Top 10 Dungeon Crawler Board Games

[@ThePebblor]

Thanks for this video, I love how you managed to each a swift yet detailed summary of what makes each game fit in your list, as opposed to just saying "it's an excellent game". Really enjoyed watching this!

[@DangerKennyB]

For me, the best way to describe a true dungeon crawl is the term -- "Dudes in a Corridor." That's where I draw the distinction between a fantasy quest/map game and an actual dungeon crawl.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, as I explained in the video I was using a much broader definition of "dungeon crawl" but I like the term you used. Thank you for watching!

[@DangerKennyB]

@@whenharrymetboardgames7 No, I get that, just adding a voice to how I personally view the distinction. No direct criticism intended.

[@kyrnsword72]

You left out one of the best. The RPG game system I love is called D100 Dungeon Mapping game by Martin Knight!

[@stuashley6220]

What is the small game with the samurai on the box next to your right shoulder? It looks like it says War on it.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, that is Age of War. Its a dice rolling game by Reiner Knizia very similar to Elder Sign if you are familiar with it. Thanks for watching!

[@freed9163]

Have you tried Shadowrun Crossfire? Dragpnfire's system is based on it.

[@teestarbird4478]

I actually have quite a few of these! DungeonQuest, Descent, Runebound (3rdE not 2ndE), Arcadia Quest, and Thunderstone Quest. Sold Eldritch Horror. Of the ones I don't have, I'd say DragonFire sounds pretty cool! I might have to check that one out. And as far as Gloomhaven, not sure how you feel but I'd probably have that as my #1 just because of how solid it is. The combat is second to none.

[@Archytas-Leroy55]

Is it weird I own every one of these games....love your list

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

That's awesome! We are totally in sync. Thanks for watching!

[@XHuntinatorX]

I have Runebound 3rd with the Unbreakable Bonds expansion because I play solo. I did’t think I would like the token casting but I have grown to really like it. It’s sort of like action programming as far as game mechanics go. It has a lot of potential I think but needs to be fleshed out. I should try to track down a copy of 2nd edition because everyone I hear that has played both say they prefer 2nd edition. Great list from the best tagline in board gaming. :-)

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Don't get me wrong, from a tactical perspective I thing think the tokens create lots of interesting decisions and is a very refreshing mechanism. But from a tactile perspective it falls flat for me. Small quibble, but still an excellent game in its own right that I still play several times a year though prefering 2nd edition. Thanks for watching!

[@mojojojo123]

Such great info and perspective, thanks for sharing!

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!

[@sneakysqekysnek5986]

Hey great video! I was wondering if you could help me find a game that I played as a kid. The only thing I remembered is there a castle that holds figures that you put your figure in pull a lever and it rotates them then you take the new one out. Any help would be awesome

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, sorry but it doesn't ring a bell for me. I wish I could help. Thank you so much for watching!

[@Table.Fables]

What are your thoughts on Mage Knight and Gloomhaven? They are my two faves in this category! Some great choices on your list… given me a few to think about

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, I played both of those literally a few weeks after recording this video. I think Mage Knight would very likely finish in my top 5. Gloomhaven would be top 10 for me but maybe not top 5. Glad the video was helpful. Thanks for watching!

[@Table.Fables]

@@whenharrymetboardgames7 nice!! Thanks for the video too

[@Evereghalo]

No imperial Assault? Or is that kinda Descent?

[@p4n95]

Would really love to see you do a new play through of Runebound 2e and going over the mods/house rules you use. Finally completed finding everything for 2e and 3e, and some laser etched replacement dice for each. Hoping the Sadlers get around to reimplementing the system with a bit of modernization sooner rather than later.

[@DVCBear]

While I don’t own 10 Dungeon Crawlers yet, should be there next year. Own 2 on your list, and Eldritch Horror is one of my fav. KDM, Shadows of Brimstone and Arena the Contest are my current top 3.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Shadows of Brimstone is really high on my bucketlist! Should eventually get to it. Thanks for watching!

[@elijahjohnson7666]

The only dungeon crawler I've played is one of the games from Dicium. Simple but yet fun. I also won Chronicles of Drunagor Apocalypse but won't get it until next year.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Chronicles of Drunagor looks intetesting. Definitely on my radar. Thanks for watching Elijah!

[@coryschlichting3517]

Hey Harry! Just happened upon your channel here. Gotta' say, love your enthusiasm for these awesome dungeon crawlers! I have a couple of these games myself. I know this vid is from 2021 and you may have increased your collection already, but have you considered Zombiecide: Black Plague? Or even Tiny Epic Dungeons? I absolutely LOVE Zombiecide and am about to purchase Tiny Epic Dungeons (after watching reviews of others on here who have played it).

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there Cory, thanks for the kind words! I have since played Tiny Epic Dungeons and am ao far enjoying the game. Some time in the next few weeks I will be getting Zombicide BP to the table and am looking forward to that one. Thank you so much for watching!

[@PablowingUrMind]

I like the concept and how DungeonQuest looks, but cheapest I can find it for is $120 😭

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Yeah I got mine for $90 which is still very expensive. It was worth it for me because I bought the 3rd edition which comes with 6 additional playable characters for both Runebound 2nd Ed. And Descent 1st Ed. Since I own both those games I felt it justified the price, but who am kidding right. Hopefully you can find one for an economical price someday. Thanks for watching!

[@NefariousKoel]

I don't expect FFG to be producing anymore. Because, IIRC, the rights were licensed from Games Workshop who had produced it in the old '80s English edition. I'm guessing once GW pulled their license from FFG for Warhammer a few years ago, then Dungeonquest went with it. I was fortunate in getting the red box FFG version years ago, and the latest gray box for my nephew who loved it, but the retail supply dried up quickly afterward. I hope you can find one at a decent price, Pablo, since it's always a hit for all ages with it's beer & pretzel dungeon tile diving. Or some other company gets the rights to make another production run. The same may be the case for another favorite of mine which FFG had made a new version of, Wiz War. That may have also been licensed from GW or someone else and pulled.

[@freed9163]

Kind of shocked not to see gloomhaven on the list. Do you classify it differently or does it just not rank that high for you?

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, I mentioned towards the end of the video that I have yet to play Gloomhaven. I do have plans to play Jaws of a Lion in the next couple of weeks so we'll see if that changes anything. Thanks for watching!

[@TheErnieforss]

I really like street masters over the ninja turtle board game. It feels like an awesome beat em up dungeon crawl but only one tile to move around.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Street Masters is definitely on my bucket list. Thanks for watching!

[@Mark-nh2hs]

Love a good Dungeon Crawlers esp co-op had so many funny situations occur 🤣🤣🤣 Dungeonquest is brutal and unforgiving without creating House Rules lol almost push your luck and hope for the best you don't die on the first tile. Talisman is a classic, I first played GWs produced version in the 90s but got FF version and find it a fun game and House Rules are required 🤣👍 I preferred Advanced Heroquest over the Original Heroquest. Lol but both are great games. Never was a fan of TMNT I preferred Samurai Pizza Cats more lol. D&D series I got the Dragon one. Needs house rules as it's so unfair a trap is activated and a big boulder rolls down the narrow tunnel and all enemies magically don't get hurt ever yet hero's get squished - nope not having that rubbish lol. For me Descent is over rated I've played it several times and something just doesn't gell with me and cannot put my finger on it. Lovely miniatures and production but something is just off.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there Mark, thanks for the comments. Totally agree with you that Dungeonquest and Talisman need house rules. Thank you so much for watching!

[@eriksjogren800]

Thanks

[@kerorogunsou78]

OMG! So refreshing not to see Gloomhaven on one of these lists! It's a fine game, really, but there's something about it that causes a disconnect with me. Maybe it's the fact that instead of feeling like you're getting stronger as you play each scenario, it feels like you're just getting weaker. I KNOW you are actually getting stronger between scenarios, but it just doesn't feel that way IN the actual scenarios as you're slowly losing cards and options.

[@garathminis5108]

I agree. So fucking overhyped! It's a 10 card puzzle game. Nothing more. I played Jaws of the Lion. If you advance a lvl, you get one of the better cards replacing one of yourcards, so you are 10% stronger. And the Cultists you where fighting go from 5 HP to 8 Hp and they do 2 damage instead of 1. So they get almost double the hit points, and double damage. It was so stupid I realised that levelling up is counter productive. And the game was boring.

[@timesup5105]

Yeah GH is not for me.

[@HarleyFirestorm]

My best dungeon crawlers would be. 1 dungeon universalis 2 Descent Legends of the dark 3 Massive Darkness 4 Heroquest 5 DND Ravenloft 6 Dungeon quest Other than that theres no other Dungeon (fantasy) crawlers on my radar, and these are not in order of favourite.

[@ElusiveClit]

Good to see that puzzle overrated game Gloomhaven is not on the list. So refreshing and honest :D

[@jeremyfox2443]

For all the reasons you talked about Thunderstone Quest, I thought that was the perfect game for me. It was a huge flop. Just found the dungeon diving was a drab bore. Really you know the outcome going in, Goto the dungeon, know your math, leave. Maybe I'm missing something. Now I'd love to try Runestone, ya, not available anywhere. Enjoy JOTL when you play it!!!

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there Jeremy, I hear you about TQ. I guess I am just such a huge fan of the deck building genre that those things don't bother me as much. Excited about JOTL though! Thanks for watching!

[@NefariousKoel]

Think I prefer the previous version, Thunderstone Advance, over TQ. It doesn't really have much of the dungeon dive part, being pretty much just a deck-builder for fighting a string of monsters, but I think the dungeon crawl part of the newer T-Quest is a bit of a letdown for me anyway. Advance also had more variety in the cards for a lot less cost if you got the few boxes for the whole set back in the day. Also thought the art style was a lot better in Advance, too.

[@spikeashgog2092]

Ehi man, nice list....but most of those are not even remotely close to the dungeon crawling concept. Binge watching your channel videos, though. Keep up the good work!

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Yeah I definitely had a very broad definition of dungeon crawling for this video. Thank you so much for the kind words and for the support!

[@sebastiendoquin918]

And Dungeon saga ??????

[@guillermoyaroslavlverduzco1551]

I guess you should check again what a Dungeon Crawler is. You just mention whatever as a crawler.

[@whenharrymetboardgames7]

Hey there, not trying to offend any fans of the genre but I did specify early on in my video that I was using a very broad definition of dungeon crawler including fantasy adventure games. Either way, thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching!

[@mabos555]

I only like Dunguen brawler