Dungeons and Feelings, designed by Darren Anthony and published by Gwim Games, was a novel game I was potentially a bit too interested in playing. Billed as a hybrid game, both strategy and social, players are meant to work together to conquer a dungeon by sharing themselves and making connections with each other. Players design a dungeon, take on roles as adventuring characters, and engage in the typical fare of a dungeon-crawling RPG. The trick is that to craft all the items you’ll need to be successful, you engage in asking and answering questions that ask players to dig deep and engage thoughtfully. A little hokey if you aren’t a therapist? Maybe! Still, I was excited and interested.
Playing
The game plays 3 to 4 players and describes itself as a one-session game that takes between an hour and a half and three hours. It is non-aggressive between players and has elements of many games, such as tile placement, crafting, and RPG elements. I embarked on this dungeon crawl with my regular RPG group of buddies when our Ranger could not make it. There was a little skepticism from the others, but they soldiered on amiably. Each player creates their unique dungeon by placing tiles and using items and abilities to defeat challenges and harvest items in each room of their dungeon. Over time, you level up and collect gear for your character, hoping to challenge the boss and escape the dungeon! Along the way, you get to know your fellow players and challenge yourself by asking interesting and insightful questions.
My friends and I initially struggled with setting up and understanding the rules, but after some investigation, we were able to navigate any concerns. We quickly found that the tiles and combat were a bit more dense to understand, but we all liked and took to the item crafting. To craft items, players use their character sheets to identify the item (e.g., Energy potions for attacking, speed boots to travel further) and what resources are necessary to make it. You acquire materials in the room tiles of your dungeons and then craft the item by asking a question with stems and frames dictated by the resources used. As an example, you may craft a shield using Metal and Magic. Your two resource cards might read “gift” and “something you wish,” which means you have to ask a question with those elements like “What is a gift you wish you would have received?”
We all at the table found this mechanic the most enjoyable part of the game. The element combinations felt unique, challenging, and fresh for most of the game. Our only minor gripe was with who you asked the questions towards. The game determines this with a mechanic, but it often fell unlucky for us, and one player was asked questions much less than the rest of us. At one point, we stopped listening to the question target and just had fun with it. The game’s design is clever in that you constantly need items and use a variety of them to get ahead in the dungeon. Due to this, you ask questions consistently and stay engaged with your friends.
Once you understand it, the game moves at a relatively quick clip. You are adding tiles, resolving tiles, crafting and talking, and working towards the end of the game. The game’s flow builds to each player character leveling up, gathering supplies, and working to find and defeat the dragon guarding the dungeon’s exit. The final battle with the dragon is gated behind a level requirement, ensuring you have a fighting chance once you enter the dragon’s lair.
Our Thoughts
Overall, our group had a fantastic time with Dungeons and Feelings. We asked deep and good questions, tore through our dungeons, and learned much about each other. Our group met online as strangers months before this, so we mainly had fun learning deep and profoundly mundane things about each other. Some of the questions helped hit at sharing much deeper than similar games I have played in the past. Our group didn’t feel the questions were lame or phoned-in, which was fantastic. For example, one of my friends asked me about gifts I had received, which revealed that I had been upset and let down by a gift I had received for the most recent Christmas from my (at the time) partner. Several times, the group commented that they had never been asked about such topics or shared such thoughts or feelings with others. That a group of relatively new friends, all men, felt comfortable in this game was a triumph!
One thing we all quite liked was the art and design of the game. All of the game elements have an adorable pixel art style that is very charming. One tile has a shop run by a magpie; another has a cat blacksmith who happily forges weapons. The game leans heavily on tropes and elements from RPGs of the past, which create a fun environment of nostalgia; I particularly liked the characters. The character sheets are also nicely designed and serve as an excellent aide to keep players focused on what they are doing. It also gives a nice element of seeing your character’s gear and progression.
My group’s main concern with the game was the pacing and time necessary. We played in our normal RPG night setup and admittedly spent much time being sociable and goofing around. In doing so, we quickly blew past the minimal time recommendation and ended up close to three hours before the game was nearly over. We ended the game before the game would have allowed us. As we approached three hours, one of our players was incredibly powerful and had an easy time in the game. He mathed out fighting the dragon and found that he could quickly finish the game without threatening his character. At that point, we all felt we should let him do so and end the game. The individual gameplay loop and asking questions were fun, but the long-term pace of the game could use some tweaking for some more zip. As set up now, you might occasionally encounter some grinding that pads the time of the game. This was not a significant issue for us; we were having great fun, but we feared a more serious group of gamers would play more optimally and get frustrated.
Dungeons and Feelings is a game that is much more fun than you might be inclined to give it credit for. Sure, it might be a bit of a hard sell to get people to sit down to a game to talk about feelings and create a connection. As a therapist, I can say this game is lightyears more amusing than most games that want you to accomplish such tasks. My whole gaming group of regular folks endorsed it and decided they wanted to play again when everyone could play in one session. I would wholly endorse the game, even if persuading some gamers to sit down to it might be challenging. Perhaps not everyone would want to buy it, but a Play for sure!