How to Play

Return to Dark Tower

1-4 players 100-120 min 8.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Heroes battle evil in this cooperative-competitive fantasy game featuring an innovative technological tower component. Players gather resources, cleanse buildings, defeat monsters, and complete quests to strengthen themselves. The game unfolds in two acts: preparation phase building capabilities, then climactic tower confrontation. Victory requires defeating the ultimate enemy within the mysterious tower using engine-building and resource management mechanics.

Published 2022

Return to Dark Tower

Get Ready

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

1
Place the game board
Position the board so that each kingdom faces a different player
2
Turn on the Tower
Each level will rotate; when finished, slide on the 12 seals to cover the openings, then place the Tower in the center of the game board
3
Place all 16 buildings
Put citadels, sanctuaries, villages, and bazaars in their designated spaces on the board
4
Set aside the supply
Gather warrior tokens, spirit tokens, and exactly 24 skulls to create the general supply
5
Sort the gear cards
Organize into 6 separate face-up stacks, ensuring each stack has 3 copies of a single card
6
Prepare the treasure deck
Shuffle treasure cards together into a face-down deck, then draw the top 3 cards to create a face-up market row
7
Shuffle the potion cards
Create a face-down potion deck
8
Shuffle the corruption cards
Create a face-down corruption deck
9
Place companion materials
Set companion cards, quest markers, and haggle die near the game board
10
Place your hero board
Put it in front of you
11
Place hero virtue tiles
Put the 3 hero virtue tiles for your hero in empty slots on your hero board, inactive side up
12
Position your hero figure
Place on the space with the citadel in the kingdom in front of you; this is your home kingdom
13
Place kingdom virtue tile
Put the kingdom virtue tile for your home kingdom in an empty slot on your hero board
14
Collect starting resources
Take 7 warriors and 1 spirit from the supply
15
Launch the app
Select "new game" on your device
16
Sync the Tower
Follow the prompts to connect your device via Bluetooth
17
Select game mode
Choose "cooperative" or "competitive"; select Heroic (default) or Gritty difficulty, plus any expansions
18
Select number of players
Input the player count
19
Select your main goal
Retrieve the matching companion card
20
Select your adversary
Place the matching adversary card and adversary token nearby
21
Select your foes
Choose one level 2, one level 3, and one level 4 foe; place matching foe cards and tokens nearby
22
Begin the game
Press "begin game" and follow final setup directions for adding skulls, spawning foes, and placing quest markers

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Start of Turn
You may take your Banner action listed on your hero board
2
Middle of Turn
You may move, take a heroic action, and take a Reinforce action in any order
3
End of Turn
You must drop 1 skull into the Tower
4
Take Banner action
Perform the optional Banner action shown on your hero board; you cannot save it for later
5
Resolve start-of-turn effects
Apply any effects from virtues, corruptions, or companions that trigger at this time
6
Make trades
Once during your turn, trade warriors, spirit, items, and companions with heroes on your space
7
Move up to your move value
Move a number of spaces up to the value listed on your hero board
8
Double your movement
Spend 1 spirit before moving to double your move value for the turn
9
Apply modifiers first
Virtues or gear that modify movement are applied before doubling
10
Cross rivers freely
Moving across a river costs one move but you cannot continue along the river
11
Move through obstacles
Nothing on the board prevents or stops movement; pass through foes, skulls, tokens, or other heroes
12
Cleanse
Remove all skulls from a building on your space and return them to the supply
13
Battle
Fight a foe on your space to remove them from the board
14
Quest
Complete a quest or explore a dungeon on your space
15
Enter the dungeon
Press the dungeon button in the app and select a dungeon to explore
16
Choose a room
Select the starting room or any unexplored room to enter
17
Spend Advantages
Press "improve" to spend one Advantage per room to improve results
18
Resolve the room
Follow app instructions; gain corruption if you cannot fully resolve losses
19
Continue or leave
Decide whether to explore another room or exit the dungeon
20
Reinforce at a building
Once per turn, gain free or enhanced effects at a building on your space
21
Citadel free effect
Gain 1 potion from the top of the potion deck
22
Citadel enhanced effect
Spend 5 spirit to gain 1 virtue by flipping an inactive virtue face up
23
Sanctuary free effect
Gain 1 spirit from the supply
24
Sanctuary enhanced effect
Spend 5 spirit to remove all your corruptions
25
Village free effect
Gain 6 warriors from the supply
26
Village enhanced effect
Spend 1 spirit to gain 12 warriors
27
Bazaar free effect
Gain 1 gear by choosing from the gear stacks
28
Bazaar enhanced effect
Spend 2 spirit to gain 1 treasure from the market
29
Roll before Reinforcing
Optionally roll the haggle die to modify your Reinforce action
30
Blank result
Reinforce normally with no modification
31
Warrior symbol
Gain 3 warriors after you Reinforce
32
Potion symbol
Gain 1 potion after you Reinforce
33
Gear symbol
Gain 1 gear after you Reinforce
34
Skull symbol
The Reinforce action is canceled entirely
35
Calculate automatic Advantages
Count Advantages with black backgrounds before battling or exploring
36
Spend conditional Advantages
Pay the cost for gray background Advantages during the action if needed
37
Use Wild Advantages
Wild Advantages count as any of the six types (Beast, Magic, Humanoid, Melee, Undead, Stealth)
38
Spend up to 10 Advantages
Maximum per single heroic action
39
Lose unspent Advantages
Any not spent are lost when the heroic action ends
40
Spending is optional
Spend resources or items at any point during your turn for various effects
41
Losing is mandatory
When forced to lose resources, lose as much as possible, then gain one corruption if you cannot fulfill the loss
42
Return spent/lost items
Warriors and spirit go to supply; potions to bottom of deck; gear to matching stack; treasures to bottom of deck; quest items to box
43
Drop a skull into the Tower
Take a skull from the supply and drop it into the Tower
44
Place emerging skulls
When skulls emerge, place them on buildings in the kingdom where they first emerged
45
Resolve events
Read events aloud from the app and follow all instructions
46
Remove seals when instructed
Take off the seal indicated by glowing lights when events direct you to
47
Check revealed glyphs
As seals are removed, glyphs become visible on the Tower
48
Pay spirit for blocked actions
While a revealed glyph faces your home kingdom, spend 1 spirit to take the matching action (Banner, Cleanse, Battle, Quest, or Reinforce)
49
Cannot take action without payment
If you cannot or choose not to spend spirit, you cannot take that action
50
Carry unlimited potions
No limit to potion cards you can hold
51
Carry one of each gear
Maximum one copy of each gear type
52
Carry up to four treasures
If you would gain a fifth, you must lose one
53
Carry unlimited quest items
No limit to quest item cards
54
Use items only on your turn
You cannot use items during other players' turns or during events
55
Gain corruption from losses
When you cannot fully resolve a loss from an event, battle card, or dungeon room
56
Gain corruption from failed quests
When instructed by a failed quest outcome
57
Gain corruption from destroyed buildings
When a building in your home kingdom is destroyed
58
Place corruption on hero board
Draw from the top of the corruption deck; effect applies immediately
59
Maximum two corruptions
If you would gain a third corruption, the players lose the game
60
Complete the main goal first
You cannot battle the adversary until the main goal is finished
61
Retreat after any card
You may stop after resolving at least one battle card
62
Advantages persist
Advantages applied to the adversary's cards remain for future battles
63
Multiple battles may be needed
Heroes might need to battle the adversary several times to defeat it

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Complete the main goal
Fulfill all requirements of the main goal selected at game start; this causes the adversary to spawn on the game board
2
Defeat the adversary
Battle and defeat the adversary after completing the main goal to win the game
3
Third corruption
If any hero would gain their third corruption, all players immediately lose
4
Sixth month ends
If the sixth month concludes before defeating the adversary, all players lose
5
No skulls available
If you must take a skull from the supply and there are none, all players immediately lose
6
Press game lost button
When a loss condition occurs, press the "game lost" button in the app
7
Receive two quests each month
At the start of each month (except the first), the app provides a companion quest and an adversary quest
8
Complete companion quests for rewards
Gain a new companion or quest item
9
Complete adversary quests to prevent harm
Failing allows the adversary to advance their plans
10
Failed quests have consequences
If monthly quests are not completed by month's end, resolve the failure outcome from the app

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

Let's Play Return to Dark Tower: Expeditions (Prototype Preview) - The Board & Barrel

Let's Play Return to Dark Tower: Expeditions (Prototype Preview) - The Board & Barrel

Session

Return to Dark Tower (Review)

Return to Dark Tower (Review)

Review

MORE VIDEOS

FULL rules

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

Play Board Games Online

Explore breakout hits and fan favourites with no downloads, setup or paywalls. Just click and play.

Play Now

more GAMES LIKE THIS