Review – Dungeon Petz

2 - 4 Players, Aged 13+ with a 90 minute playing time 

A review copy of Dungeon Petz, designed by Vlaada Chvatil of Dungeon Lords, Pictomania (reviewed here) and Galaxy Trucker fame, was kindly provided by Czech Games Edition (CGE)

This is a game that was, in large part, created because Vlaada had enjoyed working with David Cochard on Dungeon Lords so much that he wanted to find another opportunity for them to work together. The game, dedicated to Vlaada’s wife, is one which Paul Grogan (one of my Essen travelling companions) was heavily involved with. Put these factors together with the amusing theme, stunning artwork and quality components and this is a game that begs to be got out of the box and played.

I think the following set the tone for the humour of the game and a feel for the considerations to be weighed up:

“The dungeon lay in shambles, the dungeon lord was vanquished, and the spare pick-axe supply was running low. It was a tough day to be an imp. As the imps trudged back to town, thinking about where they could find another job, one of them said, “You know what this town needs? A pet shop.” A pet shop for dungeon lords? What a great idea! Original! Yeah, and no one else is doing it! No competition! We’ll be rich! We’re natural entrepreneurs! Yeah, natural manures! And now you have opened the first pet shop in town. Right next door to the other first pet shop in town. Across the street from two more. Your impish heart swells with optimism, for you know that your sound business acumen, your attention to detail, and your long-handled manure shovel will give your pet shop a reputation that stands head, shoulders, and pointy ears above the rest. You can’t keep a good imp down!“

As a Social Gamer I love games in many forms but have few regular opponents prepared to play a game of this complexity. Dungeon Petz builds on the theme introduced in CGE’s earlier game Dungeon Lords (which is described in the rules as “designed for hard core gamers”) so it is no surprise that the intellectual gymnastics necessary to balance all the choices and decisions in Dungeon Petz is of a similar level – so at best your brain feels as if it has had a strenuous workout, at worst it feels frazzled!

What follows is an overview of the review copy (kindly provided by CGE) of this game broken down into 5 sections: The Game Components, Setting Up The Game, How To Play The Game, What Did We Think? and finally Who Do We Think Will Like It?. So if you don't want to read the whole review scan down to the heading that interests you.

UK Games Expo 2011 – Friday, Day 1 Part 2

An opportunity to play the Dungeon Petz protype by CGE

Having played my first game of the show I quickly spotted Paul Grogan (leader of last years Essen Road Trip) who was just setting up a game of Dungeon Petz with Phil (another member of the Essen road trip team) and I think David. With a spare seat at the game they were kind enough to let me join them.

This is a game still in prototype which was going to be demoed at the UK Games Expo over the following two days, so the accompanying photo’s are not the finished artwork and Paul obviously got his ‘Blue Peter Badge’ as a boy because he had taken the PDF artwork supplied by Czech Games Edition (CGE) and created some pretty impressive game components, as well as pinching various cubes, meeples etc from other games to bring together all the playing pieces necessary for the game.

The game is set loosely in the same world as Dungeon Lords, but is a standalone game in its own right. When not designing and building new dungeons and killing the hapless adventurers, the Dungeon Lords want to spend time relaxing with a