Castle Ravenloft is a boardgame released under the popular Dungeons & Dragons franchise by Wizards Of The Coast. The game was designed by Bill Slavicsek and Mike Mearls and originally released in 2010. I purchased this game mainly for the fact that you can play either alone or in small groups as I don't have a dedicated D&D party or GM at the moment.
Play time: 1 hour
Players: 1-5
Type: Solo or Co-Op
Also of note is that this game is inevitably compared to Warhammer Quest so yes I will be making many comparisons throughout and shortening it to WHQ also.
Scenario
The game has a basic scenario that a powerful vampire has set up home in a large haunted castle and heroic adventurers have dedicated themselves to stopping him (or at least looting his home). As there are several quests included in the game the scenario changes slightly each time you play.
Gameplay
Like many dungeon crawlers this game is all about map building. As the heroes explore they place tiles, making each experience a little different. Many would compare this game to WHQ. The map-building mechanic and basic concepts are very similar. The challenges are where this similarity ends however.
Unlike most delving games, Castle Ravenloft often gives the monsters the initiative. It is their home, they are defending it and they are ready for you! This makes the game more challenging and your heroes often take a few scrapes before they get to fight back. Luckily you normally place only one monster at a time. This makes the game interesting because any creature is a significant threat which requires strategy and maneuvering. But on the other hand I did miss the satisfaction of the mob-massacres you got in WHQ.
The random encounter deck lessens the "safety in numbers" vibe with a series of nasty events designed to wound and frustrate your heroes. Sometimes more monsters will appear. Sometimes traps will be sprung. Sometimes weird and spooky things occur...
If you reach the objective tile of the dungeon you have to fight a boss monster, perform a specific task or sometimes simply escape the dungeon.
One slight disappointment is the level-up up system. You only have a second level to aim for. On the plus side this means you don't outgrow the monsters in the game. But it is a bit of a let down considering the ability to level-up is such a big part of RPG excitement.
Components
I've read mixed reviews about the components and artwork included in the game. I'm not sure how jaded some gamers are or what their expectations have become. Personally I think they are of a good standard and on par with other Dungeons & Dragons products
The dungeon tile pieces seem to be higher quality than those in WHQ. The artwork is crisper too, although the rooms and halls feel a little generic. You get so many however that each dungeon is almost guaranteed to be different and the map soon becomes a sprawling maze.
The miniatures are much more dynamic than the flat-posed pieces included in WQH too. Although I do rather miss the masses of spiders and goblinoids. Castle Raveloft has far less creatures. But they are exiting pieces and I felt that I was getting good value for money. Two undead dragons in one game can't be bad, right? Well maybe for the heroes.
The rulebook is fairly light reading. That's because the game decks do most of the work. The game decks are high quality and robust but a tad plain. A bit of artwork on the encounter and treasure decks would have been an improvement. I would have personally liked a larger adventure book with more solo-play quests. But maybe that's what I get for being antisocial...
Conclusion
If you like Dungeons & Dragons or fantasy games in general I'd recommend buying this, especially if you don't want to commit to the actual RPG version.
The gameplay is straightforward but the in-game events are still challenging enough. Due to the varying combiations of characters and quests I'd say there is plenty of replay value.
I'm giving Castle Ravenloft 7/10.
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