Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9458764/kreel-manor-the-dungeon-crawl-card-game

Designer: Tristan Hall
Publisher: Hall or Nothing Productions
Artists: The Creation Studio + Many Others

Kreel Manor: The Dungeon Crawl Card Game is an interesting cooperative dungeon crawl monster battling game played almost exclusively with cards. At the start of the game, each player selects one of three characters, each with their own unique abilities and, more importantly, cards. Each round, a threat card gets added to the play area, and the players get to draw a card from their deck to hopefully combat any present enemies. To do so, players can utilize the abilities on their cards and/or activate some specific attack actions. The game ends when either a player’s spirit (health) gets to zero or once all foes for that specific scenario are defeated and all locations are explored.

Each “scenario” features varying locations with increasing difficulty levels as well as a specific number and type of foe. The foes get shuffled into the threat deck along with combinations of other threats unique to each scenario. There are also standard and dangerous locations, and each set up requires a specific number of each type.

Every round, players can play cards for their abilities with the hopes of defeating threats to prevent damage (as they will attack if left alive). Others help heal spirit, increase the strength of actions, block attacks, and more. The main decisions for the player stem from those cards as well as the three available actions. Each action has a base strength depending on where it is located on the player’s board – the leftmost spot is a strength of 1, the middle equates to 2, and the rightmost 3. Once an action gets used, regardless of its original position, it moves to the 1 spot and the others move up. The tricky part is that only one action can be used each turn (unless the game says otherwise). The good thing is that one other action (not the one that was used) can be tilted to gain one power (strength).

I must honestly say I was very surprised by this game. I was interested in it, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. There is a really good amount of variability in it which is how I ended up playing fourteen games. None of them were the same as I could mix and match characters, played different scenarios/adventures, and had varying locations to explore. The first and fifth scenarios are the same every game, but adventures two through four have A, B, and C options, each with unique foes, threats, and location stipulations. Also, each of the three different characters has unique cards and specific items and abilities that make each feel similar but still distinct (Night Raven is the best in my opinion).

Besides the variability, I just find the design to be solid overall. There is definitely tension in terms of action selection and balancing when to utilize specific actions and when to tilt them for that boost. Then you also have to throw in the cards, their abilities, and when to use them, as well as decide when to attack threats and when to work on locations since both are necessary to win the game.

The artwork in this game is phenomenal. There are some (few) duplicate cards, but each type of threat has their own art (and abilities and stats and things), and each character is depicted beautifully. The locations also look lovely. It all comes together to create a nice setting and ambiance for the game.

My one major critique is that some games can get repetitive and some games can last a little too long for my liking. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still fun, but sometimes you get in a rut of constant onslaught and you’re just trying to do enough to survive. At that point, there’s not much strategy or tactical decision making; it’s just using what you can to not die and maybe defeat a threat if possible. Also, the actions never change, so those can get a little samey, and as aforementioned, the first and fifth scenarios are always the same foes and threats, so that gets quite familiar after one or two campaign plays.

This was one of multiple games we borrowed from a friend, but it’s the only one I wanted to keep after she left to explore more. I really enjoyed some of the others she brought, but I felt I had enough time to experience those. This one, though, felt unfinished. I had only played through one five scenario campaign with one character, so there was a lot more to discover, and I’m glad I kept it and had the chance to dive in. As I’m sure you’ve ascertained, I loved this game. It’s not perfect and it won’t be for everyone, but if you’re a solo player (or someone that appreciates cooperative games) and enjoy card play, action selection, and dungeon crawling/monster fighting, this is an easy one to recommend. Unfortunately, it seems rather challenging to find these days, which makes me extra appreciative that I got to borrow a copy!