Through the ages
Whether it’s a crypt full of orcs or a haunted house packed with eldritch mystery, players have slashed, blasted and thought their way through dungeons for decades
Words by Sam Desatoff
DUNGEON- CRAWLERS
Much of the gaming landscape can trace its roots back to Dungeons & Dragons. With dungeoncrawling board games, however, the throughline is a fair bit more solid. After all, it’s the job of these games to approximate a dungeon-diving experience with a bit more guidance, allowing players to fight monsters and loot treasure without being overwhelmed by the freedom of choice traditional RPGs offer.
One of the first examples of a dungeon-crawling board game comes via D&D co-creator Gary Gygax himself. The year after publishing the first edition of D&D, Gygax helped co-design Dungeon!, a more streamlined take on the roleplaying opus. In Dungeon!, players seek to acquire the most loot by fighting monsters. Everyone controls a different class such as fighter or wizard and, true to D&D style, roll dice to deal damage.