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A world of peace has been torn asunder by the opening of a vile portal from the goblin kingdom. Nasty goblins pour into the peaceful groves and villages of the elf world, setting the realm ablaze. Now you, the heroes, must quest in order to right this wrong. There are two paths to victory: closing the portal or slaying all the goblins. Which one will you choose? Either way, your quests will be aided by the help of the surviving mushroom folk — and by the epic items that have been lost in the realm's deep dungeons. The world is ending quickly, so you must act fast to save it, but you also need to know when your luck will run out...
In Tiny Epic Quest, players embark on a sandbox adventure. Each player controls a band of three elf heroes questing to save the world and the sacred mushroom folk from the intruding goblins.
Each round is broken into two phases: day and night. During the day, players travel far and wide, visiting villages to acquire quests, monuments to learn powerful spells, mushroom groves to seek guidance, and treacherous locations in search of artifacts! Acquiring artifacts empower the heroes with unique abilities; this may improve a heroes' movement or combat, or their ability to learn spells or mitigate harmful dice rolls.
Heroes must travel by foot, by horse, by raft, by boat and by gryphon to get to everywhere they need to go to satisfy their quests — or to position themselves for what night brings. As each type of movement is different, and limited, players need to take careful consideration when traveling, and how they travel, if they wish to accomplish all of their goals.
During the night, players must face the challenge of their quests, and decisions, by rolling dice, hoping for fortune, and knowing when to quit. Will you press on? Or is it time to save your progress and rest? Tomorrow is another day.
The game ends once the portal is closed or all the goblins have been eradicated. The player who has acquired the most victory points by slaying goblins, learning spells, and completing quests is crowned the winner!
For a deluxe edition of this game, see Tiny Epic Quest: Deluxe Edition
Tiny Epic Quest - How To Play
Tiny Epic Quest Full Playthrough - JonGetsGames
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
References (from this video)
- engaging multi-layered actions with several resource tracks
- interesting synergy between items and spell learning
- durable tile-based exploration with variables for paths
- prototype version; rules still tweaked
- playthrough length longer than expected
- some misremembered rules in the narration (omission acknowledged)
- fantasy adventure involving collecting legendary items, completing quests, and defeating goblins
- world map with temples, goblins, and quest exploration; players move heroes via multiple transport modes
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Day phase / Night phase — the game cycle splits into a daytime movement phase and a nighttime resolution phase for actions and combat
- end game bonuses — points come from completed spells, goblins killed, completed quests, and legendary items; game lasts up to five turns
- End-game scoring — points come from completed spells, goblins killed, completed quests, and legendary items; game lasts up to five turns
- Goblins and combat dice — goblins have passive/aggressive states; combat is resolved using adventure dice and power to defend or damage goblins
- Movement types — five distinct methods to move: by foot, horse, raft, ship, and Griffin, each with its own rules for positioning on the map
- Power, health, and resources — players manage health, power, maps, torches and fists; power can mitigate damage or be spent to draw resources
- Quest cards — quests are face-up cards with a top requirement and bottom reward; basic quests and treasure quests add bonuses when achieved
- resting and exhaustion — heroes return to the castle or rest phase; exhausted heroes may be forced to retreat and could lose access to spells or track progress
- Temple exploration and spell learning — to learn spells you must explore temples; progress on a magic track; learning multiple spells increases power
- Treasure maps / legendary items — treasure quests grant powerful items (bow, sword, staff, flute, etc.) that grant ongoing benefits and victory points
- Variable Phase Order — the game cycle splits into a daytime movement phase and a nighttime resolution phase for actions and combat
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a prototype version of the game and the rules are still being tweaked.
- Goblins are coming out from the underground they're kind of attacking the countryside.
References (from this video)
- Zelda-like feel within a compact box
- Push-your-luck dungeon progression with shared dice effects
- Can feel long and repetitive over multiple sessions
- Dice roll luck can dominate if not managed well
- Heroic questing with dungeon exploration
- Zelda-inspired fantasy adventure
- Push-your-luck dungeon crawl with two phases
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice-based progression with shared effects — Dice affect all players and drive dungeon progression.
- Dungeon Crawl — Exploring dungeons to defeat goblins and claim treasures.
- dungeon crawling elements — Exploring dungeons to defeat goblins and claim treasures.
- two-phase play (movement and night actions) — Day phase you move; night phase you perform actions and dungeon tasks.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "I found it a bit tricky because it went a bit quick my people got killed off too fast before I really got a sense of how to use them"
- "there are a bunch of cool options with the characters and I did find them interesting"
- "it's a 4X game all in a small box"
- "the expansion apparently it adds a ton of this a ton a ton more to this game"
- "two-player viability with added pieces"
- "two-player play works surprisingly well"
- "the follow mechanic ... keeps you invested every turn"
- "Man the box fits the minis in that box... tardis-like"
- "this is a Zelda vibe... Zelda e as you can get"
- "the divisive part comes from this poker hand mechanic"
- "the bullet dice are pretty cool"
- "it's the best one"
References (from this video)
- Compact and approachable in the Tiny Epic line
- Engaging quest-based progression
- Not as highly regarded asGalaxies by some players
- Adventure/questing with light engine-building
- Adventure-inspired questing with modular objectives
- Story-forward with modular goals
- Tiny Epic Galaxies
- Other Tiny Epic titles
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice/engine-building with quest goals — Players build their engine toward quest-based objectives while managing resources.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I’m cautiously excited if that makes sense.
- Stone Age is a great recommendation because it really helps explore worker placement without an overload of rules.
- Cheez-its are the number one around here.
- Rivet Heads is being published by New Mill Games, which is a publisher with a small team.
- Tiny Epic Galaxies is my favorite Tiny Epic game after trying most of them.
- I ended up stopping formal reviews because they were taking the joy out of the hobby for me.
- Dominant Species Marine tweaks the worker placement, making it a bit lighter on overhead but still chaotic.