Little Big Underground Board Game Review

Last week, the military strategy game Heroes of Normandy was featured here. If you’re not a total fan of the format and prefer a co-op RPG, then we have an alternative for you in the form of Little Big Underground, which we’ll take a closer look at with the Little Big Underground expansion currently available. : Rumors. Find out more about the pair below.

Number of players: 1-4

Play time: 60 minutes

Price: 799 CZK (Alsa)

Age: 14+

Evil in the game Little Big Underground is waiting only for you

The plot of the game Little Big Underground takes you to the Goblin Coast, where the inhabitants face difficulties in the form of aggressive monsters that come out of their dungeons and harm everyone they encounter. Only a select group of heroes can stop the flow of monsters, and why shouldn’t your group do it, right? At the very beginning, you choose one of eight heroes. You can go to the dungeon in a group of up to four heroes. There is also an option to play alone, but it is based on the idea that you will always have to control more than one fighter, because few can pass all the tests alone.

Once selected, you create three decks, each deck’s appearance determined by the number of adventurers. For each hero, you place a certain number of room cards in the first, then when creating a second deck, you place one encounter card for each in a new deck, plus three from the room pile. The third deck consists of three rooms, between which you insert a lair card, which is your destination. You stack the decks neatly, then take four cards from the deck you created and place them next to the entrance card, so that they cover all possible directions.

The game reminds me quite a bit of Karak in this regard, because even here you place your hero on the entrance card, and then start playing together. Heroes can always perform a certain number of actions during their turn. The simplest of these is movement, which is closely tied to the hero’s speed. Some can explore up to five squares, while others are limited to three squares. On the other hand, slower characters have a higher level of defense or endurance. Each of them has precisely defined values ​​for Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, which determine the number of dice you can roll in skill tests.

Energy that can be used for movement also helps you discover rooms where you never know exactly what is hidden inside. After that, you will not only add more mysterious rooms to it, but you will also be able to assess the dangers. This can take many forms. A room may contain a trap, an annoying goblin, or one of the servants of the lower floor resident, who is the boss here. Your turn may end when you run out of points, or when you decide to do something heroic.

This can only be done once per turn, so it’s a good idea to think about what action to take. We have rest, dismantle traps, or search the place you are currently in. The menu also includes spells and attacks. For all these actions, you roll a dice, and when attacking an enemy, you must also include a counterattack figure in the test, which can lead to a decrease in the hero’s health. During the first act of such encounters, you go through a series. However, there is always a second chapter, where you encounter a local antagonist who is not at all easy to fight. Therefore, along the way, you need to acquire enough equipment and spells, because only with their help can you defeat evil.

Once the heroes are played, the torch token moves down one space, allowing you to bring a goblin into play on the entrance card or activate enemies. The game ends with the heroes failing, based on the arrival of goblins, the loss of light or the failure to find a path, or succeeding in the battle with one of the dungeon rulers. Among them, you can meet a hydra, a goblin king or even a gorgon. The encounters themselves are relatively difficult, but the replayability is not small. And if you get tired of combing the same space over and over after a few dozen games, there is also an expansion Little Big Underground: Rumors.

Little Big Underground: Rumors will offer you new heroes and quests into the depths

However, if you decide to include Little Big Underground: Rumors in your gameplay, you can expect it to be really long, which is why you will have eight newcomers at your disposal in addition to the old guard of eight characters. , before which you will not find a single-story dungeon with a boss, but a multi-level instance. So, to be more precise, three floors await you.

Here you define the first deck almost exactly the same as in the base game, but you optimize the second one according to the new Omen quest cards that can bring to the game, for example, a dungeon or a portal. There are a lot of options in this regard, so you can really count on a lot. In the third pack, you will not find a boss lair, but more of a staircase leading to the third floor, where two bosses await. Between floors, you always have the opportunity to rest and recuperate. The third floor itself will be a great test of your strength, which, fortunately, you will be able to overcome with the help of new equipment.

Personally, I found the inclusion of Listen very useful. It’s a decent increase in difficulty and an overall increase in gameplay. In short, this is one of those expansions that you want to have on your table because with it you can significantly increase the replayability, as well as raise the difficulty to a new level. The newcomers among the heroes are also good, capable of interesting any fan of spectacular expeditions into the depths.

Little Big Dungeons – Karak for adults

Quite a strong statement, huh? But it is, or at least that is how I perceive this work for myself. Small big Undergrounds is a great game focused on traveling into dark dungeons, where a person awaits many unpleasant surprises. The set of heroes is interesting and there are also many enemies in the depths. In a somewhat traditional way, you will have to reckon with the treachery of the dice and harsh bosses, whose strength may unpleasantly surprise you. If you get tired of the basic game later, there is also an affordable expansion Little Big Underground: Rumors, which can give the game a decent kick.

Small Big Dungeons are generally a safe bet. Once you start playing, you won’t be able to get out of the dungeon. Personally, I would recommend the game primarily to dungeon crawlers, where evil is just waiting to be destroyed. This will be the perfect choice for you. If you managed to get a neoprene lining, you can’t throw it away during the game either.

We would like to thank Czech distributor REXhry for providing us with copies of Little Big Underground and Little Big Underground: Rumors.