Dungeon Drop Review

What does the idea of dropping a big handful of resource cubes on your dining table fill you with? Dreadful anxiety for the fear of losing said small pieces, or even having them consumed by child, dog or hoover? Or the freeing joy of the chaos it’s going to create on the table? Either way, that’s what we’re going to be doing for Dungeon Drop.

Players chuck a load of cubes on the table. These represent various treasures and items you’ll be attempting to collect – as well as goblins and even a dragon that you’ll want to avoid collecting. Additionally you’ll be dropping grey cubes to represent the pillars of the dungeon. Make a triangle of these which doesn’t contain another pillar, and you can have whatever is contained within on your turn. Monsters take away hit points, and you’ll need a key to unlock any treasure chest cubes you pick up.

All of this is very smart and organic feeling, but is weighed down by the almost constant requirement for dungeon VAR – lest the game become one of on-the-line-or-not arguments where one player begins screaming that the other cannot, in fact, be serious. Deciding whether a cube is in or out of the triangle of dungeon you’re claiming ends up being a bigger part of the game than the dropping of the dungeon itself.

Sadly the game isn’t as chaotically joyful as we had hoped, but instead turns into a contemplative puzzler that you happen to be setting up by dropping a load of cubes. This isn’t a bad thing at all, and had we gone in knowing we’d be doing some chin stroking and careful pillar plotting we’d be very happy indeed. In this respect the solo mode is very fine indeed. A good little (dare we say stocking filler sized?) puzzle if you’re not scared of the set up. 

Christopher John Eggett

PLAY IT? PROBABLY

Designers: Scott R. Smith

Publisher: Gamewright

Time: 20 minutes

Players: 1-4

Ages: 8+

Price: £25

This review originally appeared in Issue 49 of Tabletop Gaming. Pick up the latest issue of the UK's fastest-growing gaming magazine in print or digital here or subscribe to make sure you never miss another issue.

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