New DnD Tabletop Game Is A Quick, Frantic Dungeon Crawler

While Fifth Edition saw a huge boost in popularity for Dungeons & Dragons, devoting time to a campaign and character can be a bit too much for some people and may not be great for families. And diving into D&D can be a little overwhelming, as it can be complicated for new players to learn. Luckily, WizKids has a new, fun game arriving this October called Dungeon Scrawlers.

WizKids’ Dungeon Scrawlers takes the dungeon crawling aspect all D&D players are familiar with it, simplifies it, and makes it easily accessible to everyone, no matter your age. Pre-made maps have players drawing a continuous line throughout a dungeon in order to collect points. You collect points by collecting numbered stones in order, scribbling out monsters, tracing spells, etc. The winner is whoever scores the most points during their adventure.

The full game arrives this fall and contains 10 maps and is for 2-4 players. It will cost $25, and you can preorder Dungeon Scrawlers from your local game store, or you can preorder it online here. Check out the “How to play” rules below, which also gives you a look at one of the maps.

Dungeons Scrawlers is compact and portable. “We definitely wanted it to be something you could easily bring along to game night, while still fitting in a ton of gameplay,” said Eric Meyers, Board Game Project Manager at WizKids. “The whole box should fit right in with your D&D books.”

The game won’t teach you to play D&D, but it will introduce people to elements from the game. “One of the most important elements are the different character classes, and their special abilities,” said Meyers. “Each has an action that they can do faster or better than the others can–spells for the Wizard, collecting treasure for the Rogue, or defeating monsters for the Barbarian–that lets you do some light roleplaying as you lean into that activity. You even level up, in a sense, as each map grows more intricate, with more elements and challenges requiring the talents of experienced adventurers. Mostly, it perfectly captures the feeling of a tension-filled dungeon crawl.”

Dungeon Scrawlers has more of a light-hearted and fast-paced tone than D&D players are used to. “The designers were looking for a new way to use markers in a board game, when they realized that it could be a great way to explore maze-like dungeon maps in real time,” explained Meyers. “They brainstormed different elements that the dungeon could include, from monsters, to spells, to treasure, and ways to give special abilities to different adventurer classes, and they soon had a sample version to test. When everyone they tried it with wanted to immediately delve into the next dungeon, they knew they had something special.”

Meyer continued saying they wanted to find unique ways to interact with D&D elements, using the scribbling mechanic. This includes casting spells, attacking monsters, and collecting loot. Dungeon Scrawlers will be available this October.

For more on D&D, you’ll want to tune in to D&D live on July 16-17, when you’ll be able to see WWE wrestlers play a campaign and learn more about the upcoming books: The Wild Beyond The Witchlight and Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos. Additionally, you can check out some of the miniatures WizKids has been putting out like the Wildshape and Polymorph set and the Icons of the Realm: Boneyard minis.