The Dungeon Guardian

The board

The board consists of 25 pieces that represent the different rooms. These rooms are located face down, randomly placed, at the start of the game. They are discovered as the players advance through them. Modularity and randomness provide mystery and uncertainty in each game.

The different rooms are designed to be able to fit into each other whatever their position and rotation.

The characters

Players begin by managing a character called "Nobody" and their first objective is to find the tombs of the main heroes. Each hero has his own stats and special abilities.

Destiny (Destino)

Destiny cards are used every time a new room is discovered. These cards determine what the heroes will find inside. If it is a corridor, it is possible to cross without fighting. If it is an encounter, the fight is inevitable. If the players are lucky enough, they may find a treasure.

The design of these cards is made up of two parts. The first part contains some context of the situation to provide a narrative to the game. The second part contains the different possibilities of enemies that can appear. The initial context is always related to the type of enemies that appear on the card.

Rune (Runa)

Rune cards are used by players to perform their special abilities. The required runes are indicated on the character cards and each of them is associated with color to facilitate their reading. Its design responds to the representation of ancient runes carved in stone that contain great power.

Loot (Saqueo)

Every time a player kills an enemy, they collect a loot card. The loot cards contain powerful potions and treasures of varying rarity. Their design represents that they are collected from the ground or a pocket, that is why the back shows a wallet on the ground over a pool of blood, and the content of the card is showed through the cloth of a broken bag.

Relics

The relics are hidden in the tombs of the heroes. They are powerful items that players can equip to increase their stats. Its design fulfills several functions. The back of the card is a drawing of the tombs but covered with gold so that when relics remain on a tomb, this shows that it contains treasures. When all the relics of a tomb have been collected, it is left empty. On the other hand, as these cards are placed next to the character tiles when they are picked up, they maintain the same aesthetic as the tiles.

Resume

After designing the mechanics and art, I developed a prototype so I could play and test it with friends. This is one of the projects I am most proud of because it was born from a passion for game design and fantasy, combining different elements to create the game of my dreams. This work contains a multitude of pieces of different influences from a multitude of games such as Hero Quest, Catan, Carcassone, Atmosphear, or Vampire. The mechanics went through all kinds of redesigns to find a satisfactory and consistent balance. The art responds to the setting of the game and the different elements that compose it to maintain the aesthetic and narrative theme of the game. The Dungeon Guardian is a game about adventure, mystery, companionship, and strategy.