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

Great fun, whether you are a D&D fan or not. Best family game I’ve bought in a long while
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.

Easier then it looks
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.

Great for the family
Played this with my wife and older kids (7 and 8). I was worried it would be too complicated, but they enjoyed it immensely and we got the hang of it quickly. My wife and I were laughing along with them. This is not just for kids, guys! It has humor that adults can appreciate just as easily as the kiddos. The only negative thing I can say, which isn’t much, is that some kids might be sensitive to the monsters. My 7-year-old had some bad dreams about one of the cards. But he is a bit sensitive, so don’t let that dissuade you from getting the game. Hope this review is helpful. God bless!

Played this as a family with my kids 10 and 12. I haven’t played D & D since I was a kid. This is a fun game that has the essence of RPG without being too complicated. The hardest part was starting getting through the instructions and making sure we all understood. The instructions are easy to follow and clearly written. Once we got the hang of that the game went really well, pretty fast but not too quick. It allows for creativity but has fighting dice action too. Lots of cards for each Dungeon so plenty of different quests each time to play. Very happy with the purchase. Also the graphics and illustrations are great which adds to the fantasy.

Played through 2 of the scenarios with my 8 year old yesterday and had great fun. The rules are simple enough for younger kids and the overall game allows the flavour of RP to come through. The co-op nature and switching of DM / PC roles throughout I think is a great idea.Adult players will definitely find this game over simplified but playing it with your kids is lots of fun