Horror in the Dungeon, But It’s Allright by Me

 A Review of Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons

By Howard Shirley

This is Horrified, in which the players take on the roles of heroes and work together to defeat a host of terrifying monsters, and save the world!

And this is Dungeons & Dragons, in which the players take on the roles of heroes and work together to defeat a host of terrifying monsters, and save the world!

Hang on… (Hums “Two great tastes that go great together…”)

1 + 1 = ???

And from this union came: Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons.

Tada! Daddy’s little horror!

So is this truly a perfect match, or an abomination from the pits of… well, you know…? Read on, and find out!

So, let’s get some things straight:

The original Horrified is a boardgame, and this is a typical table set up:

The original, in all its gorgeous glory!

The original D&D is a role-playing game, and this is a typical table set up for it.

D&D in all its, uh… never mind.

One is slightly more visually attractive than the other.

Ah, that’s much better. (Li’l ‘Zilla not included.)

How It Works

The object of Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons is to defeat anywhere from 2 to 4 monsters (but usually 2 or 3) within a loose “time limit” (actually determined by card draws). Players range from 1 to 5– other versions of Horrified can go up to 7 players, though 6 or less are recommended.

The board represents the city of Waterdeep— located in the fantasy world called the “Forgotten Realms.” (Or you can think of it as any generic fantasy town). Below the human city is the dangerous underground region of the Underdark, a “second” city of monsters and other strange beings.

To defeat the monsters, our heroes will have to travel around these two realms, collect various items, aid citizens (or whatevers) traveling to safety, and use the items to foil the monster’s actions and eventually defeat them, one by one. Each monster has a Monster Mat which presents a puzzle of sorts that must be completed to allow the creature to be attacked and defeated. One special difference of Horrified: D&D is the introduction of random hero abilities. In previous games, Horrified heroes have possessed only one specific special action, unique to that hero, which always functions unless circumstances obviously prevent it (for example the Archeologist can’t collect items from adjacent spaces— his unique ability— if those spaces contain no items). In H: D&D the characters instead have a list of different abilities, which one triggers by rolling a d20. Some results are better than others, and some results simply waste the action completely. Thematically, it fits D&D, but it can make the game much harder if you don’t get the beneficial roll result you need.

The game is cooperative—there is no “Dungeon Master.”

Totally not needed. Hey, stop that cheering!

The players are all allies, and may suggest courses of action, tactics, strategies, and so forth without restriction. Each hero, however, only takes action on their turn, and after each hero’s turn is completed, a Monster card is drawn which reveals which (if any) of the monsters will move and attack our stalwart fellows, or random citizens (or whatevers). Monster cards also cause special events, including placing citizens (or whatevers) on the board.

Each attack is perilous, as if heroes or civilians are defeated, the Terror track increases. The hero isn’t killed, but simply starts over— in the tavern, of course! Citizens (or whatever) are killed and removed from the game. When the skull reaches the seventh spot, everyone is Horrified and you lose! (Why have the citizens? If you get a citizen to its safe location, you gain a Perk card, which offers special actions usable during any player’s turn—typically a big boost, such as additional actions, increased movement, teleportation of a hero a monster or a citizen or a whatever— all generally quite helpful.)

You also lose if at the end of a player’s turn, the monsters have not been defeated and there is no monster card left in the deck to flip. According to the rules, you have “run out of time.” This encourages players to act quickly to complete each Monster’s puzzle.

How It Plays

Rollin’ for the Special Stuff

As highly experienced Horrified players, L’il ‘Zilla and I first followed the suggested two-monster challenge of the Beholder (this ugly killer beach ball with magic killer eyestalks and lame jokes), and a “Displacer Beast” which is a killer kitty-kat that appears to be in two places at once… and has tentacles??? Like teeth and claws aren’t enough?

(Of course, if you’re an old hand at D&D, as our beloved wizard, you recognize these beasties as among the oldest foes in the game. Otherwise, wait till you have to wrap your mind around the Mimic.)

As expected, we* defeated these two foes handily.

For a greater challenge we went with the ultimate 3 monster challenge of the Mimic, the Displace Beast and the mighty Red Dragon, who has two Monster Mat puzzles which must be completed. (It turns out the Horrified D&D rules don’t recommend three monsters at all, especially with the Dragon in play— this is unlike other versions of the game). For our heroes we chose three party members— one for each of us and a third we would take turns playing. I went with the holy Cleric, whose special abilities can blunt monster attacks, if you get lucky. Li’l ‘Zilla went with the Fighter, who can ignore monster hits or even prevent a Monster card from being drawn (very helpful). And for our third party member we randomly selected the Wizard (not me), who can (possibly) teleport monsters or heroes around the board.

We puttered around the early game, largely collecting items and shuttling citizens around, but we finally got down to brass tacks and started completing Monster puzzles. 

We faced a bit of confusion on the Mimic’s puzzle. The game places this critter on its mat rather than on the board, and the Heroes must collect matching items to pull it to the board for eventual defeat. However, the Wizard’s ability allows him to teleport a monster to any location on the board. Which left us wondering whether that included pulling the Mimic from its mat, or teleporting it to a spot on its mat. If the former, it would make the Mimic very easy to defeat, as once on the board it does not return to its mat. The rules made no mention of this possibility. We ruled that the Wizard could not teleport the Mimic from his mat, but only once it is on the board after solving its puzzle. 

We managed to defeat the Mimic, and the Displacer Beast, and had the Dragon set for defeat, but the Monster cards were all spent, allowing us only one stab at the final roll. All we had to do was roll 12 or better on the die and we’d slay the beast… and we got this:

Momp-wah.

And that ended our heroic efforts in ignominious defeat. (Translation: “We lost.”)

The agony of defeat.

Rank’ Em, Dude

Final judgment? This is a good implementation of the Horrified system, with a clever nod to Dungeons & Dragons. If you haven’t got a clue what D&D is, you can still appreciate this as an entertaining and challenging co-opt game— even if you can’t tell a Beholder from a Bugbear. And despite me not personally being a fan of Waterdeep or the Forgotten Realms, I found it all nicely thematic. If you’re an avid D&Der, the Horrified system makes for a fun alternative evening, while giving your DM a break and a chance to join in on the struggling heroes side of things.

Li’l ‘Zilla says 4 out of 5 Atomic Breath Blasts, deduction for the confusion on the Mimic and the limited number and variety of monsters (though the set claims to be compatible with two previous Horrified releases: Greek Monsters and World of Monsters (aka the Cthulhu edition).

As for a ranking of Horrified sets, our preferences are:

Horrified: The Universal Monsters (the original and still the best, based on classic movie monsters) 5 Atomic Breath Blasts

Horrified: American Monsters (Bigfoot & Co. vs. the X-Files in a spot-on treatment) 5 Atomic Breath Blasts

Horrified: Greek Monsters (Medusa, Minotaur, etc.) 4.5 Atomic Breath Blast (some really bad character/citizen art, addition of secret Lairs unnecessarily complicates things) 

Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons (This review)

Horrified: World of Monsters 3.5 Atomic Breath Blasts (confusing monster puzzles, limited monster choices, theme is haphazard, characters are inexplicably bizarre)

—Parzival 

*Yes, I know, that “we” is suspect. However, I have played many Horrified games of all varieties with multiple other rea…err, human players, and the game in all editions are simple to play solo, even with multiple characters in play. So I do have considerable play with groups to inform my assessment. (The rules do have a Solo option for only one character, but that really restricts the play choice, while jumping the Terror track forward three skulls. But as you can easily play more than one character at a time, I believe that even most solo players will opt for a party of 3 or 4 heroes.) Besides, do YOU want to tell Li’l ‘Zilla that he might not be , err, entirely non-fanciful? To his face?

A Snowy Game for a Snowy Day (Star Wars: Battle of Hoth)

By Howard Shirley

Well, it’s Snowmeggedon 2026 around here, which means I’m snowed in (and iced in), which since as far back as I can remember means it’s gaming time! And what better game for iced-in gaming than a battle on the original Ice Planet— Hoth!

Cue the Imperial March, because it’s time to play…

Star Wars: Battle of Hoth

Just add a snowy day!

That’s right all you Star Wars fans, it’s the classic opening battle from The Empire Strikes Back, complete with Probe Droids, AT-AT giant walking tanks, Snowspeeders, and Imperial Snowtroopers. Time to step up to the command chair and see if *you* can win out.

A Little Backstory

This game is based on the classic “Command & Colors” system created by Richard Borg. This system began in the ‘90s as a Milton Bradley US Civil War game named Battle Cry (not to be confused with a much earlier MB board game with the same name). Borg adapted the system for other settings, including Memoir ‘44 (World War II, published by Days of Wonder), Battlelore (generic fantasy by FFG), Battles of Westeros (Game of Thrones fantasy, FFG), and a number of “block games” in various historical periods (the latter all produced by GMT Games).

The C&C system is quite simple. The boardgame consists of a large hex-grid, which is divided into three battlefield sections— Right, Center and Left. Tiles picturing different types of terrain, objectives, and obstacles may be added to create different battle scenarios. Units of infantry, vehicles/cavalry, or artillery, represented by 1 to 4 figurines, are placed in the hexes on each section of the board. A deck of cards contains commands, which can be given to units in one or more sections of the battlefield. Each player draws 4 or 5 cards (depending on scenario) and then chooses which one Command card to play on their turn. The cards indicate the battlefield section, the number of troops which can act in that section, plus special orders that might apply to only specific units, or give units extra firepower or movement for the turn in which the card is played. Ordered units may move one, two, or possibly three hexes and attack targets in range by rolling dice. The dice have symbols of the type of unit damaged by the attack, plus a symbol forcing a retreat. Damage units lose a figure— if all figures are lost in a unit, the attacker gains a “medal.” Collect 4 or 5 “medals” and you win the battle.

I love this system, so my expectations of Battle of Hoth were high. I was also curious as to how the system would be adjusted for the Rebel and Empire forces. So this review is about that application as much as it is the game itself.

The game laid out and ready to play. Note the three-section battlefield, which is the heart of the command system.

The Differences

In the prior C&C games I am familiar with, the players draw cards from the same Command deck, and just apply the details to their own units. Battle of Hoth takes a different approach, with separate Command decks for the Rebel and Empire players. This alters the strategies a bit, as in the single deck games it was possible to “hold” a card of benefit to the opponent so they would be denied its use, at least for a while. (Once the deck is exhausted, discards are shuffled to restart the deck, and certain cards in some versions call for a deck reset when played.)

Another addition (to my experience) are Leader cards which can be shuffled into a Command deck if any “Leader” characters— Luke, Leia, Han, Vader, Admiral Piett, General Veers— are agreed to be in the scenario. These cards give the player additional effects and boosts when played, but otherwise act as Command cards.

There are also side-specific “Support cards” which are introduced in a Campaign-level game, also new to me in concept. These are gained when certain scenario or campaign goals are reached, and may be played along with a Command card to produce additional effects to the order.

A battle in play. (The AT-AT is on its side, having just been taken out by the Rebel Infantry.)

The Units

Snowy, Star Warszy stuff! Note the nifty unit trays, with different forces for each side.

In many previous C&C games both sides units are identical in function— any infantry unit performs exactly the same as any enemy infantry, and the same for cavalry, tanks, artillery, etc.. Certain scenarios can boost various units as “Elite,” which typically increases either movement or attack odds or both.

Battle of Hoth, however, introduces disparate force capabilities for each side, as well as unique units.

The Rebels’ infantry only has 3 figures per unit, making them highly vulnerable, compared to the Empire’s 4 figures.

The Rebels have Snowspeeders, which can fly over certain obstacles which normally block movement, and roll 4 dice when attacking adjacent units, or 2 dice when attacking units one further hex away.

Finally, the Rebels have blaster cannons— Artillery— which cannot move (and ignore Retreat rolls) but have the longest range with significant attack rolls counting down from 4 dice to 1 (at furthest range). These do not count as “medals” for the Empire when eliminated.

The Empire, as previously mentioned, can take more damage with their infantry, and have Probe Droids (which are rather weak on attack but like Rebel Artillery, don’t count as medals when eliminated, making them a nuisance, but a deadly one), and the dreaded AT-AT “walking tanks”, which are slow but powerful, and require a “confirmation” re-roll to hit, (so if you hit on an attack, you have to re-roll the hits and get a second hit on the re-roll to eliminate an AT-AT). AT-ATs also ignore Retreat results when attacked, so their march will not be turned back.

I liked this change from the all-the-same structure of other C&C games I’ve played, as it truly captures the thematic idea of a scrappy, weaker Rebel force trying to stop a powerful, relentless Empire. It feels like the battle from the film, with the exception that in this game, the Rebels can win (though in some scenarios the “victory” mimics the “necessity” objectives of the film— “hold the Empire off until the base can evacuated,” etc..

More Star Wars goodie-ness! Command decks, Support Decks, Scenario stuff… (the back, “Epic” side of the board is shown here.)

Finally, this game goes beyond the typical scenario booklet of earlier C&C games to also include a series of “Campaign” booklets that can carry the effects of one battle into the next. With these booklets in play, if you win a scenario, you will have an advantage in the next one. Lose, and you may be weakened. These booklets are paired, with the Rebels and Empire forces having different battle objectives and secret goals— and neither side knows what the other fellow’s plans are. Aside from reading the explanatory text, I have deliberately not delved into these, but will review them after I’ve had a chance to try them out with a friendly opponent. (Why, yes, L’il ‘Zilla is a “friend,” but alas, he cannot read, so the secrets of these campaigns are lost on him.)

Do I *look* imaginary to you?

So, General, How was the Stompin’?

For this review, I use a very simple solo approach— I blindly turn over my solo “opponent’s” top Command card, and then apply that result as closely and wisely as I can from the opponent’s point of view. Typically, that’s “move towards and attack closest enemy,” but if an obvious objective is in place (such as a ridgetop or strong defensive terrain, or a scenario-stated goal), then I will move towards or claim that position. If a card cannot have any effect, I discard it and draw again for my opponent.

This is a surprisingly effective solo system, which I have often lost— whether that says more about my strategic abilities or the game’s strong luck factor I leave for the reader to determine. Personally, my stance is, “When I win, it’s brilliant strategy. When I lose, it’s bad luck.”

And in fact, the very first run-through of the first scenario (the arrival of the Probe Droids) ended with my Rebel forces defeated by the wily leadership of L’il ‘Zilla! Clearly, the Force was not with me. I blame a lack of cookies.

Darth ‘Zilla celebrates a battlefield victory. I think he uses the Dark side on the dice.

But I pressed on, and soon the victories began to fall my way. I did not play all of the scenarios, but enough to experience the various forces in the game and the Elite squadron rules as well. I opted not to include the Leader cards, but a reading of them confirms my thoughts they would be thematic and helpful, but not overpowering for either side. I felt the same about the Support cards intended for the Campaign game.

The Force is With This Stuff

As with the other Days of Wonder C&C games, the components are superb. The figures of the various forces are well sculpted, easily distinguished, and delightfully thematic. If there’s a drawback it’s in the lack of scale. But there would be no real way to include a too-scale AT-AT or Snowspeeder in a board game of this size, and still have the infantry be more than tiny pegs. (It would be fun and possible to use the rules for a 15mm or 28mm miniatures games with sufficiently large hexes and a much bigger table.)

The hex tiles for altering the terrain are solid, and introduce some obstacles not seen in other C&C games I’ve played, including trenches and large ice structures the game calls “Seracs,” which are both impassable and block line of sight.

Cards are of good quality, as are the various tokens, the dice, and the double-sided board (the second side is for combining with a second game set to create what Days of Wonder calls “Epic” size. If you want to spend the $60 for another copy, or have a friend who lays out the dough, this would indeed be an “Epic”experience). The game includes curved card racks for each player, which allows you to see your hand of Command cards all at once.

Drawbacks (or Quibbling with the Force)

All mostly minor. (The rules at one point mention “Darth Vador,” whom we graciously assume is an unexpected twin.) I do have a quibble with the somewhat limited movement capabilities of the Probe Droids and Snowspeeders. In the films, the Probe Droids are capable of flight, or at least anti-grav movement, yet in the game they suffer the same terrain restrictions as infantry. The Snowspeeders are explicitly “flying” units, but the only terrain they can cross over unrestricted are crevasses, and they cannot fly over other units (or at least the rules don’t say that they can). 

Memoir ‘44 includes flying units in later expansion sets, which allow any flying unit to pass over friendly units and all terrain unrestricted— the flyers just can’t land on a friendly unit or most terrain. I’m not certain why these rules weren’t included for Snowspeeders, who in the film zoom over everything, even AT-ATs. On the other hand, apparently Snowspeeders gain the protective terrain advantage of certain tiles— as ridges and the like— and are assumed to remain flying no matter where they go.

It’s not that the rules are unclear or don’t work; it’s just that they don’t address a logical capability seen in The Empire Strikes Back.

My house rule would be that Snowspeeders can fly over any terrain or friendly unit, but cannot land on anything, and do not get the terrain’s defense or offense advantages. They cannot fly over enemy units due to defensive anti-air systems. I would allow Probe Droids to pass over low obstacles like crevasses and trenches without restriction, while treating all other terrain as written. But that’s me, and I haven’t playtested either concept. It’s entirely possible the creators meant for the limitations to exist for balance purposes, so caution in changing those rules is warranted.

An Awesome Movie has an Awesome Game.

Star Wars: Battle of Hoth is a grand implementation of the core C&C game system with a fantastic thematic experience. It feels like the battle from the film, experienced in pockets of continued action. The added rules are well considered, and fit the film almost perfectly. I particularly liked that the two forces are not identical in capability or restrictions— you do not play the two sides in the same manner, making for a much richer tactical experience. Worth the purchase and the playing.

L’il ‘Zilla says 5 out of 5 Atomic Breath Blasts.

Inspiration for your game (and inspired silliness): Hostiles on the HIll