Build the dungeon. Hire the monsters. Then defend it from those annoying heroes.
A clever and challenging strategy board game from Czech Games Edition, designed by Vlaada Chvátil for players who enjoy deep planning, resource management, and a wicked sense of humour.
Dungeon Lords turns the classic fantasy adventure upside down, putting you in charge of building a dungeon, hiring monsters, setting traps, and surviving the heroes who come to ruin your hard work.
Product Description
In most fantasy games, you play the brave heroes entering the dungeon.
Here, you are an aspiring dungeon lord trying to build the most impressive underground empire. Dig tunnels, mine gold, recruit imps, hire monsters, build rooms, buy traps, and keep your dungeon running like a proper villainous business.
But there is a problem. The more powerful and threatening your dungeon becomes, the more attention it attracts. Adventurers will come knocking, and they are not visiting for tea. Twice during the game, you must defend your dungeon using the monsters, ghosts, traps, and rooms you prepared during the building phase.
Dungeon Lords is a strategy game with planning, timing, resource management, tactical combat, and plenty of humour. It is best suited to players who enjoy heavier board games and do not mind thinking several steps ahead.
Why you'll love it
- Play the dungeon boss: Instead of fighting monsters, you build the dungeon and command them.
- Deep strategy: Manage gold, food, imps, traps, rooms, monsters, reputation, and taxes.
- Build and defend: The game moves between dungeon-building rounds and tactical combat.
- Clever humour: The theme is full of playful fantasy jokes and villainous charm.
- Meaningful choices: Every action matters, from where you dig tunnels to which monsters you hire.
- Tough adventurers: Heroes get stronger if your dungeon becomes too evil.
- Great for experienced gamers: Best for players who enjoy heavier strategy games with lots to manage.
Quick Details
- Product type: Strategy board game
- Number of players: 2 to 4
- Recommended age group: 14 years and up
- Playing time: About 90 minutes
- Game style: Strategy, dungeon-building, resource management, worker placement, tactical combat
- Play mode: Competitive play
- Skill level: Advanced
- Theme: Fantasy, dungeon building, monsters, adventurers, dark humour
- Designer: Vlaada Chvátil
- Publisher: Czech Games Edition
In the Box
- 1 Central board
- 1 Progress board
- 1 Distant lands board
- 4 Two-sided dungeon boards
- 32 Order cards
- 8 Overview cards
- 18 Combat cards
- 27 Trap cards
- 9 Special event cards
- 24 Monster or ghost tiles
- 16 Room tiles
- 32 Adventurer tiles
- 2 Paladin tiles
- 3 Event tiles
- 42 Tunnel tiles
- 4 Troll tokens
- 20 Item tiles
- 12 Minion figures
- 4 Evil counters
- 1 Minion sticker sheet
- 1 Starting player token
- 1 Progress marker
- About 40 Imp figures
- About 30 Food tokens
- About 40 Damage counters
- Rulebook
Good to Know
- Not a light family game: This is a heavier strategy game with many moving parts.
- Best for experienced players: A strong choice for gamers who enjoy planning, timing, and resource management.
- Build phase: Players dig tunnels, mine gold, recruit imps, hire monsters, buy traps, and build rooms.
- Combat phase: Adventurers attack your dungeon, and you must defend it with traps and monsters.
- Reputation matters: The more evil your dungeon becomes, the stronger the heroes you attract.
- Two-year structure: The game plays through two building years, each followed by combat.
- Humorous theme: The game has a playful fantasy tone where you manage the "business" side of being a dungeon lord.
- Age check: Use the age printed on your physical box when publishing. The supplied images show 14+.
Care & Maintenance
Store the boards, cards, tiles, tokens, figures, and markers neatly in the box after play. Keep all components away from moisture, direct sunlight, and rough handling. Because Dungeon Lords includes many small pieces, sort the tokens, tiles, and figures after each session to make future setup easier. Card sleeves can also help protect the order, trap, combat, and event cards during repeated plays.
