With a one hour duration and a fantastically implemented mission-based victory point system, the game emerges as one of the best and most accessible light wargames ever published. It looks fantastic as well; the various units are represented by outrageously fluorescent and translucent pieces that glow under blacklight. Another definite plus is that this game, no longer in production but still widely available, can be had for under $20.

DESCENT: JOURNEYS IN THE DARK (Fantasy Flight Games, 2005)

This game has an interesting lineage because it is basically the same system as Kevin Wilson’s DOOM boardgame. However, DESCENT is a much more detailed and fundamentally more compelling game that takes the basic move-and-attack system of the previous game (which revolves around a smart, efficient combat system involving a single roll of colored, custom dice to arrive at various results including damage, misses, range, and special ability activations) into a sort of classical dark fantasy setting where teams of intrepid dungeon explorers are faced with various traps, tricks, and nasty monsters during scenario-based quests. It’s the classic PC dungeon crawl in board form, and the game incorporates a great sense of character development through special abilities, weapon upgrades, and a huge variety of powers.

One player takes on the role of the dungeon’s Overlord and is basically the foreman for the various Beastmen, Nagas, Kobolds, and such that populate the dungeon and it naturally falls on the Overlord to put a stop to the heroes’ interference in matters subterranean, not entirely unlike the classic DUNGEON KEEPER games. There’s a great element of tactical planning and teamwork involved that will impress friends once lost to WORLD OF WARCRAFT, and the modular nature of the game means that building your own scenarios is limited only by your imagination.

I really think that video gamers who enjoy titles like DIABLO and TITAN QUEST—designs that are centered around combat in a fantasy setting, character development, and buffing up characters with ever-more powerful equipment, will get a lot of satisfaction from DESCENT.

Bear in mind that DESCENT is a fairly complex game; it’s easily the most detailed and rules-heavy game represented here and it’s also pretty long so plan on at least two jumbo bags of chips and an extra two-liter to endure the four to five hour playtime. This beast retails for $79.95 but when you open the box and see the gigantic plastic monsters your eyes will probably pop out, so figure in a trip to the ophthalmologist with that figure.

One of the nice things about Fantasy Flight Games, aside from their unbelievable production values and great themes, is that they're committed to supporting their games with expansions to increase their longevity long after other games have withered into obscurity. DESCENT is no exception, with two great expansions full of dungeon-crawling danger already released and a third on the way that promises to add campaign play and above-ground antics for your adventurers.