Dungeons of Authority – review of the board game “Masters of the Underworld”

More than 10 years ago, a game by Vlaady Chwatil, already recognized at that time, was released. In Dungeon Lords, we took on the role of dark dungeon lords to build our caves and repel the invasions of heroes. Recently, the publisher (Rebel) dusted off this title and we have the opportunity to return to the underground known to us. Is this the return of the king?

 

My first dungeons

For many people, this will be the first opportunity to get acquainted with the game. The Lords of the Underworld were successful on the market, but the title was unavailable for sale for years. Players were delighted with the theme and execution of the game. Here, instead of playing the role of brave warriors and sorcerers, we stood on the other side of the barricade, as the title Lord of the Underworld.

The goal of the game is to expand the dungeon system in such a way that – within two years of playing time – you will become famous as the cruelest owner of the most terrible dungeons in the area. To this end, we send our minions to the nearby village, where they will get the resources we need and means of protection against heroes (i.e. traps and monsters). In the meantime, we’re digging new tunnels and mining gold. After the stage of expanding the underground comes the time of testing.

The rampant evil attracts the attention of heroes who will gladly go on an expedition to beat us down. If we don’t take care of the right PR, the team will be joined by Paladin, whose defeat is already quite a challenge.

Action plan

In Dungeon Lords , several seemingly distant mechanics are used – by a clear division of the game into building and combat stages, we have the impression that we play two titles alternately.

When expanding dungeons, we choose actions from cards and place workers on the appropriate fields. We have to optimize the movements so that our servants take the right field at the right time. The longer we delay sending a worker, the higher the cost of the action, the profit from it, but also the greater the risk that other players will take our place. So we have to be vigilant and watch out for many factors.

During the combat stage, we will face attacking enemies. There are a variety of traps and monsters in our arsenal, but the heroes have their tricks. Throughout the fight, we allocate damage to the team in different ways, and the outcome largely depends on how well we prepared for the fight.

So the game has interesting dynamics – we have to find a balance between many moving elements, which gives a lot of satisfaction when we succeed.

A trip back and forth

In the box we will find expansion tokens, for which, according to the instructions, “the rules have not yet been invented” – the problem is that in several languages, the rules for them have been available for many years. A large expansion and a few promos also came out for the game, and a few years ago, the Dungeon Lords got an anniversary version with improved components.

Hence, I am surprised by the form of the reprint – in the unchanged graphic design, without even adding these small additions and rules to the tokens present in the box. The reprint was also an opportunity to redraft the text of the manual and adapt it to modern standards. The layout of the sections, unfortunately, prevents you from quickly learning the rules of the game.

I feel like the game itself hasn’t aged very well. Players who took on the role of Underlords for the first time often had questions about the rules and complained about unnecessarily complex mechanics. What was fresh and interesting 11 years ago is crude and rough today. During this time, games with similar difficulty and satisfaction resulting from the decisions made, which work more efficiently and use fewer components, have been released.

One to rule them all

Playing Underlords evokes a lot of emotions. Dungeon construction and combat are fun, we are rewarded for thoughtful decisions, we have the right balance between implementing the plan and reacting to changing conditions, sprinkled with a pinch of randomness. However, sentiment dominates – we see how board games were designed a decade ago and how they were published. The graphics and mechanics used reflect the spirit of the times. For many players it can be a lesson, for novelty seekers – a prolonged visit to an antique shop. For me, it was a sentimental journey – pleasant, but without a plan for subsequent returns.