Origins Game Fair 2024: 5-Minute Dungeon Review

I’m a mid-to-advanced board gamer. I don’t shy away from any game, but if I had the choice, I’d engage in an intense, complex, multi-hour battle for first place. That said, short, fast-paced games have their place, especially depending on who I belong to. 5 Minute Dungeon contributes well to a shorter experience, as one might assume, while requiring a high degree of concentration and communication.

On the surface, many consider short games to be simple and luck-based. Nuanced or complicated rules don’t make for an enjoyable experience. But what if a game could require skill and last as little as five minutes? 5 Minute Dungeona fully cooperative game with level-based bosses where time is the limiting factor. To win, players must fight their way through a set number of enemies in under five minutes in order to defeat the big baddie.

With a hand of three to five cards, depending on how many heroes are venturing into the dungeon, players flip over an enemy card with a fun title and illustration and the essential symbols that players must spend to defeat it. Magic, speed, arrows, swords, and shields are beautifully colored so that all players can easily understand what they need to play and quickly say, “I don’t have any” or “I have three speeds, don’t worry.” After a while, players will learn a form of shorthand, as just saying a few words takes up valuable time.

To add a bit of strategy, players choose a class at the start, such as paladin, barbarian, wizard, or huntress. Each game board has an opposing side with a similar character, such as a rogue and ninja on the reverse. Usually a male and female variant, the only real difference between the sexes is their special ability, such as discarding three cards to automatically defeat an obstacle for one, and discarding three cards to allow another player to draw four cards for the other. Each class also hosts a different deck, with leanings toward certain symbols (e.g., paladin has more shields, barbarian has more swords, etc.) Additionally, each deck has a few special abilities that can greatly aid players, such as a holy hand grenade to automatically defeat a mini-boss or tricky event, or the ability to completely give your hand to another player. You can even stop time for a long communication before playing another card and resuming time. Decks don’t reshuffle, so spending cards wisely is the key to victory. Players can discard freely to find the card they need, but doing so can knock out a hero before they get to the villain.

Starting with the Baby Barbarian and a meager deck of twenty enemies, players will likely have an easy time with the first and second bosses. The third and fourth bosses can certainly thwart players with slow play, while the fifth and final boss will require strategy and thoughtful, quick play. The game ends after defeating or losing to a villain. Keep playing or go about your day: it’s that simple.

The wonderful thing about 5 Minute Dungeon is that it’s not just fast, it’s consistent. By injecting urgency into the simple gameplay, most players will have a fun and intense time, whether they win or lose. 5 Minute Dungeon certainly matches the cover of RPGFan and that’s why I’m talking about this title, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that designer Connor Reid also developed 5 Minute MysteryAnother fantastic title we got to play at Origins 2016. So get ready, heroes, because the griffin door and the rather unpleasant pheasant aren’t going to be a one-two punch.