Current Events > Are there any board games similar to DnD

(+) Yeah! (+)

but simplified?

Yes, there's probably hundreds

Munchkin might be what you're looking for? I don't know a ton about it myself, but the description on the site literally says, "Munchkin is the mega-hit card game about dungeon adventure . . . with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff."
https://munchkin.game/

If you're looking more for the roleplaying side, there's also Honey Heist which is just a very simplified TTRPG with a one-page ruleset.

Gloomhaven is what you're looking for.

There's others with a similar premise, but Gloomhaven is the one that's most like D&D

The Arkham Horror series is a simplified version of the Call of Cthulhu ttrpg.

Tainted Grail might be what you're looking for.

Probably not what your looking for but Small World is a simplified fast version of Risk that uses fantasy races each with their own custom power.

pegusus123456 posted...

Munchkin might be what you're looking for? I don't know a ton about it myself, but the description on the site literally says, "Munchkin is the mega-hit card game about dungeon adventure . . . with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff."
https://munchkin.game/

If you're looking more for the roleplaying side, there's also Honey Heist which is just a very simplified TTRPG with a one-page ruleset.

Munchkin isn't really like D&D but it's very fun.

There are D&D board games. No idea if they're any good though.

https://www.dndmini.com/collections/board-games

Talisman

I don't know if its still made or not but when I was a kid, I had a board game called Hero Quest. It was an rpg on a board game. You had a party of characters and you moved around a dungeon and rolled dice and I think collected cards for your equipment and spells. And you had a character sheet to track your gold, experience, mana and hit points

If you want an actual board game RPG, you may want to take a look at Descent.

You have the dungeon master who plays the evil overlord in a pre-writen dungeon (like a game master, but with the goal to actually beat you up), and you are a party of heroes, going in a dungeon to find loot and stuff.

Bonus point: The ressources (map pieces, hero and monster figures) in there are also great for actual DnD sessions

Karovorak posted...

If you want an actual board game RPG, you may want to take a look at Descent.

You have the dungeon master who plays the evil overlord in a pre-writen dungeon (like a game master, but with the goal to actually beat you up), and you are a party of heroes, going in a dungeon to find loot and stuff.

Bonus point: The ressources (map pieces, hero and monster figures) in there are also great for actual DnD sessions

Sounds like the modern Hero Quest to me. What you described was basically what Hero Quest was.

Technically the entire board game genre of dungeon crawlers is a simulation of D&D dungeons or more appropriately D&D is an expanded version of a dungeon crawl. Dungeon (the original dungeon crawler board game) and D&D were developed at the same time and share a lot of elements, but Dungeon has no real story telling and is much simpler. Personally I really enjoy the Shadows of Brimstone series of Dungeon Crawler board games, but there are tons of them. Technically even Mansions of Madness is a dungeon crawl board game, but it had a lot more story elements to it. Kind of related is the card game Arkham Horror which has a lot of choices and story along with exploration elements. It's a pretty unique card game.

And Descent (mentioned earlier), at least in the second edition, is a very great dungeon crawler board game.

Zikten posted...

I don't know if its still made or not but when I was a kid, I had a board game called Hero Quest. It was an rpg on a board game. You had a party of characters and you moved around a dungeon and rolled dice and I think collected cards for your equipment and spells. And you had a character sheet to track your gold, experience, mana and hit points

It is, there was a very successful kickstarter for it's revival several years back. Now a lot of places carry it and it's expansions sets in stock.

008Zulu posted...

It is, there was a very successful kickstarter for it's revival several years back. Now a lot of places carry it and it's expansions sets in stock.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx8sl2uC46A

I play Vampire the Masquerade, its more simplified in the sense of not having the need to do as much math and less combat focused. It still has loads of lore.

This is one I played and liked as a kid:

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1933/key-to-the-kingdom

They remastered it recently, which is supposedly a little better (I haven't played the newer version so I don't know for sure):

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/342071/key-to-the-kingdom

Fallout is pretty fun actually

Tyranthraxus posted...

Gloomhaven is what you're looking for.

There's others with a similar premise, but Gloomhaven is the one that's most like D&D

Yup came to say this. Played gloomhaven in a group once a week for about a year and a half and we had a blast.

Thanks for all the recs, some of these look amazing.

How simplified do you want to get? There's Lasers and Feelings with one page of rules. Pick a number from 2 to 5. That's your one stat. Higher means your better at Lasers stuff. Lower means your better at Feelings stuff. Get into trouble and roll a d6 to figure it out.

It's Sci-Fi in original format but people have changed it to be anything. I've seen Golden and Girls for the Golden Girls show.

Hero Quest is exactly what you're looking for.

Gloomhaven or Frosthaven if you want all puzzley combat and pretty much no roleplay (Jaws of the Lion is the best option to give it a try). Its a great game, but I see it often billed as a roleplaying game like DnD and that is just false, it is 95% a strategy game.

Could also just go with a more simplified TTRPG, many options here, but something like Dungeon Crawl Classics is great for a group who love roleplay and exploration, but start snoozing as soon as turn-based combat starts.