Great video! I'm a video game guy making his first foray into board games (I've been playing Hero Quest and having fun) and had a friend recommend this one to me. Your explanation of how it worked and why it's fun were super helpful and showed me straight up that this is a game I'd enjoy. Thanks again! I'll definitely be on the lookout for a copy.
Thanks for the time and effort in posting this. I picked up the game during the Realms of Terrinoth event last July @ the FFG event center and had not gotten a chance to have any one over to play it. I was just starting to look through thee rulebook to start a practice run through. This vid def expedites the way to our first game.
Viking, I really appreciate you making videos where you actually show tons of details. There is nowhere else I can get as much of a scoop on a boardgame as the videos you make, and it makes a huge difference in deciding whether I really want to buy a certain game or not, because I am seeing it from the inside, which is not out there a whole lot for board games. :D Keep up posting reviews, they really are great
I like your reviews man, I didn't appreciate your long winded style at first, but the level of detail, and side details this style allows you to expose helped me make the decision to purchase this game. Thanks!
Super review! I am one of those aliens who have never played the original Descent, so seeing your review of the 2nd Edition really makes me happy. I have this game on my Christmas wishlist for sure. Thank you.
Forgotten defense roll already mentioned, but also the distance is calculated for range attacks of the spaces IN BETWEEN the attacker and target, not including the target square. Also monsters can't attack twice TRUE, but they CAN move twice if they want. The rules only state the monsters can't attack twice.
Another great review! I'm excited to play this game. Just 2 things to clarify in case it helps (the defense rolls has been noticed already): - Leoric of the Book and Widow Tartha are of the Mage archetype, not Healers. They can become of the class Runemage or Spiritspeaker (similar to a shaman). - Around minute 23 the goblins move through the heroes using their Scamper ability. But they could've moved through Leoric and the rogue with a diagonal movement anyway (still, through them is better).
Ya my buddy and I played a lot of games like Descent, but one day we decided we wanted to make our own game. Four years later we finally have it on Kickstarter. It's called Reign of Nations. We'd love everyone who is into board gaming to come check it out! Right now we're just sharing it with local gamers, and everyone who has played it says its fun. As for descent taking so long, that is one of the main drives behind us creating Reign of Nations. We spring a crazy amount of time balancing this game. I just can't help but share it!
One other thing, with search items you say you can use them OR sell them, actually you can use them, then flip it over and at the end of quest at the shopping phase, you can sell it as well. If you haven't used a search item, you must sell it anyway. You can even sell your core starting items if you want for 25 gold.
This is one of those rare games where it works well with pretty much any number up to 5. It scales really well, and if you want the hero player to have more characters, there is nothing wrong with, say, one player running three heroes, or 2 players running 2 heroes each.
Hey, I just began watching your videos. They are incredibly helpful and I would like to thank you for putting in the time to make them. Anyway, I am looking to start board gaming as a hobby. As far as board games go I have relatively little experience. My question is What are some good fun beginner/ intermediate games. Also what are tricks you use for sorting through games that have long rulebooks . Finally what are some of your least favorite board games and why? -Best wishes, Cody
I think you did a good job with the video, but I would suggest a few things for future consideration: 1. Have everything you're going to talk about planned out before you start 2. Have whatever bits you need at hand - cards, figures, dice, etc. 3. Put more on camera - lay them out after the close up and point to things from a distance Thanks for your efforts, I look forward to your future reviews.
Hey just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your video on the intro to Descent...so much so that I watched it last night and went out today and bought Descent. Have a game planned out for this coming weekend. Thanks again would love to see more videos on Descent 1 edition...Thanks again....
dansk macabre in reply to your comment about determining distance, if you look on Page 12 of the rulebook in Section 3: Check Range, it says "Starting with the space adjacent to the attacker (of his choice), count the number of spaces to the target space." This would include the target space. The wording of the next sentence is probably what is confusing about it.
Absolutely correct - with all the rules in there I somehow blanked it out. Once the attack roll is made the defender gets to roll their defense dice and for every shield they roll, they get to reduce the damage by one. Thanks for pointing it out!
I'm really into anything that's fun and involves miniatures, but we both usually lean towards fantasy or sci-fi. We usually go through BoardGameGeek as well, but I just figured I'd ask for your suggestions too. Thanks for the input and keep up the great reviews.
A very good review. I agree this version is quicker set up, & very straight forward play. At last we get Zombies in the world of Descent, as they seem to be every where else. It is pity the new map tiles don't connect up to the first version.
Keep up the good work viking. I really liked your review as it was informative and gave me a feel for how the game plays. You convinced me to buy this as my first dungeon run game. Now unfortunatly i have to wait for the game to arrive as it is out of stock :(
Hello, I am curious about the square size on the game board -- are they 1"x1"? Also, are the miniatures hard plastic or the more flexible rubbery kind? I ask because I wonder if the miniatures might be interchangeable with the ones for the Dungeons and Dragons board games. Do you have any thoughts? Thank you.
Thank you very much! Very cool video! It's good that now there is an opportunity to get all the materials for this board game (miniatures, cards, tiles, quest books). I will advise your video to my customers. #ShiBoard #Descent2nd
That's such a great idea if you could find ones that are the right size. The generic ones for sale at my Friendly Local Game Store are *huge*. Maybe I should check a bead store...
Great review, Viking. My girlfriend and I are usually the ones who end up playing board games together, as we seem to not be able to get a lot of our friends to commit the time to a good game, so it is always nice to see a great game that can work well with the two-player scenario. I think it could be really fun for either of us to play with a party of heroes or as the Overlord. Do you have any other suggestions for board games that work well with only two players? Thanks in advance!
Gonna buy it for sure, bought the origibal, but my friends thought it was a long game and not worth playing, but shorter should go a long way in making it happen. Great review.
There is a Doomtrooper boardgame, "Mutant Chronicles. The Siege of the Citadel" with the same layout, one "overlord" and one or more "good guys". It's a great game, also works as campaign. The models are great too! Maybe even Mr UndeadViking has played it?
Play games to have fun not to win! I'm with ya! I'd love to play a few games with your group! Although I have to say my people are equally great in that regard.. We have tons of fun due to this my most beloved hobby [lifestyle]. Peace from Sweden!
Tough question to answer, since I don't know what you and your girlfriend like to play, but there are TONS of good two player games out there. If you like the fantasy theme, check out War of the Ring or Lords of Waterdeep. If Co-op is your thing, maybe take a look at the D&D adventure series (Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, etc) I would head on over to boardgamegeek and just start searching!
Thanks for the heads up on D&D Adventure Series! Wrath of Ashardalon fixes a lot of issues with Castle Reenloft and you can buy it as an entry in and skip Castle Ravenloft. This comment has given me many hours of co-op adventure and fun! Just wanted you to know that! I'd love to hear of any other co-op fantasy games or co-op games in general for 2+ in a future video!
The D&D adventure system is much like Descent although Co-op! It's a bit simpler, but a lot of fun. "The Legend of Drizzt" is a good one to start with (it's the newest one).
I love this game, it was really fun, but no one wanted to be the overload, do you have any suggestions on similar games that are Co-op but still level up your hero and fighting and exploring?
I think the monsters can still ONLY Move Once and Attack Once per activation. Unless they have a special ability they shouldnt have moved Twice. Right?
Does this game work well with just 2 people? I am looking for a game that my wife and I can sit down and play. We don't want a game that loses game flavor when you bring it down to 2.
Really interested in purchasing this game but I got a question regarding the Characters. Do they keep their stats/equipment after the game is finished? ie. 5 goblins make to the cave / players kill the over load. or, does each new scenario mean new characters/stats? sorry if this is a dumb/noob question. Looking to get into this game. D&D seems a little too advanced for me at the moment so looking to slowly gain experience before making jumping on the D&D train. thanks in advance!
No 1? There is no such thing as a "dumb" or "noob" question. You play board games my friend. Those titles simply do not apply to you. Period. You can play Descent as a one-off adventure or as a campaign. You can even set the one-off adventures to be at whatever power level you like so you can have some great skills and cool loot even starting out (of course the Overlord get more power too, that's just the nature of the beast here.) If you play as a campaign you keep your stats from quest to quest for the entire quest book (whether it's the base game story or one of the ones from a large expansion) and then start over if you begin a different quest book or just decide to play the base game one again! So it doesn't have the never ending progression of a D&D campaign, instead, the Descent campaign mode makes a one off *tactical* board game also a very *strategic* one as it stretches one game across several play sessions and you realize that your decisions during travel and campaign steps *really do* affect the outcome of the game as it goes on. So yes you keep your equipment and stats from scenario to scenario and quest to quest, but when you start a completely new *quest book* you start over to keep the game balanced. I hope that helps. When you say "D&D" are you talking about the role playing game or the board games? (such as Legend of Drizzt and Ravenloft.)
Well it sure doesn't look as cool when you *store* it that's for sure! Just kidding! (totally not, actually. That book. Wow!) Seriously, If I would have answered that when you first asked this question it would have been a tough call, if you really think Dungeon Saga is one of the best my opinion would be the based on my decision *not* to get into Imperial Assault. I stayed with Descent because I enjoyed it and wanted more. Dungeon Saga has a lot to recommend it, *great* bits for one, if you like 3-D terrain it really is one of the best looking games out there. I like Descent 2nd editions mechanisms better but they have had a chance to get refined. The Viking is actually being gentle on our "old friend." The first edition not only took hours to set up but it ate entire rooms. (and weekends) some games had to be left set up until the next week just to finish! Yet the experience was so rich that it was worth it! It definitely has that same "miniature centric" feel to it. Both seem based on WarHammer Quest which is never a bad thing. Now however, my advice is very simple. Get both for sure if you like these kinds of games. Why? Descent has released an application that plays the Overlord. Now you can plug into that app all of the expansions you have and it will let you play co-op or solo using everything you own for Descent, and that app is *free*. I don't know how you feel about these games but for myself I don't like fighting against my friends. I don't go easy on them because that's not how Descent works or how the quest line is balanced. Descent works because it expects everyone to go all out and when both sides do it's amazing how close it gets, "going easy" can rob you of the best moments of the game. Now it's not even a consideration and Descent is better than ever! I hope that helps and if you don't mind what is it about Dungeon Saga that makes it one of the best you've played?
Grisban looks like an angry Santa... I'm going to order this game shortly and hope it's better than Castle Ravenloft, which was a severe disappointment.
Great video! I'm a video game guy making his first foray into board games (I've been playing Hero Quest and having fun) and had a friend recommend this one to me. Your explanation of how it worked and why it's fun were super helpful and showed me straight up that this is a game I'd enjoy.
Thanks again! I'll definitely be on the lookout for a copy.
Thanks for the time and effort in posting this. I picked up the game during the Realms of Terrinoth event last July @ the FFG event center and had not gotten a chance to have any one over to play it. I was just starting to look through thee rulebook to start a practice run through. This vid def expedites the way to our first game.
Viking, I really appreciate you making videos where you actually show tons of details. There is nowhere else I can get as much of a scoop on a boardgame as the videos you make, and it makes a huge difference in deciding whether I really want to buy a certain game or not, because I am seeing it from the inside, which is not out there a whole lot for board games. :D Keep up posting reviews, they really are great
around 19:30 the goblin just dies, why doesn't he roll for defense?
I like your reviews man, I didn't appreciate your long winded style at first, but the level of detail, and side details this style allows you to expose helped me make the decision to purchase this game. Thanks!
Super review! I am one of those aliens who have never played the original Descent, so seeing your review of the 2nd Edition really makes me happy. I have this game on my Christmas wishlist for sure. Thank you.
Forgotten defense roll already mentioned, but also the distance is calculated for range attacks of the spaces IN BETWEEN the attacker and target, not including the target square.
Also monsters can't attack twice TRUE, but they CAN move twice if they want. The rules only state the monsters can't attack twice.
Another great review! I'm excited to play this game.
Just 2 things to clarify in case it helps (the defense rolls has been noticed already):
- Leoric of the Book and Widow Tartha are of the Mage archetype, not Healers. They can become of the class Runemage or Spiritspeaker (similar to a shaman).
- Around minute 23 the goblins move through the heroes using their Scamper ability. But they could've moved through Leoric and the rogue with a diagonal movement anyway (still, through them is better).
Mr. Viking, you just gained another subscriber! Love the way you explain each game you play!
combat goes extra fast when there are no defense die rolls!
Ya my buddy and I played a lot of games like Descent, but one day we decided we wanted to make our own game. Four years later we finally have it on Kickstarter. It's called Reign of Nations. We'd love everyone who is into board gaming to come check it out! Right now we're just sharing it with local gamers, and everyone who has played it says its fun. As for descent taking so long, that is one of the main drives behind us creating Reign of Nations. We spring a crazy amount of time balancing this game. I just can't help but share it!
One other thing, with search items you say you can use them OR sell them, actually you can use them, then flip it over and at the end of quest at the shopping phase, you can sell it as well.
If you haven't used a search item, you must sell it anyway.
You can even sell your core starting items if you want for 25 gold.
This is one of those rare games where it works well with pretty much any number up to 5. It scales really well, and if you want the hero player to have more characters, there is nothing wrong with, say, one player running three heroes, or 2 players running 2 heroes each.
Fantastic vid thanks for all your hard work on your great channel
Hey, I just began watching your videos. They are incredibly helpful and I would like to thank you for putting in the time to make them. Anyway, I am looking to start board gaming as a hobby. As far as board games go I have relatively little experience. My question is What are some good fun beginner/ intermediate games. Also what are tricks you use for sorting through games that have long rulebooks . Finally what are some of your least favorite board games and why? -Best wishes, Cody
I think you did a good job with the video, but I would suggest a few things for future consideration:
1. Have everything you're going to talk about planned out before you start
2. Have whatever bits you need at hand - cards, figures, dice, etc.
3. Put more on camera - lay them out after the close up and point to things from a distance
Thanks for your efforts, I look forward to your future reviews.
Hey just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your video on the intro to Descent...so much so that I watched it last night and went out today and bought Descent. Have a game planned out for this coming weekend. Thanks again would love to see more videos on Descent 1 edition...Thanks again....
dansk macabre in reply to your comment about determining distance, if you look on Page 12 of the rulebook in Section 3: Check Range, it says "Starting with the space adjacent to the attacker (of his choice), count the number of spaces to the target space." This would include the target space. The wording of the next sentence is probably what is confusing about it.
I wish you were my friend or neighbour. I would love you play descent everyday. I have whole collection but no one to play with 😀
a traveler on the road if you are ever in Minnesota let me know...we will make this happen
its great to have you back :) missed you.
Absolutely correct - with all the rules in there I somehow blanked it out. Once the attack roll is made the defender gets to roll their defense dice and for every shield they roll, they get to reduce the damage by one. Thanks for pointing it out!
I think I'm going to buy this game. It'll be my first dungeon crawl and hopefully I can find people to play it with.
very good video, it's a rare case when the 40 minutes is not enough :) thank you
Awesome reviews!! I'm getting second edition just because the time constraints of 1st edition meant it never hit the table.
I'm really into anything that's fun and involves miniatures, but we both usually lean towards fantasy or sci-fi. We usually go through BoardGameGeek as well, but I just figured I'd ask for your suggestions too. Thanks for the input and keep up the great reviews.
Hey thx for showing us this great game! A shame with the defence dice error but I guess editing the vid would be a ton of extra work.
A very good review. I agree this version is quicker set up, & very straight forward play. At last we get Zombies in the world of Descent, as they seem to be every where else. It is pity the new map tiles don't connect up to the first version.
Keep up the good work viking. I really liked your review as it was informative and gave me a feel for how the game plays. You convinced me to buy this as my first dungeon run game. Now unfortunatly i have to wait for the game to arrive as it is out of stock :(
Hello, I am curious about the square size on the game board -- are they 1"x1"? Also, are the miniatures hard plastic or the more flexible rubbery kind? I ask because I wonder if the miniatures might be interchangeable with the ones for the Dungeons and Dragons board games. Do you have any thoughts? Thank you.
Thank you very much! Very cool video!
It's good that now there is an opportunity to get all the materials for
this board game (miniatures, cards, tiles, quest books).
I will advise your video to my customers. #ShiBoard #Descent2nd
Great review, thanks. I have managed to made this game a staple in my group of mostly eurogame players and it's been great fun!
They can only attack once per activation - they can still move twice
Thanks for another great review Viking!
alternately instead of the wound and fatigue tokens, red and yellow glass counters would look nice
That's such a great idea if you could find ones that are the right size. The generic ones for sale at my Friendly Local Game Store are *huge*. Maybe I should check a bead store...
Great review, Viking. My girlfriend and I are usually the ones who end up playing board games together, as we seem to not be able to get a lot of our friends to commit the time to a good game, so it is always nice to see a great game that can work well with the two-player scenario. I think it could be really fun for either of us to play with a party of heroes or as the Overlord. Do you have any other suggestions for board games that work well with only two players? Thanks in advance!
Gonna buy it for sure, bought the origibal, but my friends thought it was a long game and not worth playing, but shorter should go a long way in making it happen. Great review.
There is a Doomtrooper boardgame, "Mutant Chronicles. The Siege of the Citadel" with the same layout, one "overlord" and one or more "good guys". It's a great game, also works as campaign. The models are great too! Maybe even Mr UndeadViking has played it?
nice informative vid...i'm stoked to start playing once it's delivered :D
Ha! It's wood furniture polish/wax for my Crokinole board.
Great video, already got the game, some friends and I are getting together on Friday to start the campaign.
You should put up an annotation for that - helps with the confusion for players trying to learn by watching others play :D
Play games to have fun not to win! I'm with ya! I'd love to play a few games with your group! Although I have to say my people are equally great in that regard.. We have tons of fun due to this my most beloved hobby [lifestyle]. Peace from Sweden!
Tough question to answer, since I don't know what you and your girlfriend like to play, but there are TONS of good two player games out there. If you like the fantasy theme, check out War of the Ring or Lords of Waterdeep. If Co-op is your thing, maybe take a look at the D&D adventure series (Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, etc)
I would head on over to boardgamegeek and just start searching!
Thanks for the heads up on D&D Adventure Series! Wrath of Ashardalon fixes a lot of issues with Castle Reenloft and you can buy it as an entry in and skip Castle Ravenloft. This comment has given me many hours of co-op adventure and fun! Just wanted you to know that! I'd love to hear of any other co-op fantasy games or co-op games in general for 2+ in a future video!
I'd say yes. One player playing 2 heroes and one playing the monsters. That should do it!
Thanks for the review Viking! Hows the game play with three? what would you say was the best number of people to play with?
The D&D adventure system is much like Descent although Co-op! It's a bit simpler, but a lot of fun. "The Legend of Drizzt" is a good one to start with (it's the newest one).
Thanks, I had this on my "maybe" Christmas list. However, that has now changed and I will def be getting it.
I love this game, it was really fun, but no one wanted to be the overload, do you have any suggestions on similar games that are Co-op but still level up your hero and fighting and exploring?
I think the monsters can still ONLY Move Once and Attack Once per activation. Unless they have a special ability they shouldnt have moved Twice. Right?
Another great review. Thanks for making them.
Nice review... but why do u roll right the dice right over the playing field?
Does this game work well with just 2 people? I am looking for a game that my wife and I can sit down and play. We don't want a game that loses game flavor when you bring it down to 2.
u said the campaign was short how many missions? D saga had 8 I thought they could have had more in the base box
I think the missed it, as it is a pretty big change to how combat is played out. Leaving it out on purpose would have been a big error in a review.
Why do you have paste wax on your game shelve?
Thought overlord started?
Really interested in purchasing this game but I got a question regarding the Characters.
Do they keep their stats/equipment after the game is finished?
ie. 5 goblins make to the cave / players kill the over load.
or,
does each new scenario mean new characters/stats?
sorry if this is a dumb/noob question. Looking to get into this game. D&D seems a little too advanced for me at the moment so looking to slowly gain experience before making jumping on the D&D train.
thanks in advance!
No 1? There is no such thing as a "dumb" or "noob" question. You play board games my friend. Those titles simply do not apply to you. Period. You can play Descent as a one-off adventure or as a campaign. You can even set the one-off adventures to be at whatever power level you like so you can have some great skills and cool loot even starting out (of course the Overlord get more power too, that's just the nature of the beast here.) If you play as a campaign you keep your stats from quest to quest for the entire quest book (whether it's the base game story or one of the ones from a large expansion) and then start over if you begin a different quest book or just decide to play the base game one again! So it doesn't have the never ending progression of a D&D campaign, instead, the Descent campaign mode makes a one off *tactical* board game also a very *strategic* one as it stretches one game across several play sessions and you realize that your decisions during travel and campaign steps *really do* affect the outcome of the game as it goes on. So yes you keep your equipment and stats from scenario to scenario and quest to quest, but when you start a completely new *quest book* you start over to keep the game balanced. I hope that helps. When you say "D&D" are you talking about the role playing game or the board games? (such as Legend of Drizzt and Ravenloft.)
If you play a campaign they will keep stats and equipment
Did you forget to roll for defense?
what happened to defending?
I don't get it. You have to get out of the dungeon with five goblins but only start with four???
The Overlord can spawn a new goblin at the end of his turn if he's missing any from his starting quota due to death or moving off the board.
J. Alan Hatcher
ah ok :-) thx
Great stuff!
Claustrophobia? It's great but certainly not a coop.
How does it compare to Dungeon Saga, which one is best ?
Well it sure doesn't look as cool when you *store* it that's for sure! Just kidding! (totally not, actually. That book. Wow!) Seriously, If I would have answered that when you first asked this question it would have been a tough call, if you really think Dungeon Saga is one of the best my opinion would be the based on my decision *not* to get into Imperial Assault. I stayed with Descent because I enjoyed it and wanted more. Dungeon Saga has a lot to recommend it, *great* bits for one, if you like 3-D terrain it really is one of the best looking games out there. I like Descent 2nd editions mechanisms better but they have had a chance to get refined. The Viking is actually being gentle on our "old friend." The first edition not only took hours to set up but it ate entire rooms. (and weekends) some games had to be left set up until the next week just to finish! Yet the experience was so rich that it was worth it! It definitely has that same "miniature centric" feel to it. Both seem based on WarHammer Quest which is never a bad thing. Now however, my advice is very simple. Get both for sure if you like these kinds of games. Why? Descent has released an application that plays the Overlord. Now you can plug into that app all of the expansions you have and it will let you play co-op or solo using everything you own for Descent, and that app is *free*. I don't know how you feel about these games but for myself I don't like fighting against my friends. I don't go easy on them because that's not how Descent works or how the quest line is balanced. Descent works because it expects everyone to go all out and when both sides do it's amazing how close it gets, "going easy" can rob you of the best moments of the game. Now it's not even a consideration and Descent is better than ever! I hope that helps and if you don't mind what is it about Dungeon Saga that makes it one of the best you've played?
mikejonesnoreally Mortibus is a badass (7 spells per turn) that bastard killed Madriga. lol I can't wait to start the infernal crypts
i thought you were able to defend?
This looks awesome, Im gonna buy it.
I guess he did ;) overall good review many things I havent noticed myself when I was playing it.
I want this game so badly!
IMHO this isn't Descent anymore.
It's a mini-skirmish dice throwing game.
Thx! Very clear video!
Yeah I thought so too
Is this game really that fun?
You forget to roll defense die for heroes. You asing way 2 much dmg 2 them :P
Grisban looks like an angry Santa...
I'm going to order this game shortly and hope it's better than Castle Ravenloft, which was a severe disappointment.
Awesome game
Жаль нет на русском.
есть. descent: странствия во тьме
blimey, get to the point ! :-)
With all due respect, you must be new here.....