Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins, Cooperative Fantasy Board Game, Fast Entry to The World of D&D, Family Game for 2-4 Players, 10 and Up

I received my copy of the Dungeons & Dragons: Adventure Begins game yesterday and played it with my two sons (ages 13 and 10) tonight. We were laughing almost the entire time. Rib-hurting, hard-to-breath, better-not-be-drinking laughs. It was the most fun we had with a board game that I can remember off hand. The only thing that has come close recently are video party games like some of the JackBox Party Games. This is the first truly general audience, family game based on D&D that Wizards of the Coast has put out. It is a great game for kid's birthdays and x-mas. The rules are simple, the components are fun, and you don't have to know anything about D&D or even be a fantasy fan to enjoy it. At the same time it manages to capture a lot of the flavor of D&D. More in the beer & pretzels (or soda and chips), railroady-quest style of D&D. The designers did a good job building in "role playing" without having to call it that or even explain what it is. For example, each player selects a backpack card as part of setting up his or her character. The backpack card list the contents of the backpack that are meant as items to use as "props" for using a your characters special ability that depends on improvising a scenario to activate the action. It works very well, my 10 year old used his special action almost every single turn because he loved coming up with crazy actions other than "I hit it with my sword." It may not have always been the most tactical choice, but it was fun. Many of the encounter cards involve having to improvise and act out. E.g., a confused sphinx who remembers the answer but not the riddle and the players must come up with a riddle for the answer, or a dance competition, or the party has to work together to come up with a group solution to an issue. There are also some choose-your-own-adventure type cards where an encounter is explained an you have to choose from several options. The choose from a selection cards are the only part of the game that doesn't have a high level of replayability. I'm guessing from these kinds of cards and the extra card-slot storage in the box that WotC intends to release expansion card packs for the game. Personally, I'm thinking that when we come upon a card like this that we already played, we'll have the DM come up with a new description and choice but with the same mechanical effects. The DM role is changed each time the party enters a different room. In all combats and in many non-combat encounters the DM also plays his or her character. The card description and dice dictate how the monster acts. But there are some cards where the DM only presents to the other players, even some where the DM has to choose which character wins the challenge. The game is cooperative, but there are some competitive opportunities from cards. Like the create a riddle card I wrote about above. The DM selects which player's riddle is best. As it is a cooperative game, I suppose the DM could just give the win to whichever player needs the gold or healing the most to help the group's chances, but my boys and I enjoyed the competition and played competitive encounters competitively. The cards have a lot of game and geek references, many of the them are D&D related, but they also reference a lot of other Hasbro games in a way that doesn't ruin the D&D vibe. Very clever actually and provides a selection of references for all ages and properties. It is almost certain that most people will recognize at least some of the in-jokes and Easter eggs, whether referencing Monty Python (It wouldn't be D&D without Monty Python references), Lord of the Rings, My Little Pony, Monopoly, etc. While not a premium game, for the price I thought that the components were of acceptable quality. The design of the game, cards, parts were all well done. Game mechanics were very well done. I can't think of another game that is quite the same as it. It is the first straight board game that felt like D&D to me in a way that the Adventure System boxed sets never did. My kids played the Princes of the Apocolypse board game for one scenario and never wanted to play it again. We already plan to play Adventure Begins again tomorrow.

I bought this on a whim for 12 bucks and have played through it three times now with my kids. We've all had a blast! If you're looking for deep gameplay, varied combat and compelling storylines... this ain't it. This is more of a party game. The rules are paired way down for this game and what's left is just enough to facilitate silliness, storytelling and fun. It isn't complex, nor is it difficult. Really, in our time playing, the whole game hinges on the creative attacks for each of the characters. All the characters are basically the same in terms of abilities with little variation, but they each have a creative attack. There are backpack cards for instance, but you have to pick a character that has a creative attack that lets you utilize the items in your backpack so you can describe to the group how you're using them to attack. If you see a character that has a cool weapon or want one that let's you cast spells, look at their creative attack to make sure the character uses it's weapon or casts spells. Then you can spin a tale of great heroism and roll to see if it works out. In our play throughs we've only used the basic attacks three or four times. The rest are creative attacks, special attacks, or items... of which there are really only 3 types. It's also fun for everyone to get a chance to DM. You draw either a monster or scenario card and read it to the group. It's always nice to break up to the gameplay and do a little damage to your team. Yes, it could get repetitive. We've only played three times now, but with the creative attacks and lots crazy storytelling, we've managed to have lots of fun so far and already have the board setup to play again. Minus one star because it only came with three health trackers instead of four.

I have not played D&D since I was in grade school. I have two boys, 8 and 5, and thought that this would be a fun game to start them with. I watched plenty of reviews on YouTube and”how tos” before cracking it open to play it. My boys were very excited to play, and although I had watched about an hours worth of “how to” video, I was still intimidated by the game. I think it’s then D&D name that makes it intimidating. We setup the game fairly quickly and started the game. I played the shortened version at first suggested by a YouTuber, so that the game was not repetitive. The boys and I ran through the game fairly quickly and they were very excited to play. I loved how it makes them use their imagination and come up with escape plans on how much o dodge attacks or weather or not to help a monster. I remained the dungeon master through out the game, and didn’t pass it around, just so we could get used to the game play. My 5 YO also loved this game. The best part was watching them pick up the game on a Saturday when they had a friend over and my eldest was excited to be the dungeon master and the three of them played quietly together for about an hour until they slayed the final boss character. This game is very easy to pick up and play.

My 9 year old has been looking at my D&D books since he was a toddler and has read the Dungeon Academy, Young Adventurer, and the Endless Quest books but he hasn't yet rolled a character to try. This game is an excellent introduction to the general ideas of party-based adventuring with excellent replay value. Having all the players take a turn being the DM is a fun feature but I've also just run the game as a DM for him and his friends and that also went well. If you're looking at this, you probably have a good idea what it is - think Hero Quest but a little more accessible. I'd like better quality figures but it isn't a deal breaker. Give it a shot on its own or as a gateway to TTRPGs and you'll probably be happy either way.

We watch a D&D show and our boys, 6 and 7, really wanted to play. We bought the started and essentials sets but I've never been a DM before. Working through the manual to make notes was taking too long for the kids who were now very excited that the game was in the house. I found this and it was a hit. By the end of the first game the kids had figured out how to improvise attacks with their weapons and backpack items and were describing some pretty good attacks. The card based DM is wonderful for beginners, kids, and anyone without a DM. The combat is very simple compared to the normal game. If you're new to D&D this is a great first step. I can see how this is probably too dumbed down for a lot of experienced plays. However, if you want to play and dont have a D&M or the time required for a full campaign there's still some fun to be had with this. I'm ready to DM the first session of the starter set now but as much fun as the kids are having and as fast as their imporv is progressing we're gonna stick with the board game for a while.

Excelente producto

I bought this game for my 10 year old for his birthday. He and I play D&D a bit and he loves it. This game is D&D very lite. Super easy to set up and jump into to get 70% of a D&D experience, minus tedious character creation and adventure creation. We’ve been playing with my 5 year old, who always is jealous of our D&D games, but can’t deal with the math and reading needed. It’s simple enough he can join in but also make meaningful choices, even with me reading his character options to him. He’s having a blast. The rotating GM mechanic gives the 10 year old an opportunity to try out being a DM. It’s great for me because I don’t have to make anything up and we can just jump in and play. Next step is getting my RPG-phobic wife to play, but I think she would actually enjoy playing this game with the kids. Overall, a great family game / gift that is awesome for kids and a good step into D&D for people who just want to jump in with the basic concepts.

Let's talk about what this game is: -Heavily focused on coaxing roleplay out of players, this is a good introduction to the creative and social sides of D&D -Short and extremely easy to learn, anyone of any age can get into it and have a great time with 10 minutes of set up and 10 minutes of rules explanation -There is a ton of flavor and different cards to encounter so while you'll have pretty much the same experience each time, you won't tell the same story each time Now let's talk about what this game is not: -Tactically deep or difficult in any way. You pretty much can't lose and every character you make, every item you get and just about every enemy is the same. The names change but the effects do not so a rogue's special move is the same as the bard's, is the same as the fighters and is the same as the wizards. Where is differs is it asks *you* to describe how you use your ability combined with your items to make your attack special. -Truly representative of D&D. The roleplaying game has a lot of facets and a lot of depth and especially a lot of freedom and this game doesn't give a good representation of that. Players might think D&D is all about rolling a single dice and sitting back when in fact it's often the opposite and can be extremely tactically advanced. If you have a group willing to embrace the roleplaying instructions of the game it's close to the story telling aspect of D&D but that's about it. Final thoughts: This would be a great game for kids or adults looking to have a few drinks and really not think too much about the game but instead have a fun time bs'ing some crazy stories and rolling dice It doesn't hold up to even the D&D adventure games so really if you're looking for something crunchy, turn away. I would have liked to have seen at least some tactical variety and difficulty options thrown in for those looking for some depth I personally am happy to have the game because I know the day will come my friends and I and possibly some new ones that haven't heard of D&D will be around the table, tired from the week and pulling this out will let us have a great time without using any further brain cells that evening