Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Waterdeep

The monsters never stood a chance as you go dungeon “scrawling”! Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Waterdeep is a 2-4 player dungeon ‘racing’ game from WizKids for players age 10+.

Setup

Getting ready to play Dungeon Scrawlers is quick and easy.

First, every player picks a character and takes the appropriate character card and a marker.

Next, pick your starting dungeon maze. There are six single-page mazes, one double-page maze, and a pile of mini-dungeon mazes. Each maze comes with a reference card that details the scoring rules, the circumstances for the end of the scrawl, and any needed tokens.

You will always have “dragons” or gold coins, but some later dungeons will add other tokens like keys for unlocking rooms and orbs that grant extra victory points.

As in any dungeon crawl, your character adds flavor to how you play. Don’t worry about having to roll a new character or come up with a backstory, though. In Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Waterdeep, you can take on one of five iconic D&D classes.

The wizard allows you to speed through spells by drawing a quick circle instead of the pattern shown in the maze. The rogue allows you to grab treasure with a mere touch rather than circling. The barbarian allows you to slice the monsters’ heads off with a mere swipe. The cleric collects artifacts in any order. The ranger’s survival skills give double victory points for each exotic plant you come across on your path.

Gameplay

Now you are ready to race through the dungeon.  Everyone places their marker at the start of the maze, and off you go! Draw your way through the maze without picking up your marker or running through any walls (Ouch! And a DQ), gathering as many points as possible before the dungeon ends either by time running out or someone defeating the boss monster at the end.

In each room, you will have to interact with different elements. Green monsters need to be colored fully in (the Barbarian just gets to cut their head off). Artifacts are represented by the numbers 1-6 or 1-9 and have to be connected in order (except the Cleric gets to do it in any order). Spells have to be properly traced (but Wizards can just draw a quick circle through them). Treasures have to be outlined to be grabbed (but rogues can just nab them as they cross by). Each of these items grant you one victory point.

As you progress through the dungeons, there will be more options and more complexity. Later dungeons even add in mini-dungeons, small cards with an abbreviated maze with multiple exits. You can pick your exit which will pop you out in a different place on the main map.

Most dungeons end with you defeating a Big Bad Evil Guy by completely coloring them in. No Barbarian bonus for these guys, either. Some maps are simply time-based and you race to collect as many points as possible in the time limit.

At the end of each maze, you pass your character card and dungeon card to the right for scoring. The player with the most victory points gained wins!

Impressions

This might be the quirkiest, quickest, and easiest-to-access version of D&D I’ve encountered. My girls (10 and 6) enjoy getting to race across the map while fighting bad guys and collecting treasure. Heck, my 12-year-old son has asked to play quick games of it. It’s a lot of fun to play when you don’t have much time.

The scoring process is a bit tedious, though. The game is built to be played in three-dungeon increments. However, there are multiple ways to earn points but there is no easy way to track them. You simply have to count and add everything up.

That’s a bit tough when you have rounds where multiple people are scoring in the 70s or 80s. Plus there are scoring bonuses for whoever has the most coins, and later dungeons add even more scoring methods.

However, the artwork is great. It’s fun, colorful, and everyone enjoyed zipping down hallways in a race to the BBEG. It’s goofy, fun, and quick.

If you’re looking for an immersive D&D experience, you’re not going to find it here. But if you’re looking for a quick and fun game that can be enjoyed by all ages at home or on the go, Dungeon Scrawlers: Heroes of Waterdeep will do just that.

Find it on Amazon or direct from WizKids.