HORRIFIED: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

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BECAUSE YOUR PANIC ATTACKS WEREN’T NERDY ENOUGH!

Attention, board game addicts and people who own more dice than socks: Ravensburger has smashed together two worlds, Horrified and Dungeons & Dragons, and the result is a game that will make you scream, “WHY DIDN’T WE JUST PLAY MONOPOLY?!”

Yes, it’s Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons, the game that asks: What if D&D had less storytelling and more stress-induced sweating?


What’s It About?

The game plonks you in Undermountain, a mega-dungeon so deadly it makes IKEA on a Saturday look relaxing. Your job: rescue NPCs, collect treasure, and stop four monsters from redecorating your party with entrails. It’s cooperative, so you’ll argue with your friends instead of murdering them. Progress!

The board’s got fancy artwork, including a double-sided map featuring a giant Mimic. Because clearly, what this game needed was the ability to ambush you using actual furniture.


How Do You Play?

You pick from five heroic archetypes:

  • Fighter (hits things)

  • Wizard (blows up things and trousers)

  • Cleric (heals things, usually too late)

  • Rogue (steals things, including your last nerve)

  • Bard (sings during combat because that helps)

On your turn, you can:

  • Move (to your doom)

  • Collect loot (that won’t save you)

  • Rescue citizens (who immediately attract every monster on the board)

  • Battle beasts (with the success rate of a paper umbrella in a hurricane)

  • Use a class ability, which requires rolling a D20 and pray to your fake Dice Gods (they hate you).

The Monsters

The game throws four iconic D&D nightmares at you:

  • The Beholder – An angry floating eye with more optic nerves than friends.

  • The Mimic – A chest that eats you… and your emotional stability.

  • The Displacer Beast – Imagine your cat, but with extra legs and the personality of Satan.

  • The Red Dragon – Because nothing says “family fun” like being flambéed by a fire-breathing lizard.

Each monster has puzzles you must solve to kill them. The Red Dragon gets two puzzles, because someone at Ravensburger said, “You know what this game needs? Extra despair.”


What’s It Like?

Think Pandemic, but instead of curing diseases, you’re shoving NPCs into safe zones and screaming, “WHY IS THE DRAGON IN THE KITCHEN?!” It’s quick, chaotic, and surprisingly fun, provided you enjoy watching strategy get eaten by RNG with a side of despair.

If you’re a hardcore gamer who likes complex tactics, this game is about as crunchy as soggy toast. But if you like chaos, laughter, and your friendships tested harder than GCSE maths, you’ll love it.


What’s in the Box?

All the cardboard and plastic you could want:

  • 1 game board

  • 4 monster minis (soon to star in your nightmares)

  • 5 hero standees (because minis were too expensive)

  • A Horrified Haversack (basically a glorified ziplock bag)

  • Dice, cards, tokens, lair markers, and enough reference cards to make you feel like you’re revising for an exam.

Price & Release

Released 1st August 2025. Costs about $29.99 (or £24.99 if you live where tea is considered a meal), which is shocking, because that’s less than most games charge for a single expansion featuring a new hat.


Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Quick to learn, unlike quantum physics.

  • Gorgeous artwork (you’ll admire it while the dragon incinerates you).

  • Cheap enough that your wallet won’t cry.

Cons:

  • Luck-based. The dice will betray you like Judas with a natural 20.

  • Limited player choices. It’s like speed dating with orcs.

  • Tactical depth? About as deep as a puddle in the Sahara.

Final Verdict

If you love D&D, Horrified, or games that turn mild-mannered friends into raging lunatics, this one’s a keeper. Hardcore tacticians? Stick to chess. Everyone else? Prepare for chaos, laughter, and the occasional Bard-related homicide.

Score: 18 out of 20. Basically a great roll, but you’ll still fail because the dragon just sneezed on you.


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