It is the simplified, kid-friendly version of the well-known classic Carcassonne. The box says 2-4 players, age 4+, 30 minutes.
It is a super easy game, with a lot of luck influencing the outcome, but with some room for clever (or less than clever) decisions.
Like the standard Carcassonne, you randomly draw tiles and connect them together, but all tiles always connect. Each tile has one or two kids printed on it, colored blue, yellow, red or purple.
Each player has 8 meeples of the chosen color, and is allowed to place them on the tiles when the road they are printed on is closed. So you need luck in drawing tiles with kids of your color, but you also need strategy in putting tiles with other players' kids in the worst places, so their roads are harder to close (i.e. take more tiles).
While very simple, it's nice for me to play, too.
So how is it faring with my boy?
In short, WONDERFULLY. It is the very first game my kid plays with all the rules in place, and actual strategic thinking, after just two games. And he is loving it.
Federico is five, so he's just above the minimum recommended age. I'm not sure he would have grasped the whole thing with the same depth of understanding if he had played it at four. At five he's actually capable of mastering all there is, and he seems well aware of it!
Fun fact: we've played seven games so far, and I haven't won a single game yet!
The evil count has kidnapped lady Marianne, and it's up to you to rescue her!
This simple premise gets you right into the adventure, a fantasy/horror scenario which can easily be dropped into your regular campaign, or be played as an easygoing one-shot.
So what's cool about it? Several things, actually!
It's got LOTS OF RANDOM! Every time you play, things are always different.
It's easy to use for solo or GMLess play. Just make your character(s) and follow the instructions on the page.
It's got a simple back story that can be literally explained in four words (go rescue Lady Marianne), meaning it's perfect for games that focus on learning the rules, or just want a couple hours of fun bashing monsters in a gothic dungeon.
It's a testament to the trappings concept when applied to creatures, with several monsters being simple reskin of stat blocks found in the core Savage Worlds book.
It is a horror/fantasy rescue mission with a strong Castlevania vibe, including several items that you can find which change how you interact with some of the monsters and traps.
At a personal level, I'm very happy with this little project because I was able to code a bit of html (with close to no experience before this!), and translate the random generation mechanics of Gold & Glory into an electronic thing.
This "translation" was not "literal". The electronic random generation lacks all the subtle intricacies of using a deck of cards like the tabletop version... because I wasn't able to code those, of course. When using the actual Gold & Glory dungeon deck system, you can't get the same result twice in the same room, for example, nor can you encounter the same hazard two times before consuming the whole deck and shuffling it again.
But what is lacking in subtlety is made up for in variety: I was able to put way more hazards, treasures and features than what I could usually fit into a regular pen and paper G&G dungeon: a huge amount of horrors and wonders, and several chained events and McGuffins that interact with each other.
This time we'll take a look at the line of "deadly dungeon hosts" adventures: dungeon scenarios designed by special guest authors, based on the Gold & Glory Dungeon Template. Let's see who they are and what they've come up with!
The Garden of Bones was created by a powerful necromancer to be given as a present to a love interest of theirs. Once the gift was rejected, the necromancer turned the garden into a place of nightmares and horrific creations they built to externalize their frustration. It fell into obscurity after the ages passed away, and it became a myth. Now, a scholar with sinister interests has located a map they believe to lead to this mythical garden and desires to be taken there to admire the garden and possibly collect the legendary Ghost Lotus.
The Garden of Bones is a legendary place covered in mystery and peril, full of dark wonders and incredible treasures. Sages have talked about it for centuries but very few have ever discovered its location. But now an expedition to this mystic place is being organized. This Gold & Glory dungeon adventure features unique rewards and a very dangerous environment, a worthy challenge for truly Heroic characters!
Due to its theme and features, The Garden of Bones can be dropped into any fantasy, grimdark, or sword & sorcery campaign, including settings such as Lankhmar or Beasts & Barbarians.
The art for this one was made by Matteo Ceresa, who tried to homage Mike Mignola's style.
Families of grubby little goblins frequently make their homes in the mountains to the west, where they breed like vermin, and hoard stolen treasure in their deep, dark caves. Brave adventures sometimes seek out these underground warrens, purging the goblin infestation and reclaiming their ill-gotten riches. Several weeks ago, the famous paladin Molgrim Silverblade led his companions on a holy mission to root out a large band of goblins. Only one survivor returned from the doomed expedition, and he had been hideously mutilated and driven half-mad.
Hightree Warren is a perilous dungeon, populated by vicious goblins, and filled with traps and other nasty surprises. Set in the world of Saga of the Goblin Horde and written by Savage Worlds guru Richard Woolcock.
“It’s my gold, I tell you! All mine! I will never give it up! Never! Bah, humbug!” —Ebenezer’s last words.
The cruel, wealthy money-lender Ebenezer has passed away. Somewhere inside his mansion, or below it, there must be treasure beyond imagination! Who cares if people speak of ghostly apparitions and other strange events... Ebenezer’s Gold is a festive-special dungeon adventure, and the second written by Richard Woolcock!
A fallen Strider, a shameful secret left buried for centuries, and a party of heroes who dare enter a long-forlorn castle on a solitary mountain peak in search of the fabled Ring Of Yore and, maybe, the truth.
The Halls of the Damned is a Castlevania inspired dungeon adventure written by game designer and novelist Andrea Mollica, the same author of Guardians of Sol-Tau. The adventure has a strong horror/gothic theme, and can be adapted to any Gothic Horror setting where you may have heroes storming a castle infested with goulish monsters, werewolves, ghosts and vampires!
Maximillian Ernesto Cravenpeter Esquire the Mediocre, a powerful archmage, is publicly retiring and is holding an auction for his eclectic and exotic items. Maximillian, a powerful wizard in no way overcome with paranoia and petty concerns, has always had little trust or respect for anyone who would covet his things. As a security measure he has contacted the Green Feather agents—fae mesmerists, who have agreed to hold the auction in a dream within Maximillian’s psyche. This works flawlessly, protecting both the clients and the auctioned objects, as long as no deep psychic disturbances exist. A renowned wizard named Max the Mediocre has no psychogenic trauma, obviously.
Cravenpeter's Dream Auction is a special adventure written by OSR master Courtney Campbell that can be played as an alternative to the usual Carousing, Magic Research, and Offerings to Solis... assuming the heroes have enough gold to make bids at Cravenpeter’s Dream Auction!
For those who don't know, Courtney Campbell runs one of the most interesting OSR blogs out there: Hack & Slash, and is also the author of the cool Megadungeon 'zine.
The art in this one is by Courtney Campbell himself, with some coloring by our usual layout artist Matteo Ceresa!
