My my uncle on my moms side of the family bought me n my bro this for Christmas. He was i believe the only uncle (aunts) included who ever went out of his or their way to get us something or even just simply come visit us. He struggled with addiction his whole life, the thought of him spending money on us n bringing us such an awesome gift meant everything. We loved this game. As an adult now knowing how hard he tried just warms my heart. Most addicts wud have opted out on gifts. He always had a big heart. He is a kind man.
As a child of the 90s my geeky friends and I loved Hero Quest and this. I have fond memories of staying up late with my buddies Thom and Earl in Earl's room, playing on the carpet with only one lamp illuminating the board creating a spooky atmosphere. Great memories.
Wow. I used to own this and played it with my brother when we were really little. I could never remember the name. We eventually scrapped it for parts and made our own rules. The box cover doesn’t look familiar at all. But the fortress area, mace of chaos, ghouls, mummies, skeletons and just as I remember. I might have to track it down just for nostalgic value.
I have got this one. I forgot how amazing it is, I even painted the minis. I need to play it again before my kids get too old. But your copy looks like new!
I got this back in 1992, when I was 12. Didnt play it much as a game, I'm not even sure I've played it at all at that time. But I did set it up often to "play" with it a lot along other toys, Gi Joes and the likes hehe. I did play for the first time 6 years ago, with my daughter who was 5 at the time. She liked it so much that she kept asking to play it again. So, this game is not that bad, if your 5 years old :P
Dark World? Gotta look into the history of the game. Here in germany it was called "Das schwarze Auge" after a german pen and paper world. I think in the english speaking world its called the dark eye. The eye on the box art has a snake in it to hide the eye... very strange.
I remember the computer game adaptations of Das Schwarze Auge (Realms of Arkania series) , good times. The Wikipedia mentions this board game and its two expansions btw.
Would be curious to see a vid from you on Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel. There actually doesn't seem to be much information available on the First Edition you have on your shelf on RUclips, so would appreciate a thorough look.
This looks like a game made for home brewing. The simplistic rules is ideal for that. I am sure a few random rolling tables can make this game a lot more fun and worth of solo gaming
This game is the reason for my love for dungeon crawlers! I had no heroquest and no warhammerquest but this game was everything I needed when I was a kid… I bought a version when I was an adult and I painted the minis because I hated the unpainted minis when is was young, the minis on the box looked soo awesome XD and then I found SoB and went crazy!
My childhood friend had this game, he always had cool shit like this haha. But recently I started thinking about it without being able to remember it’s name or much at all about it, only feelings and vague memories. So I started searching the Internet but could only find hints to HeroQuest, but that didn’t seem quite right, but then I stumbled on this and when I saw the box art I immediately knew I found it. Funny thing is me and my friends hardly played it, don’t know why. Possible too complicated for our young minds, but I remember we tried once and I was mesmerized. I must have been 9 years old or something.
I had this game when I was a kid. Sometimes I wished I kept it so I can pull out those miniatures again. Toy-wise, it was very well produced. Never a fan of the initiative mace tower, but the rest of the components were awesome. It would have benefited from being more of a cooperative mission based game for sure. I never liked that the dungeon never changed. Your summary is very accurate. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, I remember Dark World. Like @AshvarKul said, it was an attempt from the makers of the RPG 'Das Schwarze Auge' or, in my own country, 'Het Oog des Meesters' (better known now as 'The Dark Eye' to modern folks) to capitalize on the board game market and I remember thinking, 'Huh, this somehow does not capture the magic of my 1985 favorite RPG!' cuz you're right, the gameplay is simplistic to a point of despair. So, yes, I DID homebrew my own rules - my favorite method being to look for visual elements on the board, walls and plastic pieces and make up tables on which you could roll for different effects. I still do that today (hence my love for table-based solo RPGs). It is around 1992 that I also got into painting minis, so I recall painting these puppies up as well. Then a decade later I gave my entire collection of games, including Dark World, away as I traveled through Africa with only a backpack on my back. Ah, memories. Thanks, man. Appreciate the trip down memory lane. And who knows? Maybe Restoration Games will one day reinvent this game...
Dark world has some cool mechanics, but there just needs to be a little more on the “complexity”. However, my boys do love it, and it is great for younger kids - except for the massive setup time. Still looking for the other two Dark World games . . .
@@TheDungeonDive Good to know but right now I have a zero sum policy. I've got no more room now that I've moved... If you're interested trading for my excellent copies of Space Empires or some such, give a shout. :)
This game is designed as a way to introduce kids into more complicated games. I consider it close to Dungeon in terms of difficulty & some people really like the simplicity it brings compared to games with too many rules to remember. But seriously, it's designed for what you see on the box art. Kids to figure things out & hopefully have an older brother willing to play the harder role of DM'ing. I do wish they made it to have more options for replaying. Like rotating stairs into the castle & rearranging doors. And bc the rules are simple, it gives lots of room for adding your own rules like backstabbing enemies or adding more figs so there's more to kill for pts & gold. I actually remember this game as a kid & my older brother got a copy & never played it with me for some reason. I loved the way it looked & always wanted to play it. When i finally found it later as an older teen, it was water damaged beyond repair. So i ended up collecting 2 incomplete copies (again damaged, missing pieces, etc) & now i have a complete painted pristine set with extras so i can mix things up. I also added a few changes as the DM, like I mentioned before, to spice things up. & we're enjoying it.
Yep! Designed for kids, which is why the toy factor is off the charts! However, that's often a crutch used for designing a bad game - "it's for kids." Kids do AMAZING things, and can handle super complex things. You should see the things kids are doing in games like Minecraft! Kids can handle good games, this just isn't a good game.
@TheDungeonDive it depends on the kid. Some kids are the why bother if it's hard type. I.e. they can build in Minecraft, but why bother when they can watch others & veg out. Or others will internally panic if things get too intense. Or they can't read yet. I see it every day... :-( This board game doesn't require players to read. Just the DM the first time. Not all games are perfect, I agree. Especially this game. It needs a lot it work. I'm not arguing this game needs a higher rating, I'm only arguing it's not for most to replay, lol. Even I won't replay it that much. & when I do I want to add spice for myself. Like adding an expansion. Btw you got a rule wrong, Heroes respawn on the Step of Doom after entering the courtyard. It keeps the action moving faster. Btw this game is based off the Dark Eye game system from Germany. It's art is all over this game. I don't know much else. Just learned that. Btw did you see that awful remake of Dark World? It makes Dark World look really good in comparison, lol. It's called Underworld Battle. It's very cringe lol.
still got this, but sadly a bit damaged with some bits missing :( The game had several expansions.. never played those but i suspect they added quite a bit to the overall game.
My bank g group played this once and now it sits in the box. The components were fun, but the rules were not. I just checked online. Most complete games to for $100, with a complete game being $200. 👻
@@noamto Hey Noam, Based on your name, I think we are from the same county (..ignore my nickname). I was just ran into your comment here, and I would like to share a thought with you.. Or maybe shall I say - a prayer... When I was a child, I also had Valley of Fear.. for a while. (..after the longest exertion session I've ever spent in a store, while trying to choose which one of those games I like to take home, as a birthday present..). I played this game maybe twice before my mother threw it away to the garbage during one of her house cleanings.. That was one of the most painful moments of my life... Sure, losing people I love over the years raised up the pain threshold, but hobby-wise - that was a total disaster... A complete tragedy. My dream was shattered, and my heart was broken, and the game was no longer available. The years passed by.. I'm a grown man now.. Or at least, should have been.. And I have an honest question to you, in case your game doesn't get to hit the table, and/or you will still happy and satisfied in your life without it: Do you think you'll be fine with selling me your copy? I still a wound in my childish mind that needs to be healed. Still have a hole in my heart that needs to be cured. If you will be completely fine with it, and do this kind gesture for me, I will cherish it forever. Sincerely
@@wishmeheaven my game isn't complete and some parts are broken, that said I'd still like to keep it. Also as far as gameplay goes it's actually not that of a good game, it just looks pretty. So maybe you should not ruin your good memories...
@@noamto Thank you for the response. I can respect that.. And good answer regarding the memories.. although the main issue is.. that I don't have enough of them, so I wanted to create some more... But you were right- now when I grew up, It will never be the same. (That being said, this time - I wanted to share it with my nephews, and not with my friends.. but it's ok.. there are actually better games out there.)
I thought you were going to start this video off by saying, “if we were to judge board games just on their cover, this would be the best board game of all time.” And I would have to agree.
I didn't mean my response to sound so blunt. LOL. I just only have a certain amount of free time, and choose to use to learn and play games, and discuss them on the channel. I'm actually a pretty good mini painter (you can see examples on other videos), but super slow - takes me about 8 hours a mini to get where I like them to be. So I've decided not to paint at all anymore.
Why is it that people MUST add layers of BS to games? An epic campaign? It's a board game at heart. And "reviewers" over the years have jumbled table top game gameplay with board games and have lost their ability to judge games BASED ON INTENDED GAMEPLAY. Not every game needs a campaign or a strory. This is an excellent action battle game. This is not and was never intended to be an RPG. That you wish it were is another story...
I intensely dislike most campaign games and games with huge stories, and I love simple and small games. I also intensely dislike bad games, and this is a bad game.
My my uncle on my moms side of the family bought me n my bro this for Christmas. He was i believe the only uncle (aunts) included who ever went out of his or their way to get us something or even just simply come visit us. He struggled with addiction his whole life, the thought of him spending money on us n bringing us such an awesome gift meant everything. We loved this game. As an adult now knowing how hard he tried just warms my heart. Most addicts wud have opted out on gifts. He always had a big heart. He is a kind man.
That’s awesome. :)
As a child of the 90s my geeky friends and I loved Hero Quest and this. I have fond memories of staying up late with my buddies Thom and Earl in Earl's room, playing on the carpet with only one lamp illuminating the board creating a spooky atmosphere. Great memories.
Sounds like great times!
Wow. I used to own this and played it with my brother when we were really little. I could never remember the name. We eventually scrapped it for parts and made our own rules.
The box cover doesn’t look familiar at all. But the fortress area, mace of chaos, ghouls, mummies, skeletons and just as I remember.
I might have to track it down just for nostalgic value.
I have got this one. I forgot how amazing it is, I even painted the minis.
I need to play it again before my kids get too old. But your copy looks like new!
Amazing😍
Love the retro board game like this👍
Thanks for uploading the treasure
I got this back in 1992, when I was 12. Didnt play it much as a game, I'm not even sure I've played it at all at that time. But I did set it up often to "play" with it a lot along other toys, Gi Joes and the likes hehe. I did play for the first time 6 years ago, with my daughter who was 5 at the time. She liked it so much that she kept asking to play it again. So, this game is not that bad, if your 5 years old :P
Dark World? Gotta look into the history of the game. Here in germany it was called "Das schwarze Auge" after a german pen and paper world. I think in the english speaking world its called the dark eye. The eye on the box art has a snake in it to hide the eye... very strange.
I remember the computer game adaptations of Das Schwarze Auge (Realms of Arkania series) , good times. The Wikipedia mentions this board game and its two expansions btw.
I love that you investigate these super old games 😎👍 what a fun set of components 😁
Thanks!
Would be curious to see a vid from you on Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel. There actually doesn't seem to be much information available on the First Edition you have on your shelf on RUclips, so would appreciate a thorough look.
Great video! During the entire build up gushing over the components I was waiting for the “but” moment. 😆
:)
This looks like a game made for home brewing. The simplistic rules is ideal for that. I am sure a few random rolling tables can make this game a lot more fun and worth of solo gaming
This game is the reason for my love for dungeon crawlers! I had no heroquest and no warhammerquest but this game was everything I needed when I was a kid… I bought a version when I was an adult and I painted the minis because I hated the unpainted minis when is was young, the minis on the box looked soo awesome XD and then I found SoB and went crazy!
My childhood friend had this game, he always had cool shit like this haha. But recently I started thinking about it without being able to remember it’s name or much at all about it, only feelings and vague memories. So I started searching the Internet but could only find hints to HeroQuest, but that didn’t seem quite right, but then I stumbled on this and when I saw the box art I immediately knew I found it.
Funny thing is me and my friends hardly played it, don’t know why. Possible too complicated for our young minds, but I remember we tried once and I was mesmerized. I must have been 9 years old or something.
omg i used to have this as a kid! i loved it so much!!!
I had this game when I was a kid. Sometimes I wished I kept it so I can pull out those miniatures again. Toy-wise, it was very well produced. Never a fan of the initiative mace tower, but the rest of the components were awesome. It would have benefited from being more of a cooperative mission based game for sure. I never liked that the dungeon never changed. Your summary is very accurate. Thanks for sharing!
Sure thing! Thanks for watching. :)
Yeah, I remember Dark World. Like @AshvarKul said, it was an attempt from the makers of the RPG 'Das Schwarze Auge' or, in my own country, 'Het Oog des Meesters' (better known now as 'The Dark Eye' to modern folks) to capitalize on the board game market and I remember thinking, 'Huh, this somehow does not capture the magic of my 1985 favorite RPG!' cuz you're right, the gameplay is simplistic to a point of despair. So, yes, I DID homebrew my own rules - my favorite method being to look for visual elements on the board, walls and plastic pieces and make up tables on which you could roll for different effects. I still do that today (hence my love for table-based solo RPGs). It is around 1992 that I also got into painting minis, so I recall painting these puppies up as well. Then a decade later I gave my entire collection of games, including Dark World, away as I traveled through Africa with only a backpack on my back. Ah, memories. Thanks, man. Appreciate the trip down memory lane. And who knows? Maybe Restoration Games will one day reinvent this game...
I used to turn the plastic castle upside down and use it as a crashed ship hull in games of 40k. Use of imagination was necessary.
Hype! Love your content Daniel
Thank you.
@@TheDungeonDive By the way, there's a weird video error @ 3:53
irishmarine3 I don’t see it my end.
The Mace of Chaos! YES! What a clever idea.
It’s so ridiculous. Totally over the top.
We play Dark World with just a few simple house rules and have a wonderful time with it.
That’s great!
The miniature look damn good though.
I used to have this!! Never had any of the expansions for it however.
Those things are way too rare and expensive. So many better games out these these days.
Planning to get my daughter gaming by doing this game first
Dark world has some cool mechanics, but there just needs to be a little more on the “complexity”. However, my boys do love it, and it is great for younger kids - except for the massive setup time. Still looking for the other two Dark World games . . .
Is it bad that I collect these board games just for their aesthetic and presentation?
Not at all. :)
I enjoyed that a lot and have never heard of this game. It definitely looks like something I should try to find for my own nefarious purposes...
I'll be selling my copy. :)
@@TheDungeonDive Good to know but right now I have a zero sum policy. I've got no more room now that I've moved... If you're interested trading for my excellent copies of Space Empires or some such, give a shout. :)
This game is designed as a way to introduce kids into more complicated games. I consider it close to Dungeon in terms of difficulty & some people really like the simplicity it brings compared to games with too many rules to remember. But seriously, it's designed for what you see on the box art. Kids to figure things out & hopefully have an older brother willing to play the harder role of DM'ing. I do wish they made it to have more options for replaying. Like rotating stairs into the castle & rearranging doors. And bc the rules are simple, it gives lots of room for adding your own rules like backstabbing enemies or adding more figs so there's more to kill for pts & gold.
I actually remember this game as a kid & my older brother got a copy & never played it with me for some reason. I loved the way it looked & always wanted to play it. When i finally found it later as an older teen, it was water damaged beyond repair. So i ended up collecting 2 incomplete copies (again damaged, missing pieces, etc) & now i have a complete painted pristine set with extras so i can mix things up. I also added a few changes as the DM, like I mentioned before, to spice things up. & we're enjoying it.
Yep! Designed for kids, which is why the toy factor is off the charts! However, that's often a crutch used for designing a bad game - "it's for kids." Kids do AMAZING things, and can handle super complex things. You should see the things kids are doing in games like Minecraft! Kids can handle good games, this just isn't a good game.
@TheDungeonDive it depends on the kid. Some kids are the why bother if it's hard type. I.e. they can build in Minecraft, but why bother when they can watch others & veg out. Or others will internally panic if things get too intense. Or they can't read yet. I see it every day... :-( This board game doesn't require players to read. Just the DM the first time.
Not all games are perfect, I agree. Especially this game. It needs a lot it work. I'm not arguing this game needs a higher rating, I'm only arguing it's not for most to replay, lol. Even I won't replay it that much. & when I do I want to add spice for myself. Like adding an expansion.
Btw you got a rule wrong, Heroes respawn on the Step of Doom after entering the courtyard. It keeps the action moving faster.
Btw this game is based off the Dark Eye game system from Germany. It's art is all over this game. I don't know much else. Just learned that.
Btw did you see that awful remake of Dark World? It makes Dark World look really good in comparison, lol. It's called Underworld Battle. It's very cringe lol.
I have not seen the remake! Sounds great! ;)
@TheDungeonDive is it actually called a remake though if some company just finds the molds & reuses them for something else?
A repurposing of assets. :)
still got this, but sadly a bit damaged with some bits missing :( The game had several expansions.. never played those but i suspect they added quite a bit to the overall game.
I have two copies of this game... Never played it. The kids have been asking about playing it.
Genious mechanics in this game
My bank g group played this once and now it sits in the box. The components were fun, but the rules were not.
I just checked online. Most complete games to for $100, with a complete game being $200. 👻
Dark World also had two expansions: Village of Fear & Dragons Gate.
So hard to find!
@@TheDungeonDive I have Village of Fear but not the English version.
@@noamto
Hey Noam,
Based on your name, I think we are from the same county (..ignore my nickname).
I was just ran into your comment here, and I would like to share a thought with you..
Or maybe shall I say - a prayer...
When I was a child, I also had Valley of Fear.. for a while.
(..after the longest exertion session I've ever spent in a store, while trying to choose which one of those games I like to take home, as a birthday present..).
I played this game maybe twice before my mother threw it away to the garbage during one of her house cleanings..
That was one of the most painful moments of my life... Sure, losing people I love over the years raised up the pain threshold, but hobby-wise - that was a total disaster... A complete tragedy.
My dream was shattered, and my heart was broken, and the game was no longer available.
The years passed by..
I'm a grown man now..
Or at least, should have been..
And I have an honest question to you, in case your game doesn't get to hit the table, and/or you will still happy and satisfied in your life without it:
Do you think you'll be fine with selling me your copy?
I still a wound in my childish mind that needs to be healed.
Still have a hole in my heart that needs to be cured.
If you will be completely fine with it, and do this kind gesture for me, I will cherish it forever.
Sincerely
@@wishmeheaven my game isn't complete and some parts are broken, that said I'd still like to keep it.
Also as far as gameplay goes it's actually not that of a good game, it just looks pretty. So maybe you should not ruin your good memories...
@@noamto
Thank you for the response.
I can respect that..
And good answer regarding the memories.. although the main issue is.. that I don't have enough of them, so I wanted to create some more... But you were right- now when I grew up, It will never be the same.
(That being said, this time - I wanted to share it with my nephews, and not with my friends.. but it's ok.. there are actually better games out there.)
I thought you were going to start this video off by saying, “if we were to judge board games just on their cover, this would be the best board game of all time.” And I would have to agree.
Well, that too. That cover is BAD ASS.
Oh no! All of those unpainted miniatures 🤯
I’m a game player not a painter; only have time for one of those hobbies. Hate minis so much! Gimme standees with good art any old day.
@@TheDungeonDive 😅
@@TheDungeonDive Right on, Brother 😎
I didn't mean my response to sound so blunt. LOL. I just only have a certain amount of free time, and choose to use to learn and play games, and discuss them on the channel. I'm actually a pretty good mini painter (you can see examples on other videos), but super slow - takes me about 8 hours a mini to get where I like them to be. So I've decided not to paint at all anymore.
@@TheDungeonDive I send all the best to you my friend, enjoy life ❤️
Why is it that people MUST add layers of BS to games? An epic campaign? It's a board game at heart. And "reviewers" over the years have jumbled table top game gameplay with board games and have lost their ability to judge games BASED ON INTENDED GAMEPLAY. Not every game needs a campaign or a strory. This is an excellent action battle game. This is not and was never intended to be an RPG. That you wish it were is another story...
I intensely dislike most campaign games and games with huge stories, and I love simple and small games. I also intensely dislike bad games, and this is a bad game.
Hahahaha REMEMBER ALF?
He’s back! In Pog form!
I had this game. It was actually a horrible game. The minis were not terrible, minus the heroes.
Yep. It’s really bad.