Chronicles of Drunagor – First Impressions
One of the newest dungeon-crawlers out there is Chronicles of Drunagor - Age of Darkness, a fully cooperative board game that innovates on dwindling player power in extended combat with some unique mechanisms. It’s a game for one to five players that challenges you to always adapt to three-dimensional terrain, diverse enemies, and an encroaching darkness system that threatens to steadily take over each scenario map.
From designers Daniel Alves and Eurico Cunha, it’s a big-box adventure that has definitely provided Creative Games Studio with a solid narrative campaign title that strategy gamers should be interested in.
I had the opportunity to play through the opening scenario of the game (two separate times) and I was impressed by what was there, despite some fiddliness along the way. It’s got the storytelling that narrative junkies will want. It’s got the tactical combat that adrenaline junkies will seek. And it’s got some new twists on how to design a dungeon-crawler that many gaming junkies, in general, will appreciate.
A fantasy slasher in the dark, an epic quest against evil, and a strategic brainteaser all rolled into one delicious tabletop sushi roll. Also, there are miniatures. And organizing inserts. So those are two big wins right there…
What It Does
What is Chronicles of Drunagor promising?
It bears a three-fold approach to dungeon-crawling adventure for tabletop gamers. First, it introduces a traditional setup akin to many games of this ilk with character classes, a progressive system of skill growth, and a diverse array of opponents of low, middling, and elite status against whom players can test their mettle. The structure is familiar. The rewards are exciting. And the player satisfaction aligns with what you would expect.
But the second part in the Age of Darkness experience is an important deviation from the standard. There is an additional layer of danger that the adventurers will have to overcome—malignant darkness that branches out into the world like tendrils of death, empowering the enemy creatures around it and draining the vitality of any who are not beholden to evil.
That darkness is a tactical obstacle that will require additional ingenuity and resolve to defeat. If not managed or avoided efficiently, it will destabilize the fight and create uncertain odds for any party of heroes-to-be.
And then three-dimensional terrain is the final addition to Chronicles of Drunagor— it can be both a blessing and a curse and while it exists in some fashion within other games, it visually stands out here due to the game production which provides three levels for players and enemies to navigate.
“It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground!”
When you combine all of these pieces, it will be a matter of whether the whole is greater than the sum of the parts for you as a player. For me, I enjoyed the possibilities of using terrain to circumvent a dangerous angle of approach or luring enemies away from the darkness and in doing so depriving them of their augmented power and safeguarding my own hero from further harm. I think that the traditional narrative campaign elements and dungeon-crawling design structure all feel more full-bodied when they’re supplemented by these other mechanisms.
Thankfully, though, that’s not the best part. Exactly how they manage player actions in response to combat and gameplay is where Chronicles of Drunagor truly steps away from other games in the genre and exhibits some original design and thrilling decision-making.
How It Does It
A string of smaller scenarios combining into a larger story will be familiar and Chronicles of Drunagor breaks it apart into two compendiums—the adventure’s unfolding plot and the consequential encounter system that will periodically occur during a scenario, giving players the potential to discover items and information or fall prey to mishaps and traps.
That’s all on a macro level, though. Big decisions. Overall story. Character evolution. Brewing conflict. All that good stuff.
Where I found the most pleasure was on the micro level. Meaty decisions between turns that made the difference between life and death—all based around the action selection cube mechanism. Each character has melee, ranged, agility, and wisdom skills, which can be accessed using action cubes. At the outset of every adventure, these skills are available to you, but the need to refresh your cubes once exhausted, along with the possibility of suffering curses from enemies or trauma when downed in combat, forces players to slowly block off skills from being used as these Curse and Trauma cubes fill up available slots.
So what does that mean?
Well, it builds tension from the outset.
Every combination of action and subsequent reaction when enemies attack imbues players with a sense of freedom and power as they charge into the fray and start whittling down the strength of the evil that confronts them. Until… characters suffer Curses and Trauma. That immediately forces a decision with consequences.
Do I give up my ability to divert damage away from myself? Do I block access to my ranged attacks in order to prioritize the rest of my arsenal? If I sacrifice agility skills now, will I be able to evade at the end of the round. It’s such a more comprehensive system of combat than simply dishing out and taking damage.
It’s a perverse mirror that reflects the more gradual sense of character growth with a haunted inverse of power in decline. You become less effective as the fight wears on. The mental fatigue of facing this darkness and the physical exhaustion of engaging in frenzied combat beat down on you until you’re a lesser version of what you started as.
Without a doubt, it’s the best part of the game. What you decide will determine how you’re able to continue fighting. Take away the wrong skill and you might have your hands tied later. Navigate it carefully and you just might be able to limp your way across the narrative finish line.
Chronicles of Drunagor imposes a strict requirement upon players: learn how to win when your back is against the wall and all of your power is not at your disposal. If you can defeat a scenario when you’re hobbled and bleeding, then you deserve it.
It’s a mechanical puzzle that definitely makes me want to keep exploring.
Why You Might Like It
If you’re a fan of campaign-based dungeon-crawlers, then you will find something here to love. It’s got all of the DNA you’re looking for along with some weird mutated genes that certainly give it a unique look and feel.
If you’ve shied away from games like this before, then maybe the action-cube puzzle in Age of Darkness will be enough to change your mind. Like the card-based combat in Gloomhaven, it’s the central feature in a heavy strategy game and it works.
Why You Might Not
This game can definitely be fiddly. There are tokens galore. I’m not certain that everything fits super well in the Game Trayz inserts. You have to keep track of a lot of moving parts. The door system that interjects new rules or deviations means you’re always adjusting. It’s just downright fiddly sometimes.
It’s a lot of game and a lot of box. If you’re looking for something with an easy setup and not a lot to go through, this probably isn’t your jam. Or jelly. The rulebook is ginormous. Unnecessarily so. And the game can take some time to get in a rhythm.
Final Thoughts
I’m a fan.
Story-centric games are always of interest to me because I like feeling connected to the characters and the ordeals that they face. So anything with a larger thematic foundation and different plot ripples for players to track across the surface of the game will excite me.
That being said, the story is not why I want to keep playing. It’s not the miniatures. Or the three-dimensional terrain. Those elements shine in their own way, but the driving force behind my interest in the game is the action-cube tactical constraint. The process of deteriorating as a fighter over the course of a scenario is really cool and it makes me want to play this game as every character available. Each one would require a different angle in terms of battlefield awareness and risk assessment.
It’s not just a good mechanism. It’s a great one that reinforces and improves everything it touches. Upgraded equipment and skills are fun, but the choices between them are more nuanced and important when it directly relates to how something fits within the action-cube system.
With the darkness, the enemies, the story, and the combat gameplay, Chronicles of Drunagor has enough to keep me engaged. More than that, it has the right amount of fun and deep thought thrown into the box. I walked away thinking about what the next adventure would be and how I’d have to approach it. If a game keeps me thinking about it after I’m done, then I know something is right.
I’m certain many of you would find something to appreciate as well.
If you want to check out Chronicles of Drunagor: Age of Darkness, you can visit Creative Games Studio or read what the community thinks on BoardGameGeek.
Have you played Chronicles of Drunagor: Age of Darkness? What other narrative campaign games do you like?
Let us know in the comments and give a recommendation for other games of which to share our first impressions.