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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Undermountain in Tabletop Games
Apr 8, 2022
I’ve mentioned before that Travis and I are currently playing a D&D campaign with another friend. I’m the DM and those two dudes are my ever-entertaining party. The adventure we’re running at the moment is Dungeon of the Mad Mage, which takes place in Undermountain. So imagine my surprise whilst browsing my FLGS recently and came across this game: a D&D real-time maze racing game set in the very same dungeon as our current campaign! I knew then and there that I had to give it a shot. It’s not as involved and intensive as the actual campaign, but this game can be just as exciting. Keep reading to see why!
Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers – Heroes of Undermountain (simply referred to as Dungeon Scrawlers from here on out) is a real-time line drawing maze race for 2-4 players. The goal? To crawl your way through the dungeon floors, defeating Monsters/collecting Treasures/casting Spells/and more to collect the most VP by the end of the game. To setup for a game, each player receives a marker and a random Character. Select the Dungeon you wish to play this game, and give the corresponding sheet to each player. Check the bottom of the Dungeon sheet to see if any special components are needed (more on this in a bit), grab a timer, and the game is ready to go! Pictured below is the setup for a 3-player game.
Once the timer begins, the race is on! Players all begin at the “Start” entrance of their sheet, and draw their path through the dungeon floor. When making your path, there are a few rules to follow. Your path must be one continuous, unbroken line – no dotted lines or ambiguous markings! Keep your path within the lines – don’t be drawing through walls, at risk of losing VP. And finally, whenever you enter a new room, you must interact with all elements within.
Inside the rooms of the dungeon, you will find Monsters, Treasures, Spells, Artifact Fragments, or Exotic Plants. Each is dealt with in a specific way, and award you VP when scoring the dungeon floor. To defeat a Monster, you must draw over and fully color it in. To case a Spell, you trace the indicated path. To collect a Treasure, you must completely outline the treasure icon on your sheet. Artifact Fragments are collected by connecting the stones in numerical order, and Exotic Plants are collected by simply drawing a line through them. If you leave a room and you have not interacted with every element within, you will earn negative VP for any elements you missed! Each player is given a Character at the game start, and these Characters provide special rules/abilities for use throughout the game. For example, the Barbarian allows you to only color a Monster head to complete it, instead of having to color the entire thing. And that could be a huge time-saver in the long run! So knowing your Character ability, and how to effectively utilize it, is a huge bonus in the game.
Some dungeon floors have special components that come into play. These are Orbs, Portals, Keys, and Prisoners. Orbs provide bonus VP, and their value decreases as they are collected. So collecting an Orb first earns you more VP than if you wait to collect the last one. Portals allow players to teleport between the portal entrance/exit, thus moving you to a new part of the dungeon floor. And Keys are collected throughout the dungeon, and allow players to open ‘locked’ doors of the corresponding color. Without the appropriate key, you can not pass through a locked door. And finally you may need to rescue some Prisoners who are trapped throughout the level.
The scrawl ends when a player has defeated the Boss Monster, but certain levels have different ending triggers, like collecting an Orb triggers the end. Once the level ends, all players must stop drawing. Players pass their sheet to the player on their left, and that player scores their run – kinda like how we used to do in school sometimes. Players record their scores, and the player with the highest score wins! I do have to say that the rulebook suggests a ‘complete’ game of Dungeon Scrawlers be a total of 3 dungeon floors – the player with the highest total score from all 3 floors is the winner. But you are always welcome to play with as many or as few dungeon floors as you wish.
I actually enjoyed this game more than I thought I would. I think the real-time race element is what gets me. You want to go as quickly as possible so you can amass the most points, but you also have to move carefully so as to not miss any elements, draw through walls, and ultimately earn negative VP. Also, each dungeon floor has so many different paths and options, it can be stressful choosing which way to go when you know you’re racing against other players. That being said, you’re kind of also playing a game of risk by trying to collect as many elements as possible. Maybe your opponent is gunning straight for the end-game trigger, and if you’re not fast enough you won’t collect enough VP this floor. Or maybe everyone is trying to be a completionist, collecting as many elements as possible, nobody wanting to be the person to trigger the end quite yet. There’s some good strategy to be had, and the real-time element enhances it.
To touch on components, this game is a set of dry-erase dungeon sheets and markers, and some cardboard tokens. The quality of the dry-erase sheets and markers is pretty decent, and honestly better than I was expecting. In total, there are 10 different dungeon sheets, and each is unique and interesting. The cardboard tokens are thick and chunky, and will definitely hold up to many plays. Overall, great production quality!
So do I like Dungeon Scrawlers? Yes! It’s a fun, fast-paced game that is easy to teach, learn, and play. It’s pretty light-hearted but still gives you some strategic options with the real-time pressure. It’s not necessarily one that I’ll pull out at every game night, but it’s one that I can definitely use as a quick little filler, introductory game, or a game to use with younger gamers! This game is a neat concept that is executed well, and it makes for a fun time for all players. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a scrawling 4 / 6. This game sounds easy, but add that real-time race and it gets a whole lot harder!
Dungeons & Dragons: Dungeon Scrawlers – Heroes of Undermountain (simply referred to as Dungeon Scrawlers from here on out) is a real-time line drawing maze race for 2-4 players. The goal? To crawl your way through the dungeon floors, defeating Monsters/collecting Treasures/casting Spells/and more to collect the most VP by the end of the game. To setup for a game, each player receives a marker and a random Character. Select the Dungeon you wish to play this game, and give the corresponding sheet to each player. Check the bottom of the Dungeon sheet to see if any special components are needed (more on this in a bit), grab a timer, and the game is ready to go! Pictured below is the setup for a 3-player game.
Once the timer begins, the race is on! Players all begin at the “Start” entrance of their sheet, and draw their path through the dungeon floor. When making your path, there are a few rules to follow. Your path must be one continuous, unbroken line – no dotted lines or ambiguous markings! Keep your path within the lines – don’t be drawing through walls, at risk of losing VP. And finally, whenever you enter a new room, you must interact with all elements within.
Inside the rooms of the dungeon, you will find Monsters, Treasures, Spells, Artifact Fragments, or Exotic Plants. Each is dealt with in a specific way, and award you VP when scoring the dungeon floor. To defeat a Monster, you must draw over and fully color it in. To case a Spell, you trace the indicated path. To collect a Treasure, you must completely outline the treasure icon on your sheet. Artifact Fragments are collected by connecting the stones in numerical order, and Exotic Plants are collected by simply drawing a line through them. If you leave a room and you have not interacted with every element within, you will earn negative VP for any elements you missed! Each player is given a Character at the game start, and these Characters provide special rules/abilities for use throughout the game. For example, the Barbarian allows you to only color a Monster head to complete it, instead of having to color the entire thing. And that could be a huge time-saver in the long run! So knowing your Character ability, and how to effectively utilize it, is a huge bonus in the game.
Some dungeon floors have special components that come into play. These are Orbs, Portals, Keys, and Prisoners. Orbs provide bonus VP, and their value decreases as they are collected. So collecting an Orb first earns you more VP than if you wait to collect the last one. Portals allow players to teleport between the portal entrance/exit, thus moving you to a new part of the dungeon floor. And Keys are collected throughout the dungeon, and allow players to open ‘locked’ doors of the corresponding color. Without the appropriate key, you can not pass through a locked door. And finally you may need to rescue some Prisoners who are trapped throughout the level.
The scrawl ends when a player has defeated the Boss Monster, but certain levels have different ending triggers, like collecting an Orb triggers the end. Once the level ends, all players must stop drawing. Players pass their sheet to the player on their left, and that player scores their run – kinda like how we used to do in school sometimes. Players record their scores, and the player with the highest score wins! I do have to say that the rulebook suggests a ‘complete’ game of Dungeon Scrawlers be a total of 3 dungeon floors – the player with the highest total score from all 3 floors is the winner. But you are always welcome to play with as many or as few dungeon floors as you wish.
I actually enjoyed this game more than I thought I would. I think the real-time race element is what gets me. You want to go as quickly as possible so you can amass the most points, but you also have to move carefully so as to not miss any elements, draw through walls, and ultimately earn negative VP. Also, each dungeon floor has so many different paths and options, it can be stressful choosing which way to go when you know you’re racing against other players. That being said, you’re kind of also playing a game of risk by trying to collect as many elements as possible. Maybe your opponent is gunning straight for the end-game trigger, and if you’re not fast enough you won’t collect enough VP this floor. Or maybe everyone is trying to be a completionist, collecting as many elements as possible, nobody wanting to be the person to trigger the end quite yet. There’s some good strategy to be had, and the real-time element enhances it.
To touch on components, this game is a set of dry-erase dungeon sheets and markers, and some cardboard tokens. The quality of the dry-erase sheets and markers is pretty decent, and honestly better than I was expecting. In total, there are 10 different dungeon sheets, and each is unique and interesting. The cardboard tokens are thick and chunky, and will definitely hold up to many plays. Overall, great production quality!
So do I like Dungeon Scrawlers? Yes! It’s a fun, fast-paced game that is easy to teach, learn, and play. It’s pretty light-hearted but still gives you some strategic options with the real-time pressure. It’s not necessarily one that I’ll pull out at every game night, but it’s one that I can definitely use as a quick little filler, introductory game, or a game to use with younger gamers! This game is a neat concept that is executed well, and it makes for a fun time for all players. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a scrawling 4 / 6. This game sounds easy, but add that real-time race and it gets a whole lot harder!
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Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Vikings - Season 1 in TV
May 15, 2017
Historically Accurate in terms of culture (2 more)
Doesn't hold back on the gore and grim nature of Vikings
Great Character development
A Historically accurate fantasy series
Vikings was a show that I didn't begin watching until it was already 3 seasons in. However it is a show that I instantly fell in love with because it was very different from any show like it.
Many shows these days such as Game Of Thrones and Vikings, etc. are becoming more daring with reaching a specific audience rather than the wider audience gained through less graphically violent shows. These shows are not afraid to show us a blade slicing through someones flesh or the blood pouring out of the wounds.
Vikings, as known throughout history, have been recorded as violent and brutish warriors who slaughtered hundreds of men and women during their travels to England and other European lands. The show does not hold back when it comes to portraying their brutality in battle. It is not all brutality and war though, as the drama aspect of this show, is shown through the main cast in their homeland of Scandinavia.
Ragnar is definitely a great character to follow as we watch him rise to become Jarl of his home town. Portrayed by Travis Fimmel (Warcraft: The Beginning / The Baytown Outlaws), the character of Ragnar Lothbrok is one we see develop in many different ways. Based upon the legend of a man of the same name, who, though recorded throughout history, is a character that some historians are unsure existed, thought his sons are definitely recorded to have existed. The only way I can explain this is that his legend is so incredible that there are some who chose to believe it and others who chose to believe it is simply stories made up by travelers and poets.
Either way, this show is a brilliant fantasy drama that combines fiction with historical accuracy. This first season follows Ragnar as he begins his journey to defy the Jarl of Kattegat and sail towards England to raid, pillage and bring back treasure unlike anything the north had ever seen.
The soundtrack to the series is also brilliant and really brings the scenes of the films to life, and give them a beautiful atmosphere that sucks you into the moment, and leaves you on the edge of your seat.
With a great cast, excellent writers and great directing and cinematography, Vikings is beautiful, thrilling and horrifying and certainly, in my opinion, one of the greatest shows I have ever watched.
Many shows these days such as Game Of Thrones and Vikings, etc. are becoming more daring with reaching a specific audience rather than the wider audience gained through less graphically violent shows. These shows are not afraid to show us a blade slicing through someones flesh or the blood pouring out of the wounds.
Vikings, as known throughout history, have been recorded as violent and brutish warriors who slaughtered hundreds of men and women during their travels to England and other European lands. The show does not hold back when it comes to portraying their brutality in battle. It is not all brutality and war though, as the drama aspect of this show, is shown through the main cast in their homeland of Scandinavia.
Ragnar is definitely a great character to follow as we watch him rise to become Jarl of his home town. Portrayed by Travis Fimmel (Warcraft: The Beginning / The Baytown Outlaws), the character of Ragnar Lothbrok is one we see develop in many different ways. Based upon the legend of a man of the same name, who, though recorded throughout history, is a character that some historians are unsure existed, thought his sons are definitely recorded to have existed. The only way I can explain this is that his legend is so incredible that there are some who chose to believe it and others who chose to believe it is simply stories made up by travelers and poets.
Either way, this show is a brilliant fantasy drama that combines fiction with historical accuracy. This first season follows Ragnar as he begins his journey to defy the Jarl of Kattegat and sail towards England to raid, pillage and bring back treasure unlike anything the north had ever seen.
The soundtrack to the series is also brilliant and really brings the scenes of the films to life, and give them a beautiful atmosphere that sucks you into the moment, and leaves you on the edge of your seat.
With a great cast, excellent writers and great directing and cinematography, Vikings is beautiful, thrilling and horrifying and certainly, in my opinion, one of the greatest shows I have ever watched.
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Hunger Games (2012) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020 (Updated Nov 26, 2020)
One of the most clueless things I've ever seen, as painstakingly unintelligent as it is one-dimensional and blunt. My problem isn't so much that every YA movie from then until at least 2018 cribbed from it (and for the most part, did it better lol) mercilessly until they left nothing left to this one but its picked-clean carcass - but moreso with the fact that it does only a couple steps above the bare minimum. How awesome would this have been as a Battle Royale-style, anti-fascist bloodbath where a bunch of kids are picked at random and exposed to both the elements and a shit-ton of weapons in a 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘸-esque battlefield commentated by a flamboyant Stanley Tucci and Toby Jones? But no, fuck that right? Instead we get a garbage-looking, shakycam exercise in going through the motions with bad characters and toothless action (wasps? most of the characters dying offscreen? are you kidding me?). Plus we're treated to another awful forced romance, dull-arrowed swipes at classism which amount to nothing more than overtly-obvious visual signifiers with nothing to actually chew on (I assume out of cowardice - which makes it worse), and one of the most infamous cases of vaguely misogynistic attempts at a 'strong female lead' by making her mean and stripped of any actual personality. Somehow it doesn't really drag, but it's pretty viciously unexciting. There's some real bite to the scenes where Katniss's every expression let alone word is picked apart by a capricious crowd and disingenuous MC, and Haymitch painfully watching the rich children play with the toy sword - though not only does it refuse to dive into the treasure trove of possible commentary it sets up, but I actually have to apologize to the (worlds better) 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 for goofing on its idiotic politics because this is somehow even dumber. "We want to make sure there's never another uprising again, show we're a gracious + caring government, and entertain the public all at once. How do we do that? Well we'll just start abducting and killing children at random on national television of course!" Lmfao. Doesn't lean into anything that could have made this enjoyable, and there's a lot - so they had to have *tried* to make it this flat. Also one of those movies that only knows how to express its limited emotion through unbearable "everything sucks" world-building. Great... that would be another thing entirely if it even earned the right to do that, which naturally this doesn't. Cheesy and unintentionally funny.
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