Boss Monster: The Dungeon Building Card Game

Product Description

Inspired by a love of classic video games, Boss Monster: The Dungeon Building Card Game pits 2-4 players in a competition to build the ultimate side-scrolling dungeon. Players compete to lure and destroy hapless adventurers, racing to outbid one another to see who can build the most enticing, treasure-filled dungeon. The goal of Boss Monster is to be the first Boss to amass ten Souls, which are gained when a Hero is lured and defeated - but a player can lose if his Boss takes five Wounds from Heroes who survive his dungeon.  Playing Boss Monster requires you to juggle two competing priorities: the need to lure Heroes at a faster rate than your opponents, and the need to kill those Heroes before they reach your Boss. Players can build one room per turn, each with its own damage and treasure value. More attractive rooms tend to deal less damage, so a Boss who is too greedy can become inundated with deadly Heroes.  Players interact with each other by building rooms and playing Spells. Because different Heroes seek different treasure types, and rooms are built simultaneously (played face down, then revealed), this means that every "build phase" is a bidding war. Spells are instant-speed effects that can give players advantages or disrupt opponents.  As a standalone card game with 150 cards, Boss Monster contains everything that 2-4 players need to play.

Features

• For 2-4 players
• Takes around 20 minutes to play
• Dungeon building card game

Top Reviews

Perfect combination of Nostalgia, Strategy, and Fun!
by AmazonNinja (5 out of 5 stars)
September 25, 2019

My favorite card/board game, hands down. When my brother brought this home for a holiday and taught the family how to play, I instantly fell in love with the card Heroes, Spells, Abilities, etc, as they all referenced my favorite NES games, 80s movies, and all the nostalgia I hold dear.

Basic concept: You are a monster. Your goal is to build a dungeon and lure heroes to their doom. You win when you either get hit by 5 attacks from heroes, or you gather 10 hero souls, from which you collect when they meet their untimely demise in your strategically crafted dungeon. *insert evil laughter here*

There is a bit of a learning curve, and takes a few run throughs to get a hang of things, but definitely well worth the time invested. Once you get the hang of it, this turn-based card game delivers. My first time playing I lost (to my non-geeky wife, nonetheless)... but for the first time in my life playing a game, I wasn't sad and didn't care if I won or lost, because it was so much fun playing!

Since then, I have bought it for myself, and gifted to multiple friends, and have yet to find someone who doesn't like the game. Kudos to the creators and looking forward to playing the expansions!
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a fast paced fun game, worth the price and replayable.
by Andrew Cormier (4 out of 5 stars)
November 29, 2018

This game has some cool iconic and pop culture references if you like old gaming. It also is fairly well balanced. There isn't a lot I would change in it. It is pretty fast paced and good if you just want to do a few quick games and don't have hours to sit down to grind out something more complicated. It is also good for traveling, fits easily in its box and I sleeved all the cards too so they don't get damaged. Even sleeved they all fit right back in. I'd like to see more card types and maybe add ons that I may explore.
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Really Fun Game
by BeckyfromBama (5 out of 5 stars)
July 26, 2016

Bought this for family game night. We have 5 kids and the ones that are 11 and up were able to play this game with no problems. It may be a little complicated for really young kids. They must be able to read. It was fun for the tweens and the adults as well.
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Not good for 2-players
by BobbyDart (2 out of 5 stars)
July 20, 2018

My wife and I got this game hoping to find a new two player game to add to our collection. Boss Monster intrigued me because I love the original NES games and this one brought back the familiar nostalgia. However, it was a bit of a disappointment. I have now owned this game for a year and my wife and I have only played it two times. We both love strategy games and have found excitement in a variety of games like Dominion, Small World, and Ticket to Ride. This game seemed like it would be a good fit but was too simple for our taste. I don't know how else to describe it but that it felt flat. There is not much in the way of strategy to this game. Play the cards as you get them basically. I am not sure if this game is more strategic and exciting with more people, but for 2 players it is boring and one-dimensional.
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Great fun to be had in this little box!
by Chris (5 out of 5 stars)
August 13, 2019

This is a great game! Plenty of fun with references to movies, TV shows, books, and games throughout. It doesn't take long to learn, though you may need to pull up the video of them playing it if you got confused like I did.

I've only played it with one other person, and it didn't take long to get through one session. Roughly 30 minutes? Maybe a little more. (We like to stop and read ALL the card descriptions.)

If you're debating on whether to get this, you need to ask your level two questions:
1. Do I like the fantasy video game style?
2. Do I have friends to play this with?

If you answered yes to both of these questions, then you should get this game. If you answered no to the first question, that's OK, because this is a card game, and it only gets its inspiration from games. Get it feeling secure in the knowledge that you will enjoy playing this game.
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Trying to figure out how to balance it better by taking out some of the cards
by John Bevan (3 out of 5 stars)
October 30, 2018

I bought this for a gaming group I host and have playtested it a few times to see how it flows. In my estimation, it starts out really slowly. Trying to figure out how to balance it better by taking out some of the cards, modifying the initial setup, etc. has not really led to any better results. Reviewing the expansions show that they are no better balanced either: they are slanted far too much to the NPC adventurers. This game could be fun if the game developer would balance the ratio of higher-value rooms to the extensive number of 1-point rooms. That is the largest problem in the game.
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I found that is wasn't disappointed. So far it has been only used for ...
by Joshua (5 out of 5 stars)
March 31, 2016

I had been considering purchasing this game for a couple of years. When I finally decided upon purchasing it, I found that is wasn't disappointed. So far it has been only used for 2 player games. Mostly because Its just me and my girlfriend that play together. We found the rules pretty simple to understand. Though it did take a few play throughs to get the hang of it. For her, she had never played a TCG or CCG before, so she didn't catch on to the cards abilities for the first two games. Though, it was very user friendly in the sense that she was able to pick it up.

I would personally say that this game does have tons of replay value. And although the cards tend to seem redundant at times, it does provide enough entertainment to play a couple times in a row. I'm personally considering purchasing the expansions just to gain some new monster rooms. And perhaps someone else would as well. However, with just the basic set, it is a fun and strategic game, were randomness and luck of the draw can make or break you. Furthermore, your other players and you can interact with spells to either help or harm each other. Giving much more strategic value. For anyone looking into this, I would say that it is a great game for any collection.
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Not perfect, but super fun if you give it a solid chance
by Mark (4 out of 5 stars)
November 14, 2018

Like many people in these reviews, at first I thought this game was a bit simple, boring, etc. But the more I played it the more I realized I didn't really know how to play it. I guess the main fault with it is that you can easily play it in a very simple and one-dimensional way, even after reading the instructions. Part of the problem is the instructions leave out some rather important details about how turns work, and also give no good examples to speak of. Once my playing partner and I played 4 or 5 games and spent some time looking up online the finer points of the rules and how each card and spell worked, we started to have a lot more fun. Yes, there is a lot of chance to the game that no amount of skill on your part can overcome if you are at a disadvantage. But once you can play at a decent speed, the games go fast enough that you don't let it frustrate you too much and move on to the next round, where most likely you'll do better. That's not to say there is no skill involved, the best luck of the draw means nothing if you can't strategize and think ahead a bit, and most importantly, use your cards to sabotage your opponent at every opportunity (or hold that special Spell card for just the right time). I'd give it 5 stars if it had just a few more interesting bosses (I don't know if it's a defect or what but two of my bosses have exactly the same level up ability, but even then only a couple of them have cool things they do). Also, I will always ding a game's rating for not having a really good manual. This one is "meh", not too bad but not good enough. Without the online resources I probably would have given up on this game, or written my own rules.
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Really great, with just a few minor issues
by MC (5 out of 5 stars)
September 11, 2014

So i'll start with the positive - Game is beautiful. Both cards and box are great quality - well made, and the artwork is a fantastic 8-bit style (descriptions are humorous and well done as well). Rules are easy to understand, and once the game is learned, games are fun, fast paced, and fairly quick. Lots of fun spells, and good variety and abilities with the rooms, which are the core of the game.

All around very enjoyable, although there are a few shortcomings - first, there are some situations and rules that aren't explained well, or even touched up on, with the instructions. These are few, and in no way impact learning the game, or gameplay itself in a major way, but there are a few things that you're left scratching your head (Simply asking around or looking up will remedy this though). Second, while there are plenty of room cards to keep you happy, I felt the others needed a little more variety. (There is a small expansion that adds some great things, but obviously, that's another purchase).

Bottom line it's a great game, well made, and a ton of fun, with just a few minor things. Should in no way stop you from ordering this game if you like a really fun card game with RPG and base building elements, using a really nice 8-bit retro theme.
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Easy to learn competitive card game.
by Steven A. (5 out of 5 stars)
September 5, 2016

Fun game, easy to learn, recommended for teens or older. Does have some competitive elements with cards that attack other players. Premise is that you are the evil boss, you create dangerous dungeons and lure heroes into them, the goal being to "kill" said heroes before they make it to the end of your dungeon and kill you. Not a lot of story or depth but the variety of cards and available expansions help keep each game fresh.

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