WotC Adventure Begins: A New Dungeons and Dragons Boardgame

A new D&D board game called Adventure Begins is available for pre-order.

Originally spotted under a different name at the London Toy Fair, this new game launches on October 1st. It's positioned as a D&D entry point for ages 10+, and designed for 2-4 players.

Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins, for Ages 10 and Up

• QUICK ENTRY TO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Step into the exciting world of D&D with the Dungeon & Dragons Adventure Begins board game for ages 10 and up
• COOPERATIVE FANTASY GAME: For new D&D fans! This game is a portal to the monsters, magic, and heroes of Dungeons & Dragons. Players work together as they journey through the lands of Neverwinter
• QUICK GAMEPLAY: Players can choose and customize their hero and backpack, battle iconic D&D monsters, and experience a new adventure every time. So, step forward, brave heroes; adventure awaits
• CHOOSE A JOURNEY FOR YOUR PARTY: Choose a journey and which Boss your party of heroes will fight in the end. Choose from Felbris (Beholder), Orn (Fire Giant), Deathsleep (Green Dragon) and The Kraken
• D&D MINIATURE FIGURES: The game includes 4 mini figures that correspond with the heroes featured in gameplay

The Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins game is cooperative board game for ages 10 and up. It's a fun, fast entry into the world of D&D. Designed for new D&D fans, players get to choose their characters and their journey as they travel through the lands of Neverwinter. They'll work together to battle monsters and defeat the Boss monster that's terrorizing the realm. The role of Dungeon Master passes from player to player with each turn, so everyone gets to be a part of the storytelling. This exciting portal to the monsters, magic, and heroes of Dungeons & Dragons makes a great gift for the emerging D&D fan.

Copyright 2020 Wizards of the Coast LLC. Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, their respective logos, and the Dragon Ampersand, are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. Creatures, characters, monsters, campaign settings and related materials are the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. All rights reserved.
Hasbro Gaming and all related trademarks and logos are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc.

• Includes 4 mini-figures, 4 Boss tiles, 4 20-sided dice, 10-sided Dungeon Master die, damage clip, 4 health trackers, plastic deck holder, 20 character tiles, 4 dungeon boards, 24 gold, 4 adventure decks, item deck, 4 reference cards, 8 backpack cards, 12 gatekeeper cards, part stand, and game rules.
• Ages 10 and up.
• For 2-4 players.

There's also an introductory YouTube video about the game.


You can get it from Amazon, Walmart, GameStop, EE, Big Bad Toy Store, and Pulse.

Amazon.com: Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins, Cooperative Fantasy Board Game, Fast Entry to The World of D&D, Family Game for 2-4 Players, 10 and Up: Toys & Games

Buy Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins, Cooperative Fantasy Board Game, Fast Entry to The World of D&D, Family Game for 2-4 Players, 10 and Up: Games & Accessories - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[darjr]

What about the card game dungeon mayhem? Or against the giants? Or Betrayal at Baldurs Gate? Or Rock Paper Wizard? or that WizKids collaboration Dice Masters: Tomb of Annihilation?

 

[Vildara]

Against the Giants - Turd in a Box
Betrayal - How many copies of that do I need? Reskin
Rock Paper Wizard - Have not hear of
Dice Master - Have not heard of. Reskin
Dungeon Mayhem - That one was decent for what it is

 

[Retreater]

The D&D Adventure Boardgames are basically unplayable. I've cannibalized them for minis at least.

 

[darjr]

So they knew?

 

[Monayuris]

Looks like it might be good as a focus for a children's D&D themed playtime.

I'm not sure about the 10+. All the 10-year-olds I know are playing full 5th Edition and have their own copies of the player's handbook. Maybe better for younger kids or 10 yos who don't have DMs for parents.


I don't really understand dungeon crawlers all that much. When I see a dungeon crawler board game, I'd rather just play the real thing.

I think a better solution for kids would be to introduce D&D in a dungeon crawler format.

What I would like to see is s box set with:
The Basic Rules PDF as a rulebook
Some plastic minis - or even cardboard pawns.
A set of Dice.
A set of dungeon geomorph cards
A dungeon room generator (a book or cards)
A set of dungeon tiles.
A notepad of blank character sheets.

You use geomorphs and the dungeon room generator cards to generate the dungeon as you go.

The dungeon generator cards will have traps, tricks, monsters, specials, etc. Monster cards would result in a combat encounter. Trap/Trick/Special cards will have a dual approach: An ability check / 'roll the dice' solution to facilitate the dungeon crawler board game style play, but also enough of a description that it can be interacted with as a role-playing game.

Provide a dungeon crawler experience, while teaching the real game and letting the players then literally take their characters to real games or start running their own with their existing characters and dungeons that they have created.

 

[darjr]

Looks like it might be good as a focus for a children's D&D themed playtime.

I'm not sure about the 10+. All the 10-year-olds I know are playing full 5th Edition and have their own copies of the player's handbook. Maybe better for younger kids or 10 yos who don't have DMs for parents.


I don't really understand dungeon crawlers all that much. When I see a dungeon crawler board game, I'd rather just play the real thing.

I think a better solution for kids would be to introduce D&D in a dungeon crawler format.

What I would like to see is s box set with:
The Basic Rules PDF as a rulebook
Some plastic minis - or even cardboard pawns.
A set of Dice.
A set of dungeon geomorph cards
A dungeon room generator (a book or cards)
A set of dungeon tiles.
A notepad of blank character sheets.

You use geomorphs and the dungeon room generator cards to generate the dungeon as you go.

The dungeon generator cards will have traps, tricks, monsters, specials, etc. Monster cards would result in a combat encounter. Trap/Trick/Special cards will have a dual approach: An ability check / 'roll the dice' solution to facilitate the dungeon crawler board game style play, but also enough of a description that it can be interacted with as a role-playing game.

Provide a dungeon crawler experience, while teaching the real game and letting the players then literally take their characters to real games or start running their own with their existing characters and dungeons that they have created.

@Morrus Kickstart this! Please?

 

[MNblockhead]

I don't get the cheap components. The minis look terrible compared to those in products by Blacklist Games, CMON, Fantasy Flight, and Games Workshop. The other components seem lacking too. I realize it's $25, but up the cost a bit to include at least a cool version of the dragon.
Parents will spend $60 on a new video game. Why not $50 for a board game?
Wizards has multiple affordable starter sets, some even branded with pop culture references, on the shelves at major retail outlets. Why do we need another dinky product?

This is obviously meant to hit the mainstream family market and sold in Target and Walmart. $25 is about standard for birthday and Christmas gifts for relative's kids and your kid's classmates. The intended buyers are probably not going to be put of by the lower-quality miniatures.

If it is fun enough, it'll hopefully increase the base of customers for more expensive D&D games.

 

[MNblockhead]

When I DM, I'm now requiring my bard players to sing and make jokes if they want to grand bardic inspiration or use Vicious Mockery.

You'll roleplay or ELSE!

I'd find that annoying, but at least I could do it. Would hate to be a fighter in your campaign.

 

[MNblockhead]

Still, I think kids would've loved a big, awesome dragon miniature.
And I don't know what the harm would be in trying to make a board game that could last for several sessions. HeroQuest was a "crappy board game" designed for kids, and easily much better than what we're getting here.
But a crappy product will always be a crappy product. And fans of board games, D&D, and people with kids should always demand more than "it's okay it's crappy - it's for kids."

Yeah, no. Sorry, but most parents are not going to spend much more than 20-30 on a kids game. Even for me, I'm looking over the thousands of dollars of board games on my shelves, and most of the premium games get far less play than than many of the cheap ones.

When buying games for younger kids to play on their own or games that I expect to mostly be played with my kids, I want something I'm not going to get too upset over if it is rough handled, get stuff spilled on it, etc. You can certainly make some beautiful kids games in the USD 20-30 range, but the more components the more difficult it is to keep the price at the sweet spot.

If the game is fun to play and if the pieces can put up with some abuse, I'll find the money well spent, even if the "sculpt" of the pieces is poor and the artwork not amazing.

Beside, is the art really THAT bad? For the price, this game look great. And the plastic minis are still better than cardboard tokens.

I know that the board game renaissance has spoiled us, but come on! This looks like a pretty cool family game for the price and is the kind of thing that will continue the process of mainstreaming D&D.

No surprise, but Hasbro knows what it is doing here.

 

[MNblockhead]

What about the card game dungeon mayhem? Or against the giants? Or Betrayal at Baldurs Gate? Or Rock Paper Wizard? or that WizKids collaboration Dice Masters: Tomb of Annihilation?

You beat me to the punch. At this point, I might have spend more money on WoTC's board and cards games. Most of my D&D spend these days is purchases from third parties. I did buy Theros recently, but only the D&D Beyond version.

But there is nothing wrong with wishing for more cool new concepts.

I, for one, would love an Eberron-themed version of Ticket to Ride.