I still remember when the first Diablo game was released for PC. It was a dungeon crawler that threw endless amounts of bad guys and loot at you. While it was not without its flaws, it spawned a new genre of video games that’s going strong nearly 30 years later.
Ever since I got into tabletop gaming, I’ve yearned for a video game that can recreate the Diablo experience for me. While there have been dungeon crawlers aplenty, none really captured the feel of Diablo for me. There was also Sanctum, while it did an admirable job of capturing the Loot Piñata feel, the end game kind of fell apart on you.
Which brings us to Hellbringer. A game published by indie designer Maxime Gauthier. I remember playing this one on TTS during its Kickstarter campaign and thinking there might be something special here. Now that the final copy has arrived to backers, we can see how it turned out.
Gameplay Overview:
Games of Hellbringer task you (and any fellow players) with delving into the depths of a dungeon to slay a demon lord. I should mention that this is mostly a card game, so any exploring or traversing levels are abstracted via card draws. That being said, you begin the game by selecting your favorite class: Warrior, Paladin, Druid, Sorcerer, Monk, or Hunter. A number of decks are shuffled and seeded and you are ready to explore.
Hellbringer is quite a unique game, so I’m going to do my best to give you a high-level overview of the gameplay. If you want the full ins and outs, you can download a PDF of the updated rulebook here.
Each hero has 6 stats: Health, Armor, Sight, Energy, Skill, and Hand size. On a player’s turn, they can play or activate any cards up to their energy limit. Every item costs energy to equip and use (you get a free use when you equip it). Most will let you roll dice to attack an enemy, or boost some of your stats.
To attack a monster, it first needs to be within your sight (ie: if your sight is a 4 value, you can see any monsters of sight 4 or lower). You then roll all dice for any weapons/powers you use using. If you roll enough damage, the monster is killed, if not, it lives on no worse for the wear. Attacks are all or none. Any monsters killed are turned into XP for you to use to boost a stat of choice.
At the end of your turn, you draw back up to your hand size. Most cards in the common deck are loot for you to use. However, a few are wandering monsters, scenario effects, or stairs leading to another level of the dungeon. If you draw one of those, you apply the appropriate effects and get a replacement loot card.
After your turn (if playing solo), or everyone other players’ turn (in coop), the monsters get to go. Some have special abilities, such as debuffing you or forcing discards, but for the most part, they all attack you at once. If they roll equal to your combined health and armor, you die.
Turns go by in this manor until either all the heroes are dead or the demon is slain.
Game Experience:
I’m going to start out with probably the worst part of Hellbringer. The rulebook that shipped with the game is pretty bad. Well, it’s flat-out awful. Trying to learn the game from it is confusing at the best of times, and cryptic at the worst. I would HIGHLY recommend watching one of the publisher’s how-to-play videos and/or downloading the updated rulebook before you try and learn. To the publisher’s credit, he has been very receptive to improving the rulebook and has been actively doing so. The PDF version is definitely better, but to be honest, it needs a full rewrite from the ground up.
But, frankly, that’s probably my biggest complaint with the game. Because once you finally learn how to play the game, it’s amazing. I’ve never played a game before that so captures the essence of the “Loot Piñata” genre. The game throws tons of items, spells, companions, and weapons at you at a steady pace. And what’s great is that while some items are tailored for specific classes, anyone can use anything. So if your warrior wants to use that wand of fireballs he found, go right ahead. While it will be better in the hands of the Sorcerer, he can still blast monsters with it.
Hellbringer also has a really satisfying arc to your hero progression. Every monster you kill turns into a stat bump. Want to have more health, put it there. Want more spells in your grimoire? Add it to Skills. I will say that the early game does feel a tad scripted as you are almost required to put a few of those early points into Energy (and maybe Sight) if you hope to use some powerful gear. But once you get over that hump, you can create your character however you want.
For combat, I kind of love the massive amount of dice you roll. By the end of the game, it’s not uncommon to roll 15-20 dice on your attack hoping to hit 120 points of damage. Frankly, I love the feeling of just dropping a pile of dice on the table. It’s incredibly satisfying and it makes your character just feel powerful. The designer also smartly made every number a 5 or a 10, so adding up a dozen dice is very easy.
However, I do have to say that with all these dice (and 150+ item cards), the game can be a tad swingy. You may roll 20 dice, but if you are unlucky, you might not come close to the number you need to hit the monster. There are a few items that give you a couple of rerolls, but those are few and far between. And since the damage is all or nothing, there are no points for partial success. That also means that once unlucky hit by the monsters can end your run. There will also be times when you are really hoping for a better weapon and just can’t draw one. With 150 cards in the deck, that’s bound to happen every now and then.
The only other thing to know about Hellbringer is that you have to actually throw out your usual inclinations for playing a card game. Playing every card in your hand each turn to draw as many new ones as possible is a quick way to death. Since every card you draw brings you closer to the next dungeon level, and harder monsters, you really need to take your time. Go slowly at the start, kill monsters, level up, and prepare yourself.
I played a game with 2 new players and they rushed through their hand of cards repeatedly. We got to the final boss and there were still 6 other monsters on the board. Needless to say, we got obliterated. However, lesson learned, everyone wanted to immediately reset the game for another try, which speaks to its engaging gameplay.
Final Thoughts:
Hellbringer was my choice for my most anticipated board game of the year back and January and it didn’t disappoint. Up until now, I have only been able to mess with it on Tabletop Simulator and I can easily say that this is one of my favorite games of the year,
If I had a request, other than a revised rulebook, it would be for more classes. I’ve played them all a few times and I’d love to see other options, even if it’s just offshoots of the current ones (sorcerer to wizard, hunter to assassin, paladin to knight, etc…). That and more options for starting weapons (right now there are only 2).
But if you love the thought of a loot piñata card game, Hellbringer is absolutely worth picking up. Just be prepared to get over the learning curve.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars – A unique dungeon crawler that throws loot and upgrades at you at a stead pace.
Hits:
• Unique card play
• Get to roll a massive amount of dice
• Lots of character customization options
• Many different scenarios and bad guys
• The rulebook is… not good
• Game can be a tad swingy at times
