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This week’s Kickstarter preview is about Ravage Dungeons of Plunder, a game that I didn’t really know much about and I went in to the interview and play test session somewhat blind. The designer Ian Schofield invited me to play a game on Tabletop Simulator with him and I am glad I did.
The first thing he asked was if I had ever played a dungeon crawler before and what do I know about the usual mechanics of these! This was awkward, a game reviewer that not only didn’t know much about the game but also didn’t know much about the type of game either.
He was very easy to work with and explained everything in simple terms and in all honesty the game was very easy to pick up and play but more importantly it was very fun.
Ravage Dungeons of Plunder - The Game
The game is a dungeon crawler where you and/or friends (the game has several game modes more on that below) explore, fight and plunder as you make your way through the perilous paths laid out each turn.
You play as an orc with different classes/types to choose from and after the first five minutes of the explanation the game shouted out an old top down RPG game I used to play on the Xbox called Baulders Gate (Ian was happy with this comparison and rightly so as it was awesome).
The game is for 1-5 players and has a good amount of game modes:
- Adventure/ Co-Op - Play as a team to complete quests kill monsters and collect loot. This mode can also be played with a Dungeon Master where they control the dungeon and the monsters while trying to stop you winning the game.
- Treachery/Vs - You each control a hero and the dungeon and monsters drawn are used to compete against each other. Gain ranks by killing opponents and the first to achieve promotion to War Chief will be the winner.
- Solo - This is the mode I played. It pits you against the dungeon as you work your way to the boss battle while levelling up and fighting the monsters and traps that will appear.
The above modes mean that Ravage Dungeons of Plunder is a game with a huge amount of replay-ability and it will suit all gaming groups and solo players.
How it plays
The turn order in Ravage Dungeons of Plunder is quite simple:
- Delve - Turn over a dungeon card and place it so two white arrows face each other, There is a vast number of cards meaning the dungeon will be different every time you play.
- Seek Glory - These may contain traps, monsters or loot. If it’s a monster you place the relevant monster standee onto the last dungeon card placed and the monster card goes onto your Monster track as opponents to fight.
- Ravage - This is the phase where all the action takes place here you can:
- Move - move up to four spaces.
- Blood tribute - Take damage to gain two energy.
- Search for plunder - Roll a die to try and get loot.
- Attack - If in range attack an enemy. Dice are used for this.
- Take a token - Pick up health, energy or quest items from the board.
- Bloodshed - The monsters in your monster track will now move and attack.
- Gather Strength - If you have enough experience you can upgrade one of your skill cards or buy goods from the sneaky goblin if you have earned enough teef.
The turn order and what you can do on each turn is very straightforward and after my second turn it was a very smooth game to play. The feeling of moving through the dungeon and fighting was very prominent and thematic.
Final Thoughts
This being the first dungeon crawler game I have played and going in blind I didn’t know what to expect. I am a huge console gamer and RPG’s are my favourite type of games and this game gave me the same enjoyment as that, the way you are constantly challenged makes you want to delve deeper into the dungeon and level up your character skills.
Like I said above, Ravage Dungeons of Plunder reminds me of Baulders Gate and that's a good thing. The fact the dungeon is different every time and the amount of game modes make me believe this game will suit all game groups and get a lot of play time.
You have different classes to choose from, loot to gain and monsters to fight so multiple play-throughs will be needed to explore the wealth of options available to you. I can't wait to see this game hit Kickstarter and see what Stretch goals will be unlocked to make this game even better.