The Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books Thread Book • Page 130

If one were interested in solo dungeon crawler boardgames but a modern boardgame noob, where would one start? Asking for….myself

 

A significant portion of my adult life has happened because of a Terry Brooks novel, does that count?

Also I’m a strongman competitor but I listen to mythology podcasts while I train, I feel like those cancel out.

I wrote the theme song for my prom but didn’t actually attend. Seems like that’s in the same general nerd category somehow.

Those are my contenders aside from the obvious stuff.

 

Gloomhaven is probably the most popular. It was the highest rated game for a long time. Never played it myself though. But there’s a scaled down version called “Jaws of the Lion” that’s probably a really good entry point at a fair price point. It used to be target exclusive but I think it’s available everywhere now.

 

I don’t believe anything I do is SUPER nerdy, but I recall that when I mentioned building several custom mechanical keyboards in the past, people found that quite nerdy.

 

I just got Frosthaven (the sequel to Gloomhaven) and it fucking rules. But yeah those game are expensive so get Jaws of the Lion first to see if you dig it.

I had never really gotten into boardgames before but I adore that series

i need to get some paints and attempt what will assuredly be a terrible first attempt at miniature painting

 

The Stormlight miniatures from that one campaign almost made me want to risk revealing how terrible of an artist I am

 

well pull up a chair my friend!

First off, everything said before this post is right - Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, and Frosthaven are the #1, #2, and #4 ranked solo dungeon crawler games on BoardGameGeek, respectively. However they are pretty heavy, except Jaws of the Lion is watered down Gloomhaven, much more approachable and cheaper than the original.

I guess first off, is there a theme you'd be interested in? Fantasy? Horror? Western? Sci-fi? There is a dungeon crawler for every single theme. And of course, plenty of good videogames/IPs have been adapted to boardgames that fall into the dungeon crawler category: Star Wars Imperial Assault, Elder Scrolls, Gears of War, The Witcher, Lord of the Rings, Hellboy, Warhammer, Dead Cells. Slay the Spire is the new hotness at the moment:



Also important to note there is a difference in TRUE solo games vs games that just happen to have a solo mode in addition to normal multiplayer/co-op modes. Sometimes the solo mode is tacked on, sometimes it's against a very competent Bot. I love a good solo/beat your own score mode in games but lately I've been into the pure solo stuff, meant for one person to sit down and enjoy. One that always gets mentioned as a good starting point is One Deck Dungeon:

One Deck Dungeon



Literally a 'one deck' roguelike dungeon delve, different every time like all those videogames we know Dan loves (won't tag him here lol). Same principle as the videogame genre - pick a character, fight enemies, loot chests, level up, etc. I've never actually played it but it is almost always recommended as a good starting point. Plus it's only like $25 and there's a digital version for $10.

Mini Rogue is also another one often recommended to beginners:

Mini Rogue



A minimalist roguelike dungeon crawler with dice placement mechanics. Card-based as well. Good thing about these two games is that the table space is small and they are fairly easy to play and learn.

Of course, there's always the huge table hogs with tons of components and compendiums of crunchy rules if that's your thing:



This is the aforementioned Frosthaven, which has a 4.4/5 weight rating on BGG. The higher the weight, the more complicated/heavy the game is. I'm nowhere near ready for these types of games (at least not on my own) but they do exist if you want to jump right in.

Right now I'm in love with a game called Iron Helm, which is a pure solo dungeon crawler where you're an aged adventurer going on one last dungeon dive to collect enough money to retire. The art style is like 80's fantasy or old school D&D. You pick a character, starting skills and gear, and then proceed to flip through the dungeon deck. Reveal two cards at a time and pick one. It could be an arrow trap. It could be a skeleton archer. It could be a merchant. You never know, no two runs are the same.



I mean, look at that art.

Anyways, this probably should have been a DM, but whatever. I'm putting the thread on notice that these exist and they rule and I play them all the time and no I don't have friends why would you ask

All done derailing the thread. Tomorrow I'll post about tonight's book club meeting where we discussed Fourth Wing and I was the only one who didn't like it lol

EDIT: the list of dungeon crawler games with solo rules by BGG rank for the bored: Category: Dungeon Crawler | Family | BoardGameGeek

And of course: Tabletop Games • forum.chorus.fm

 

Thank you!!

 

From opening the box, to doing my first mission, it was about 4 nights worth of punching cardboard and organizing Frosthaven. Putting the game together is almost as much fun as playing it

 

nerd (lovingly)

 

I wrote my senior thesis in college on Tolkien’s underlying philosophical ideology of eucatastrophe so that’s probably mine.

I should have more fun with being a nerd.

 

remember when being a nerd was a stigma and insult? In middle school, they'd make fun of you for reading comics (early 2000s for elder millennials like myself). Now D&D and Marvel are so mainstream that you no one threatens to beat you up whenever you talk about your gnome warlock character

 

I started reading Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series. I can definitely see where this influenced Harry Potter (school for wizards) but I also see where it influenced the Airbender franchise as well (a fantasy world that isn't based on medieval Europe, most of the characters being not white, ect)

 

I feel like I am one of the only dudes in my social circle who doesn't play D&D.

 

I feel weird about starting to play so late—preteen/teen me would have gone crazy with it, but I didn’t start playing until my late 20s for whatever reason.

It’s super fun though!

 

I would like to play again but only with people I know very well. I played it for awhile but the group I played with were all my ex-wife's friends, so when we divorced, she kept the D&D group lol. Haven't played since

 

This is amazing, thank you. I didn't need a new hobby, but damn if I don't want to get into this one.

 

you're welcome and I'm sorry. happy to help!

 

Well, that’s annoying. But here’s a photo

 

Coming March 11, 2025.

 

where's the circle maze tho

 

Looks like Pierce is predicting a summer 2026 release for Red God.

 

that was all just a metaphor

(or it’s like behind the manor probably, shrouded in mist and glowing)

 

This is good! Plenty of time for me to catch up at least