Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game

I won't attempt to review this game in total, or go over the rules, as this has been done effectively many times before. I wanted to review it, however, as an experience for playing with young children.Summary - 5/5I have 2 kids, one 4 one 6.5. This game is excellent for introducing children 6+ to gaming concepts, and enjoying some quality time together. I would not recommend it as a first game, but once your kids have some basic ideas of gameplay, its cooperative nature offers a perfect blend of progressively independent action and bonding.Theme and appeal - 5/5The theme and appeal of the game is obvious. By the age of 3 or 4 most children will have been bombarded with a variety of fantasy narratives, and enjoy them. Spooky dungeons. Scary dragons. Heroic knights. While some parents may be concerned at the idea of crawling through caves and killing monsters, my personal view is that this comes very naturally to kids these days, and is in fact quite empowering - see a monster, whammo! blast it with a magic wand.This game creates a very tactile upfront experience of the things they have seen on TV or in story books. The little miniatures are very appealing, both to my 3 (almost 4) year old girl, and to my 6.5 year old son.Is it kid proof - 3/5This game is sturdy and durable. You will, however, need to keep a close eye on all the bits, which can be easily lost if not kept in themed baggies, and without very clear 'putting away when used' rules.The miniatures can probably take some abuse, but also need some care as there are bits that could be snapped off. You will also need to be disciplined with the cards. When my son gets excited, he waves his arms and is sometimes tempted to squish them inside his hands.Assuming you play on the floor (which I do) you may also need to make clear no walking or rolling over the board rules...Can a 6/7 year old contribute meaningfully, and feel fulfilled? - 4/5Most certainly, but with guidance. Even a three year old can choose which corner of a new tile to explore, and count out spaces (although it helps if they have learned space counting in other games first). A 6/7 year old can choose which powers they want to use, although may need some tactical/strategic guidance.I found the game offered plenty to make my son feel very fulfilled playing the game. We died in our first adventure, but despite this setback he was delighted to recall some of his more heroic moments, and how if we had only done this or that we might just have made it.Can Dad enjoy it while playing with the kids? - 5/5Certainly he can. One way to view it is as solo plus, in which you still may have to make a majority of the strategic decisions - which (despite some complaints about the game being too easy) are not always simple - but you also get the pleasure in sharing the experience with others.You can also use the game to practice your story telling skills to a sometimes quite demanding audience!Is it educational? - 5/5OK, let's be clear up front that this is not going to enhance your child's understanding of world geography, or the way plants grow. It is fantasy.But first up, I consider fantasy to be an important part of human culture, and one of the shared experiences that bind society together.Beyond that, the game teaches social play. Teamwork. Tactical and strategic decision making. Logic. (If-then, if not-then something else). Basic AI. Planning. It encourages reading, and thinking about maths and probability. It teaches rule systems, and how to best use them to your advantage. What's not to love about this, especially in an era of electronic solitude?Is it easy to learn/teach? - 4/5Again, this puts a certain amount of onus on the parent. I highly doubt your 6.5 year old will be able to read and understand the rules without guidance.I made the mistake of trying a first game without understanding everything myself, and my poor son was stuck watching me sweat my way through the rules (as can be seen from another posting I made). It might be a good idea to do a solo run first.But once you get the basic concepts (how monsters move!), it comes quite easily. Yes, you do need to explain how the powers work. How the exploration works. How the monsters work. It is a lot to absorb at first.But if your kid is interested, they will pay attention, and it can be revealed progressively through gameplay.I am also amazed how much space a 6/7 year old has in his/her brain to absorb new rules... more than once I've opened an old card game and asked - hmm, how many do we deal to start? - only to have my son answer for me...Does it play out reasonably quickly? - 4/5I am assuming, with this score, that you know that you are in for a substantial game. i.e. This is not a ten minute frisson. The question is whether it can keep a kid's attention or not.In my first game, I found myself wishing it would take a little less time. Not a lot less, but right at the end - when it went past bedtime, and was starting to drag a little.That said, the denouement came roughly about the time I expected, and my son's attention was pretty gripped (allowing for a couple of short breaks). And there would be no harm in tweaking the game a bit... one or two fewer tiles, perhaps, before the final boss, could be one approach.Is it fun? - 5/5Yes! Its theme, fairly simple gameplay, and balance of achievement and challenge works well for kids. Everyone loves receiving a treasure. Everyone hates getting a nasty encounter.Great game. And given it is a system more than a game, with a lot of variety, I hope to be playing this for quite some time.

Who am I:Middle aged married guy who loves Sci fi, video games and fantasy novels. Used to play D&D and then AD&D around twenty years ago. Haven't been involved with any serious groups since then so I have no experience with any editions of D&D that cause such a rift in the community. This means that I am not hopelessly in love with any specific Edition of D&D.-Note for various D&D Edition FanGirls and FanBoys- If you are a 4th Edition Hater and can't get past that, you most likely will not enjoy these games as they are based, in general, on the 4th Edition rule set. If you don't know what that statement means, or if you are capable of enjoying what each Edition has to offer, you should have no problems.Why I love the D&D Adventure Systems:Castle Ravenloft(CR), Wrath of Ashardalon(WoA) and Legend of Drizzt(LoD): They work as a stand alone product and offer a dungeon crawling, limited leveling, monster slaying experience with no previous knowledge of how D&D works. And all in sessions that can be finished in an hour or two. The minimal time commitment involved is fantastic.Or, if you find yourself filled with nostalgia and desire a fuller, longer campaign with further leveling options or new characters, these games can be tweaked to allow for that. Especially with some of the user created content online, the photoshop templates on boardgamegeek.com in particular are wonderful. Also this [....]address has a plethora of new content. The extra leveling options are definitely my favorite. The truth is that I screamed in happiness when I ran across them. I sounded like a ten year old girl getting a pony. A unicorn pony. with wings. A Unicorn Pegasus Pony that appeared in a shimmer of rainbow colors. And now I am deeply ashamed...........*sigh* I am such a nerd.The game system totally allows for expandability in many ways. It's kind of a gateway drug for D&D honestly. I find myself consistently wanting just a bit more of the actual RPG experience. We tweak the game a bit and suddenly our experience is just a bit fuller and more satisfying. Not nearly as detailed and time intensive as an actual D&D or Pathfinder game though. Such a great balance for us.They don't have to be expanded upon though, to be immensely enjoyable. Any of the three games are enough in and of themselves to be hugely gratifying and offer much re-playability. The expandability is just something that makes them extra cool and versatile in my opinion.All three systems use totally interchangeable materials. Some of the cards may be context sensitive and not seem to fit in a particular environment but other than that you can use everything in each of the games. This provides Awesomeness Bonus of +2.The map tiles and figurines both are an unbeatable value and can be easily incorporated into a "real" D&D session.Everything in the box, other than the manuals, is of superb quality. The figurines alone would easily cost you double what you pay for the set here. And if you paint figurines, which I do, you will have just gained around forty new minis to paint. Joy in and of itself there.Possible Cons:I saw in the review for one of the three games that some dude was just totally disgusted with how these games "punish" the players for almost every activity they engage in. The guy was totally a Hater. However, he wasn't necessarily wrong. The game does seem to be constantly throwing things at you that often don't feel fair. Notably, the Encounter cards. Which brings me to the next con and a solution to the "punishment" issue....The instruction manual will not answer every question that will come up. It is left up to the players to decide how certain things should work. Which is how a "real" D&D game works. Your group plays the game the way they want to play it. If you simply cannot function without every rule spelled out for you, this may be a problem. Otherwise you'll be fine. And in terms of rule tweaking and the punishment issue- we decided to change how often we draw encounter cards as well as a couple other minor aspects of the game. This has served to make our sessions a lot more fun. Don't be afraid to tweak the rules in order to play the game how you want to play it.The manuals are pretty cheaply put together. They may not hold up well to use by younger players or spilled drinks. I took ours apart and put the pages in plastic binder inserts. We now have all the material for all the games in a single, sturdy, custom decorated notebook. Which is awesome btw. (Disclaimer for claim of awesomeness: I created the custom artwork:)Space. With all the cards and map tiles and bags of monsters and tokens that get used in a typical session, you may find you need a bit more space than an average board game. All of the aforementioned items can quickly end up being a mess. As a solution we have everything securely contained in varying sizes of ziplock bags. Including the map tiles in a 1 Gallon size bag. Perfect for storage and during play.There is no actual role playing or in town scenarios. If you want to get into a brawl over the serving wench's honor at The Yawning Portal Inn in the city of Waterdeep, then you should just find a gaming group and play Pathfinder or D&D(any Edition). Or perhaps, after stumbling into a gathering of Dirty Orcs in the Gloomy Forest of Gloom and Terror, you want to attempt to use an illusion to convince them you are a deity and sell them into slavery in the Land of Thay. As opposed to just killing them. Again, just go find a full-on game of D&D. These systems can be worked to allow for things like that to some degree, but they aren't designed to be open world or allow for anything other than a dungeon crawl with combat and a final, combat based, objective.So:If you want "real" D&D, then you may be more satisfied finding a group and getting involved.If you want a game that allows you to engage in D20 based combat, with figurines, that represent a character with minimal leveling capacity. And that can be played by anyone. These systems may be just the thing for you.Also of note: The Dungeon Command games have interchangeable map tiles, monster cards and figurines that can be used seamlessly with the Adventure Systems. I love this as it ads even more expansion options.

If you have always wanted to play D&D, this is what I would recommend to begin. The game is easy to set up, learn, and play. A great way to dive into the franchise. I know trying to play D&D is hard; having to create and manage a character, finding a group, or a dm to run the group through a campaign. It can be stressful, but getting this game eliminates all of that. The game comes with character cards with everything on it, all you have to do is follow the instructions, you get good quality miniatures, a d20, and a lot of the stuff relevant to the game. You can play this game solo or with a couple of people. The adventures are fun and can last a couple of hours and you can run shorter adventures if you are in a time crunch.We have played this game for a family game night and my daughters loved it. After they played this a few times, they wanted to play the pen and paper version and are hooked on d&d. If I don't feel like being a dm and running a campaign for my kids, we pull this game out and have a blast.There are too many good things to say about this game and the system it is built on. I could talk forever about it. Overall, it's a great introduction into d&d, you get awesome minis, and it's fun. It is worth every penny and it's at a great price. If you also pick up the other games (Wrath of Ashardalon and Castle Ravenloft) you can use those pieces and monsters in this game as well. You should definitely buy, buy it now, buy it..5..4..3..2..1 buy it now.