For those of you who like to know before reading everything, I think this game is very good.

Disclaimer :
I just have to say that I'm in no way connected to Christophe Boelinger or Asmodée. I'm just a player.

Introduction :
DT is a 2 player game about dungeon exploration, hacking, tricking and looting, BUT there is no luck in this game, you rely only on your wits, I repeat NO LUCK. Well ok, maybe 5% luck.
If I insist so much on this particular aspect of the game it's because as a lot of players in the world, I am a big sucker for adventure / dungeon crawling / exploration games. I've played some of them (Dungeonquest, Heroquest, Warhammer Quest, Dungeoneer, Tales of Arabian Nights, etc) (yes, Runebound is unplayed yet). I've like some of them, because I like the atmosphere and premises of these games, but I have to admit they often fall short regarding strategy and tactics. These games are often a dice fest of some sort, something I like once in a while but... Ok, every player knows what I mean.
As a side note, my favorite other games include Euphrat & Tigris, LotR : The Confrontation, Memoir 44, Settlers of Catan, and recently War of the Ring (this one requires more playing)... So at last, thanks to DT, I can hack and slack with panache and if I loose, that's because my vile opponent outplayed me, not because of some die mojo.

So, the basic trapping of DT is : you play a band of characters (warrior, thief, troll,...) in a steampunk-medfan maze and score points for having them cross the dungeon, or defeat your opponent's characters.

Components :
Bits are great, look at the pics ! Illustrations looks like some D&D spinoff. In the box you get 8 map tiles (5x5 squares), 2x8 characters (in token and standup cardboard minis), 2x6 objets token, 2x16 cards (action, combat, jump), well-writen and illustrated rules and 2 cardboard playing aids showing every character and objects capacities. Rules are quite streamlined and show a big effort has been put in playtesting and proofreading. You barely have any questions after having played a couple of games.
Teams, objects and cards are absolutely identical for each player.

Gameplay :

You put the tiles in a 2x4 pattern, hidden, with players starting on the short ends. Each player selects 4 characters among his 8 and place them secretely on his edge of the board. Other characters and objects are put (hidden) in turn on the tiles.
Then the players show their starting characters, (put the standup minis !) and start playing.

Players then take turns, playing one of their 4 action cards (2, 3, 4 and 5), these actions allowing them to move characters, fight, take things, etc... After playing your last action card, you take them back.
Say I play a 4 actions card, I now have 4 actions and choose to (1) move my thief (she's fast), (2) keep her moving and grab the magic wand, (3) speeds up to give it to the wiz, and now (4) the wiz burns the troll. Four actions. One victory point. Simple, isn't it ?

Each action allows to :
- discover a map tile
- move a character
- fight
- use a special capacity
- use an object
- rotate a map tile...

Characters and object capacity are well known, and cards played are always chosen, never drawn.
When you discover a map tile you put it visible side up, and get to place on this tile the tokens that were put on it during the setup (characters and objects), but your opponent places your objects. Nice tricky situations sometimes... After just a few turns everything is visible : you know perfectly where (and what) everything is.
Other actions are obvious, except "rotate a room" : in each room there is a control space, that allows a character here to rotate the very room where he stands, or the other one of the same colour.
Because you see, the dungeon, is really a-maze-ing : walls and harrows and pits... Some characters can pass by pits or harrows but sometime, well, it's just time for a dungeon twisting !
I let you imagine all the tactical consequences of the rotation action...

How combats works : when one of your characters attacks another one, each player secretely choses one of his combat cards (0, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5 and 6 when the game begins), then reveal, add the character fighting score, and the lowest total character is hurt. Hurt is bad : when a character is hurt, he cannot do *anything*. So sometimes your valid characters must carry the crippled ones. They don't get you VP even if they get out, but you wouldn't let your opponent kill them now would you ?
The tricks in combats :
- When a card is played it will *never* come back, except the zero.
- In a group (adjacent characters and their foes), everybody is in the fight. One big battle can be something to try... But don't loose !

And of course every character has his own combat & movement ratings and his own unique ability (pass through pits, heal others, regenerate, etc).

That's it.
And it works very very well !

But what does actual gameplay looks like ?
Imagine something with a bit of :
- minis
- pure strategy and tactics
- D&D
- Magic
- Chess
- Storytelling
I'm not kidding ! It's like a cross of american games (high atmosphere) and german games (clean rules, decisions, strategy), with the french touch of course

The pros : fun, rewards creativity, very good atmosphere, narrative scenes, lots and lots of tactics and strategy, extreme replayability, rules for "handicap" (like go)(did I tell you there was no luck ?)
The cons : play in good light ! Also, an important aspect is, as in chess, everything is open, so you really can loop sometimes, so clearly the game is subject to analysis paralysis. So choose to play fast, it's really a lot funnier, or play with a timer.

What I like in this game is the visual aspect, or I should say narrative : everything can happen. In fact when I first read the rules, I had a mitigate feeling about the "simplicity" of the game : everything must always work the same... Wrong ! I'm really impressed by the relative simplicity of the rules, and yet the scope of the game. Every game is different, there is always a new trick, be it in placement, action, fight, combo, bluffing, you name it.

I know I am really enthusiastic, but this game really looks like a game I've been waiting for years ! And I'm not disapointed.

Plus the first expansion is soon on the shelves, adding new characters, objects and tiles.
I precise that Asmodée says expansions are not randomly assembled, you know what you buy. And I say also that you don't *need* expansions. The basic game will keep you up for nights !

And then the final overplus : my SO loves this game and wants to play it again, so come on babe and let's twist again !

So long pals, I got a dungeon to clear...