11 Board Games Like Dungeons & Dragons Worth Playing in 2025

If you truly privation a committee crippled that re-creates the Dungeons & Dragons experience, there’s nary amended spot to commencement than the Adventure System games, which are virtually a slimmed down mentation of the 4th variation rules successful a box, with a board. There’s nary DM to tally the game: you propulsion tiles astatine random arsenic you research the dungeon and monsters behave according to simple, yet varied, AI routines printed connected their cards. But there’s inactive a communicative campaign, divided into idiosyncratic scenarios, with secrets to uncover, monsters to kill, and treasures to loot. Dungeons of the Mad Mage is the astir caller set, but there’s a scope of these and they’re each a blast to play.

Although 1 of the amusive things astir D&D committee games is often the information that you don’t request idiosyncratic to instrumentality the DM’s role, having idiosyncratic to narrate the acquisition and power the atrocious guys tin marque the acquisition richer for each involved. And if you bash privation to clasp that role, this modern reprint of 1989 classical HeroQuest has you covered. Mechanically it’s astir precisely the same, with 1 subordinate controlling the evil wizard and his minions, portion the others are heroes, exploring a bid of dungeons connected their quest to summation acquisition and treasure and extremity the evil erstwhile and for all. As a bonus it’s besides beauteous simple, making a large prime for a genitor to play with their kids (also spot our picks for much household committee games).

Both our erstwhile picks are beauteous old-school games. If you privation thing much modern, see this mentation of the fantastic deckbuilding crippled Clank! It has some the branding of the hugely fashionable Dungeons & Dragons podcast Acquisitions Incorporated and the bequest operation meaning the crippled is simply a run that changes the components physically arsenic you progress, ensuring your copy, and your adventures with it, are wholly unique. The crippled itself marries the exciting, chaotic platform operation and escapade of the archetypal with a much considered, characterful communicative framework, afloat of surprises and humor. For more, spot our Clank! buying guide.

While the Adventure System games supra tried to slim down 4th variation D&D successful a accepted escapade crippled format, Onslaught ports the 5th variation rules into a skirmish committee crippled wherever 2 adventuring parties combat for dominance successful a dungeon room. While this isn’t precisely however the role-playing crippled tends to run, each subordinate has had a full-on party-on-party clash astatine slightest erstwhile successful their gaming career, and the crippled thoughtfully includes treasure chests to loot and characters to level to marque it consciousness much authentic. Plus, the tabletop translation of the well-loved 5th variation rules is truly engaging and tactically challenging.

There are an expanding fig of modern escapade titles that workplace the task of moving the crippled retired to an app, leaving players escaped to bask the mysteries and beforehand their characters done the campaign. Descent: Legends of the Dark is possibly the astir precocious successful each respect. The app is precise comprehensive, revealing dungeons, controlling monsters, narrating downtime and adjacent tracking your resources to provender into an point operation feature. The carnal components meanwhile, are outstanding, with a afloat 3D cardboard dungeon and superbly elaborate miniatures bringing the escapade to beingness connected your tabletop.

Dungeons & Dragons is good known to person counted Tolkien's epic caller amongst its inspirations. So a committee crippled that includes some overland and dungeon adventures alongside combat and quality advancement surely counts arsenic a parallel. Fortunately there’s a batch much to bask nether the hood: this is different app-driven affair, letting the players absorption connected the fun, portion besides taking the clip to situation the radical with puzzles and riddles that simply wouldn’t beryllium imaginable successful purely carnal production. Set successful the clip betwixt The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, it allows players to make a small portion of Middle-earth that is each their own.

One happening that unites each the picks truthful acold – speech from their similarity to D&D – is an eye-watering price-point. If you privation a dungeon crawl connected the cheap, look nary further than this cute introduction successful the fashionable Tiny Epic series, which consistently succeeds successful shrinking large themes down into tiny boxes. A set of heroes ventures into a unsocial dungeon successful an effort to level up capable to situation the boss, but they’re up against a pugnacious timer arsenic their torch burns down. With a snappy playtime and a caller combat strategy that gives you the accidental to mitigate atrocious results, it truly feels similar a immense dungeon unfolds from this precise humble box.

You mightiness person heard of Gloomhaven and Frosthaven, 2 of the – virtually – biggest and astir acclaimed committee games around. What powers their popularity is the beguiling premix of escapade narrative, challenging tactics and caller mechanics, with each people fixed a unsocial platform of cards from which you person to premix and lucifer 2 of your actions each turn. They’re some RPG-length campaigns successful their ain close but they person a small sibling, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, which gives you each that mechanical goodness astatine a fraction of the outgo and with a overmuch much manageable campaign. Plus it’s a prequel, truthful if it gives you a sensation for the longer fare you tin leap close successful and proceed the story.

You’re apt acquainted with the conception of choose-your-own-adventure books, wherever you work a paragraph of substance and marque choices astatine the extremity astir which numbered paragraph to flip to next, thereby telling your ain mentation of the story. Legacy of Dragonholt expands that conception multifold and makes it multiplayer, creating a hugely elaborate run with a dizzying fig of options and subdivision points. Add successful an activation token strategy that lets everyone person their spot successful determination making arsenic good arsenic immoderate strategical nuance implicit what skills and abilities to deploy and you’ve got the eventual substance escapade to bask with friends, though it besides works arsenic a bully solo committee crippled for that classical old-school feel.

This one’s a small antithetic from the phantasy quest fare that dominates the remainder of the list, but it inactive evokes the feeling of a definite benignant of D&D league and it has the Forgotten Realms branding, truthful it’s a adjacent fit. Your squad of heroes starts retired moving unneurotic to research the cursed metropolis of Baldur’s Gate by flipping tiles and looting items but, astatine immoderate point, a haunt volition begin. This is revealed from a communicative publication which volition springiness you the triumph conditions for your crippled and often pits 1 subordinate arsenic a traitor, moving against the others. It’s an breathtaking setup with tons of assortment that often boils down to a thrilling decision of heroism trying to triumph retired against the encroaching darkness.

Another off-the-wall prime that focuses connected the puzzle aspects of dungeoneering implicit the adventure, this is an escape-room benignant committee crippled which sees you having to fig retired a assortment of traps, tricks and riddles arsenic you analyse a enigma successful the iconic Icewind Dale setting. It’s aimed astatine each ages, and is lone playable once, aft which you tin commercialized oregon merchantability it, but it’s got a unsocial rotation connected the genre which mixes successful immoderate simplistic exploration, role-playing opportunities and combat mechanics for that existent tabletop RPG flavor, and the unfolding communicative builds toward an epic conclusion.

Matt Thrower is simply a contributing freelance writer for IGN, specializing successful tabletop games. You tin scope him connected BlueSky astatine @mattthr.bsky.social.

Originally posted:

May 15, 2025 7:00 pm