How to Play

Dungeon Lords

2-4 players 90-90 min 7.3 Board Game Geek Rating

Players assume the role of evil dungeon masters constructing underground lairs to thwart invading heroes. Using a card-based worker placement system, you'll mine gold, recruit monsters, purchase traps, and excavate rooms across multiple seasons. Cards become locked after use, forcing strategic planning. Heroes assault your dungeon annually based on your evil reputation, with victory determined by accumulated points from construction, creatures, and captured adventurers.

Published 2009

Dungeon Lords

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place supply tokens
Put Food Tokens, Tunnel Tiles, Gold Tokens and Imp Figures on their respective spots, including three Trolls with the Imps
2
Prepare First Year Combat Cards
Shuffle the First Year Combat Cards, choose 4 randomly and place face-down on the town space, return the rest to the box
3
Set up Trap Cards
Shuffle all Trap Cards and place them face down on the Trap spot of the board
4
Position Paladins
Place the Paladins in the upper left, with the darker tile(s) on top
5
Place Evil Counters
Each player places an Evil Counter on the indicated space of the Evilometer
6
Prepare Unique Opportunities
(Festival Season) Shuffle the Unique Opportunity Boards and place them face-down near the Central Board
7
Place Event Tiles
Shuffle the Event Tiles and place one face down on each indicated space
8
Position Progress Marker
Place the Progress Marker next to the first space of the board
9
Add Extension
(Festival Season) Place the Progress Board Extension next to the main Progress Board
10
Separate tile groups
Separate the Adventurer Tiles, Room Tiles, and Monster Tiles into two groups each, depending on their backs, then shuffle each group
11
Place Adventurer Tiles
Place each group of Adventurer Tiles on the indicated spaces
12
Arrange Room and Monster Tiles
Place the gold-backed Monster Tiles and Room Tiles on their indicated spaces, then place the silver-backed tiles on top of the gold ones
13
Prepare Second Year Combat Cards
Shuffle the Second Year Combat Cards, choose 4 randomly and put them on the indicated space
14
Position Event Cards
Place an Event Card on top of and underneath the Combat Cards
15
Place Damage Counters
Put the Damage Counters in the indicated space
16
Set up Far Distant Lands
(Festival Season) Set up the Far Distant Lands Board near the Distant Lands Board
17
Choose player color
Each player chooses a color and takes all components for that color: Player Board, Minions, Order Cards, Overview Cards
18
Deal Dungeon Setup Cards
(Dungeon Setup) Shuffle the Dungeon Setup Deck and deal 2 cards to each player
19
Set up initial dungeon
Place initial tunnels and gather initial resources in their respective areas
20
Select Inaccessible Orders
Randomly draw 3 Order Cards, choose and place 2 of them in your Inaccessible Orders spaces
21
Set up Non-Player Dungeons
(Solo/2-player) Configure Non-Player Dungeon Boards
22
Gather Item Tokens
(Minions Bearing Gifts) Place the 5 Item Tokens near your Player Board

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Note
This rulebook page only contains setup rules. Turn structure and gameplay mechanics are not included in this document.*

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Note
This rulebook page only contains setup rules. Victory conditions are not included in this document.*

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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