“Ruin has come to our family.” In this adaptation of Red Hook’s Darkest Dungeon video game, you strive to cleanse a manor and its surroundings of all manner of evil: hordes of the undead, foul beasts and eldritch abominations. And, finally, either at death’s door or at your wit’s end, you will have to uproot evil itself from the darkest dungeon.
Darkest Dungeon is a fully cooperative dungeon crawl game in which players take on the role of adventurers. Although brave and determined, adventurers are only human! They are prone to the madness and pain the twisted dwellers of the dungeons will inflict upon them. Death can occur, but is not the worst fate: heroes can be driven mad and beyond help!
The game is played in campaigns of 11 missions. To reach the Darkest Dungeon itself, players will undertake 3 missions per threat level and vanquish the boss. Then, they will be strong enough and face the horrors of the Darkest Dungeon! They may emerge victorious, if they dispatch the source of evil that plagues the land.
For each hero, select 3 skills out of 7 before heading into your mission (and level the heroes up to gain access to more skills). In each room, pick the most suitable stance to best resolve the conflict! Then, on each turn, a player chooses two of the available actions of moving, interacting with the environment, changing their stance or using a skill (if eligible for their current stance). Triumph over encounters, resist rampant madness and emerge victorious before throwing yourself into another battle. Between missions, spend your time in the hamlet, visiting various buildings to find relief from the physical and mental trauma you’ve just endured. Restore the hamlet to its former glory and it will reward you and help you to fulfill the ultimate goal.
- Faithful translation of the video game feel into a board game with strong party dynamics
- Innovative hybrid combat that blends positioning, stances, and initiative
- Strong thematic presentation with minis and room design
- High complexity and upkeep that may deter casual players
- Token management and space requirements can feel fiddly and bulky
- dark fantasy, doom, perseverance of a party under stress
- fantasy dungeon/cave exploration with a hamlet hub and cursed-infested depths
- grim, atmospheric, narrative-driven with procedural exploration
- Darkest Dungeon (video game)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Curio Rooms and XP/ Treasure — Curio rooms spawn battles and provide XP and treasure opportunities; outcomes affect the party path.
- Hamlet vs Dungeon Phases — Two-phase flow: a hub area for healing/upgrading and a dungeon exploration/combat track.
- Hero/Monster Stance System — Heroes have stance choices (Aggressive/Defensive) affecting which abilities are available; monsters likewise have stance-driven effects.
- initiative deck — Combat order is determined by a shuffled initiative deck, influencing timing and responses.
- Monster Special Rules — Monsters use unique abilities and positioning effects, including debuffs and stacking tokens.
- Resource and Stress Tracking — Characters manage resources (torches, food, coins) and accumulate stress, bleed, blight, and other tokens.
- Scouting and Corridor Exploration — Exploration involves scouting to reveal rooms, with consequences for traps, curio rooms, and loot.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is not a lightweight dungeon crawler.
- This is an aggressively more complex game.
- It's deeper than I anticipated.
- It's a hybrid that translates video game complexity into a tabletop experience.
References (from this video)
- Combat depth and excitement during battles
- Enemy AI design and activation variety
- Boss fights with distinct mechanics
- Hero turn design with stance-based decisions
- Punishing difficulty and despair-heavy theme without strong narrative payoff
- Slow resolution of dice-based effects
- Campaign balance issues and anemic character progression between levels
- Randomness can undermine planning and lead to frustrating decks
- Despair, risk, survival, and the psychological toll of adventuring
- Fallen, perilous dungeon explorations in a grim fantasy setting, spanning a campaign from hamlet to dungeon
- grim, roguelike, consequence-driven with a death spiral of afflictions
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- boss_fights — Boss encounters with unique effects and escalating threats.
- campaign_structure — Progression between dungeons with hamlet events and leveling up between campaigns.
- dice_resolution — Rolling negative black dice to determine character afflictions and setbacks.
- enemy_activation_and_positions — Enemies activate according to stance order with varied actions and AI behavior.
- hero_turns_and_stances — Hero abilities are influenced by stances and targeting priorities during combat.
- randomness_and_risk — Decks and random rooms can produce extreme outcomes; swinginess in difficulty.
- resource_management — Provisions and funds manage damage, stress, disease, and healing between dungeon crawls.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the combat is where the game shines
- the enemy Ai and how they enemy activate all a slam dunk for me
- the bosses are cool too
- turning around to the heroes and that's also a pro for me
- it's a bit of a mixed bag overall
References (from this video)
- Deep thematic flavor and tension
- High replayability through campaigns and variants
- Steep learning curve
- Punishing outcomes can be frustrating
- peril, dread, and risk management during expeditions
- Darkest Dungeon-inspired gothic dungeon crawl set in a grim universe
- procedural narrative with persistent consequences across sessions
- Gloomhaven
- Descent: Legends of the Dark
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- campaign persistence — Between sessions, character injuries and decisions carry over.
- cooperative exploration — Players explore a shared dungeon, revealing rooms and events.
- Deck-building actions — Players craft or draw action cards that influence combat and exploration.
- Hero risk management — Characters accumulate stress, afflictions, and damage that affect decisions.
- Resource and torchlight management — Careful stewardship of supplies and light level to progress.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- they're all ones
- check out that darkest dungeon campaign
- Mythic Games is a sponsor of Things Get Dicey
- let me see if i can go back to sleep
- should check out the latest kickstarter