo board gamer. The pandemic caused me to cut all my in person interactions with my friends for two years and then late last year I moved to a new state and I am simply not interested in searching for gaming groups again. I'm older and a family now. I guess those days are done for the next few decades.

Anyway, I've been having a great time trying out solo board games. Right now I am half way The Initiative and having fun with it and my next solo game is Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game. I expect both of these will keep me busy for a while but I have my eye on the newest version of Descent. A long time back I used to play the first version of Descent all the time with my gaming group and we loved getting slaughtered by the Overload. I've looked at the new Descent and I see they have automated the Overlord which means it can be played solo with you running the heroes. I'm intrigued and I see the price is down to $139 but OUCH. From the people who have tried it out (especially solo) is it worth the price? Is the campaign and RPG elements enough to keep you playing? Would love to hear others thoughts.

[Smoove_B]

I can't comment specifically on the game play, but opinions of trusted reviewers online seem pretty mixed and very black and white. Some really seem to love it, others hate it - and not just because it's app based. I've looked at it myself a few times, but for me it comes back to time and space. I'm definitely interested (and I think it would be a pretty good fit), I'm just smart enough to know I'd likely set it up and it would collect dust at this point.

For pricing, you can definitely find deals and it's been $99 a few times already (even cheaper, I think in some random places) but I think that $139 is the standard "sale" price permitted by Asmodee's "MAP" agreement.

I think it depends on what you're looking for in a solo game too. We have a dedicated solo board gaming thread but it's large enough now that searching for general impressions is likely necessary. I've tried to follow the new "best practices" and start new threads, but my own board gaming comes in fits and starts, unfortunately.

Anyway, it might be good to start a solo dungeon crawl thread (if that's what you're looking to get into). I'm pretty sure among the people here on OO we've collectively played them all.

[hepcat]

I own and play it quite a bit. But it is, as Smoove notes, very much a "love it or hate it" type game.

What I love about it is the ease of setup, the crafting mechanic (I'm finally getting some truly cool upgrades now in my solo campaign), and the customization with said crafted stuff.

What I don't love about it is the exhaustion mechanic, which still hasn't 100 percent sold me. It comes down to flipping cards to manage exhaustion, which is used to fuel things/penalize you. Sometimes I miss the simpler mechanic found in the previous Descent 2nd edition.

But if you're looking for a good solo dungeon crawler, I would say it's in my top 5. Other suggestions are:

1) Middara - Truly tactical. I hate the theme, love the mechanics.

2) Mansions of Madness 2nd edition - Not really a dungeon crawler, I guess. But still one of the best solo RPG experiences around.

3) Descent: Legends of the Dark (see above)

4) Descent 2nd edition - Wonderful....if it weren't for the damn timer. The game uses a timer to move you through the game and I find it annoying at times. Even if the rest of it is a blast.

5) Gloomhaven - I think we all know about this one at this point.

6) Shadows of Brimstone - I need to get back to this as the game has evolved a great deal since its inception.

7) Dungeon Universalis - Old school....with all the complexity that entails. It has a 131 page rulebook, be warned. Not for everyone, but if you want something with meat on its bones, and that allows for creating your own characters, this one has a lot going for it.

8) Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth. Much like Descent 2nd edition, it uses an annoying timer quite often. But I do love the card based combat/test resolution mechanic.

9) Core Space - A space based dungeon crawl. But be warned: it has a daunting set up time, the customization of the characters is fairly limited, and it's more a miniatures skirmish game than anything else. Still, it's fun and I enjoy it from time to time.

10) V-Sabotage - Yeah, I know it's not technically a dungeon crawler. But this WWII themed stealth game gives me the same feels as a dungeon crawler. There's loot, there's exploration, there's people trying to kill me....and it's all wrapped up in a wonderful solo experience to boot.

[Skinypupy]

I didn't like it at all. My thoughts (reposted from here)

I've been feeling guilty lately about my most expensive board game purchase, Descent: Legends of the Dark, gathering dust having only been played a couple times. So I busted it out to give it another dedicated try this week.

I have decided that I really just don't like this game and am seriously kicking myself for getting sucked in and paying full price ($180) for it. There's so many things that just absolutely bug the hell out of me:

- The writing is just SO incredibly bad. Honestly, my 13-year-old could write much more compelling and interesting dialog than this. Everything about the story, the conversations, the mid-mission interactions, etc is just incredibly juvenile.

- I really dislike the artwork. I get that they were going for a stylized approach, but it's all just looks (again) rather juvenile and amateurish.

- The minis, while incredibly detailed and cool to look at, are a PITA to actually play with. Two of the player characters are so large that they overlap multiple squares and you're constantly fiddling with them to try and fit everyone in. They're difficult to get out of the container (actually cut my thumb twice). They have small bit and bobs that break easily. The colored bases are constantly falling out.

- The main selling point (for me, anyways) was the cool terrain and the table presence. And I'll admit that it looks pretty neat when it's all laid out. But I've found that I spend nearly as much time building the damn map, moving tiles, placing tables/shelves/archways, and doing other general maintenance as I do actually playing the game. Not to mention is a massive table hog. I have a pretty decent sized 3' x 5' gaming table, and I was still constantly having to take down bits of scenery and shift the entire map around to make room for the new area I just unlocked on the map. Which becomes very problematic when mobs suddenly spawn behind you...in the area you just tore down to make room for the new tiles. I thought that I would have fun building the level as I went, but I found it incredibly tedious and annoying. Also, the cardboard scenery isn't exactly the best quality. I was pretty careful and only played through 4 missions, and three of the large posts that you use to elevate platforms have already started to slightly split (doesn't affect gameplay or setup, but annoying).

- The gameplay is just...boring. I'm all for simpler systems over needlessly complex ones, but this one just isn't exciting at all. Assign stamina tokens, roll dice, flip cards...that's pretty much it. There's not much more interesting that happens. Higher difficulties make enemies more difficult to hit and they do more damage, but there's no positioning, only a few very basic status effects, no real buff mechanics, etc. Maybe those come in at higher levels, but I wasn't interested enough to play through that far.

My overwhelming thought as I was playing through the 3rd mission tonight was "why am I playing this when I have Middara - a far superior campaign dungeon crawl - sitting there on the shelf?" I literally shut off the app mid-mission and packed Descent back up. I doubt it'll hit the table again, and will go down as my biggest gaming regret purchase.

I'd sell you my copy for pretty cheap, but I'm afraid it would cost a small fortune to ship so probably not worth it.

For me, Middara is the gold standard in solo dungeon crawls. Massive Darkness 2 was also really fantastic. And I always love the D&D Adventure Series games (Legend of Drizzt, Temple of Elemental Evil, Castle Ravenloft, etc) if you want something a little lighter.

[YellowKing]

Yeah I'm going to be honest- I never finished my campaign, and not sure I have the energy to do so. Personally I think there are other dungeon crawlers out there at a fraction of the price that would entertain you at about the same level. As already pointed out, if you're going to drop that kind of coin get Middara or Gloomhaven which are a lot more bang for the buck and are the two greatest dungeon crawlers I've ever played. Hell, go pick up Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion for a mere pittance at Target and I guarantee your solo dungeon crawling craving will be sated for at least a bit.

It's not a bad game, and I enjoyed it while I was playing. The problem is that when you get in the $100+ range, I feel like a game needs to be better than "not bad."

I'd also throw Cthulhu: Death May Die out there as an option. It's one of my favorite solo games and while not a true "dungeon" crawl shares a lot of the same DNA - lots of monsters, lots of dice chucking, and character leveling.

[Scoop20906]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I think you told me what I needed to hear.