Welcome Back to the Dungeon Review – Exploring The Dungeon (Again)

It seems that our heroes haven’t learnt their lesson and have returned to venture into the dangerous dungeon in search of loot and glory. Welcome Back to the Dungeon is the sequel/expansion to the very popular push-your-luck game, Welcome to the Dungeon.

But is the second time exploring the dark dungeon just as fun as the first?

What’s in the box?

Welcome Back to the Dungeon’s charm, as with the original, lies in its simplicity and size. It’s a small box that holds a few cards and cardboard tiles.

The cardboard tiles each form part of a “Hero Deck”. And, as the name implies, these decks consist of a hero, some sidekicks and equipment. These aren’t your ordinary heroes though. There is the Necromancer, the Bard, the butt-kicking Princess and a stealthy Ninja.

The cards, on the other hand, feature the monsters your heroes will be facing off against, along with six special monsters.

Then there is a player board and an awesome little dragon tail marker with which to track your hero’s health.

The art on the cardboard tiles, as well as the cards, are all quite charming and colourful and help complement the silliness of Welcome Back to the Dungeon’s premise.

As with all games published by iello, the components are of the highest quality, especially when taking into account how small the game is.

How do you play Welcome Back to the Dungeon?

Welcome Back to the Dungeon, as with its predecessor, is all about pushing your luck.

The game starts with players choosing one hero and placing their respective tiles in the centre of the play area. Players will then set up the monster deck (along with some special monsters) and place it on the side.

During each round, players will take turns drawing from the face-down pile of monster cards and decide whether to add that monster to the dungeon or discard it. Should the player want to add the monster to the dungeon the card will be placed face down beside the hero tiles. The next player then takes their turn. Should a player decide to rather discard the monster card they then must then also remove one of the hero’s equipment or sidekicks. This weakens the hero but means that they might not need to face a tough monster later on.

This continues until all the players have decided to pass their turn and not draw a monster card. After all the players, except one, have passed that one player must then venture into the Dungeon. Dum, Dum, Dummm!

The brave (or foolish) player must then reveal each card in the monster deck one-by-one until they have successfully defeated all the monsters or the hero dies a horrible death.

If they die, they are eliminated from the game. If they survive, the dungeon they get a success card.

Players win in Welcome Back to the Dungeon by either being the last one left or by collecting two success cards.

What did we think of Welcome Back to the Dungeon?

As with the previous game, Welcome Back to the Dungeon is a great little filler game that packs quite a punch. It has great components, wonderful whimsical art and a push-your-luck mechanic that will keep you coming back for more.

The best part is that the game is very short and quick to play. This means that you and the family could play a few rounds after a hard day of work.

Now, I can already hear some complaining about player elimination but, trust me, each round goes so quickly and has so little downtime that you’ll be back playing in no time. It’s one of the few games where I didn’t find myself hating being eliminated.

For those that own Welcome to the Dungeon, both games can be combined into one. Just take note that you’ll probably have to make sure that you use the correct monsters with the correct heroes.

Welcome Back to the Dungeon’s value lies in the fact that it is easy to learn and quick to play. Sure there are other push-your-luck filler games out there but, thanks to the fantasy theme of Welcome Back to the Dungeon, I can see myself and my family returning to this dreadful and dangerous place time and again.

For more information on Welcome Back to the Dungeon, visit solarpop.co.za. The games retail for around R300 locally.