DungeonQuest

This? This never happens

This is probably one of my favourite games to play with a small group of friends. It also has a 99% mortality rate. Which makes it pretty fun

So what is DungeonQuest about? Basically, you're a bunch of 1-4 adventurers who are seeking to loot the dragon's lair within a dungeon. You're given a certain amount of turns to go into the dungeon, make it to the dragon's lair and escape with treasure. The person who escapes with the most treasure wins. 

Except the game has a 99% mortality rate as I mentioned before. It's a pretty brutal game with no surefire way to heal yourself. So once you're damaged, you're pretty much damaged forever. And don't even consider getting into combat with numerous monsters lurking within the dungeon. If they're really good, they can kill you in one combat. 

Combat is a bit of a mixed bag. You'll either find it very simple or you'll hate it. Also, it becomes incredibly easy to mindgame opponents. Although technically you don't fight against each other, the player to your left does take control of the monsters that attack you. And it's generally in their best interest to kill you off. 

For gameplay, each player starts out in one corner of the map. From there, they have to make their way to the center of the dungeon. Unfortunately, the dungeon tiles are randomized which means sometimes you can stumble onto a deadend, making you waste precious turns backtracking or trying to find a secret door somewhere. Also, everytime you enter a room, you end up having to draw a card, which may result in a random encounter with a monster or the worst of the worst, traps that may damage you.

Of these traps, the worst would probably be the Swinging Blade Trap. They're lethal and will insta-kill explorers who fail the attribute test for them. This usually means dwarves are the first to die because they have shitty armor. That or they fall into bottomless pits. Thankfully, there's only one SBT in the entire deck.

If by chance, you somehow manage to make it into the dragon's lair, you get to choose a card from the dragon deck. Most of them allow you to pick up treasure. One makes the Dragon wake up. And unlike the cover, there is NO fighting the dragon. You just auto-take damage, drop all your loot and are pushed out of the lair. Which means you have to go back in again...I've had a 'friend' who kept trying to wake the dragon while I was inside collecting treasure and who ended up killing me that way...

The miniatures are decent, as is the board and the quality of the cards. It's what I've come to expect from FFG most of the time. 

The gameplay is fun and it's one of the few games that most of my group genuinely enjoys playing. It's simple to pick up and utterly amusing as you watch your opponents die turn by turn. The quickest I've had someone die was turn 1 where he walked out and got hit by a swinging blade trap. That was hilarious to the rest of the people at the table. 

Overall a good game if you don't mind the brutality of it and dying over and over again.