In the days before the Void consumed much of the Old World, there were stalwart humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes who banded together to invade the deep places of the earth. These heroes forged unbreakable alliances in search of knowledge, treasure, and glory. Rival adventuring parties would often descend into the same dungeon, and these companies fought one another as fiercely as they battled the monsters that lurked behind every dark corner. These were daring times, when nothing in the world was considered more sacred than the oath that bound those who shared the dangers of the pit together. This was the age of the Dungeon Alliance.
Dungeon Alliance is a deck-building, dungeon-crawling miniatures adventure game that allows players to send 1-4 different teams of adventurers into perilous dungeons in search of experience and treasure. At the start of the game, each player drafts their own team of four heroes (from the 17 included in the game) and uses tactical movement and card play to overcome the dungeon's monsters and treasures. Each player starts with a unique twelve-card starting deck that includes the starting cards from all four of their heroes.
Rival teams may compete with one another to slay monsters, or even battle one another for complete domination. As each team of heroes overcomes monsters and challenges, they earn experience point (XP) tokens that they can spend to purchase new cards for their alliance decks. Once spent, XP tokens are flipped face down and kept until the end of the game. When the sun greets those who emerge from the pit, the alliance that has accrued the most XP claims the mantle of victory.
Dungeon Alliance includes rules for competitive, cooperative, and solo play.
Microbadges:
Dungeon Alliance fan
Special Articles:
Dungeon Alliance Store
Dungeon Alliance FAQ
Dungeon Alliance: A Webcomic Adventure
Your First Game of Dungeon Alliance: Advice for your First Steps into Darkness
- deep, puzzle-like decision making that rewards planning and timing
- well-supported solo mode with a clear, executable AI routine
- strong synergy between hero symbols and card drafting that enables varied team builds
- multiple play styles (basic game, quests via rule supplement, or pre-constructed hero sets) that ease learning
- deck growth and increasing hand size add a satisfying progression curve
- high complexity and a steep learning curve for new players
- some setup components can be finicky and misalign if not handled carefully
- drafting can be stressful in solo mode without helpful presets, though solutions exist
- the rulebook and supplements add depth that can feel overwhelming at first
- team-based hero synergy pursued through drafting, upgrading, and executing tactical room clears
- fantasy dungeon crawl with modular dungeon tiles, a rotating deck-building mechanic, and monster encounters
- procedural, puzzle-like progression driven by encounter cards, hero backstories, and dungeon layout
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- boss-style encounter and challenge tokens — challenge tokens gate rewards, determine traps or treasures, and influence pacing and risk in each room
- deck-building / drafting — players draft hero cards and build a starting deck, then add level-up cards from offers as XP is earned
- experience points and level progression — XP is earned by defeating monsters, enabling access to level-2 and level-3 cards and expanding discard capacity
- monster AI / encounter cards — solo mode uses a monster turn dictated by a dedicated AI deck, selecting the highest XP ready monster and applying effects
- movement, line of sight, doors and locks — movement is constrained by speed, doors can be opened with speed, locked doors require special handling, and secret doors exist
- round structure and cycles — a full game is four rounds, each round containing four hero turns, plus monster turns and end-of-round cleanup
- symbol-based card usage and hero synergies — heroes carry symbols (Primordial, Marshall, Celestial, etc.) that influence which cards can be used and how they interact with enemies
- tile-drafting / dungeon tile placement — players draft and place level-appropriate dungeon tiles to form the play area and determine monster spawns
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Dungeon Alliance is a really brain burning game.
- it's a brain burning game and it can take a minute to get used to how to play.
- the point of the game is have fun.
- I really enjoyed it.
References (from this video)
- has expansions and community chatter
- raves from fans
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- totally deserves to have some spotlight here.
- it's out of print, it's not even funny.
- the newest edition which includes the solo mode in the box, which is the one that I got.
- I love Shadows of Brimstone so much. It's such an awesome dungeon crawler, my favorite by far.
- I can't believe I haven't played it.
- Shadow Run Crossfire. Amazing deck builder.
- One of the best experiences I've had in board gaming
- this is what started the hobby for me.
References (from this video)
- Engaging cooperative play with a card-driven engine
- Rich variety of artifacts and deck options
- Clear progression through XP and campaign tokens
- Rule complexity can be confusing and prone to misplays
- Deck-building randomness can affect pacing and balance
- Long play sessions require careful table management
- hero team exploration, treasure collection, monster slayings, and a climactic boss fight
- fantasy dungeon crawl, cooperative exploration
- Array
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- oh my gosh i can't believe how awesome this is this is probably the greatest card of all time i've ever seen
- ancient scroll of doom is in our future
- we're going to pass this game over to will
- defeating gorthos
- the next playthrough comes also now the next one and final one is gonna be over on william's channel at hungrygamer