Dungeon Tiles Review
By Ian Strelec, Staff Reviewer
Initiative Round
Released so far in four sets, Dungeon Tiles is produced by Wizards of the Coast as an aid for Dungeons and Dragons. Each set comes with an assortment of cardboard tiles, all of them marked out in a grid pattern of 1-inch squares. The tiles come in a different collection of shapes and sizes, with many and varied designs on them to reflect different environments.
The first set, named simply Dungeon Tiles, was relatively basic. It came with one large tile designed as an inn, one as a library, and many to reflect classic dungeon under levels, with gray tiles and dungeon doors and such. While basic, this first set is still very useful as a springboard for future sets.
Dungeon Tiles #2 garnered the name Arcane Corridors, and is filled with libraries, bookshelves, circles of arcane runes, and many different magical effects like lines of lightning and fire. Overall, the set is far more colorful than its predecessor, though the effects are definitely more to the liking of arcane-infested campaigns.
The third set, Hidden Crypts, is pretty much true to its name. As opposed to the original's dungeon depths, Hidden Crypts contains just that, with numerous sarcophagi, tombs, and web-infested corridors perfect for creating that dank, gloomy crypt atmosphere.
The fourth, Ruins of the Wild, steps away from the ones that came before and ventures into the outside world. Ruins of the Wild has many different grass-covered pieces, campsites, trees, and other outdoor markers for when those gloomy corridors get too boring.
Critical Hit
Overall, the tiles get more and more vivid and well-made with each set. All of them are useful in a wide variety of situations, and are completely replayable and reusable in numerous different mix-and-match combinations. Mix the sets and you can get all kinds of interesting results, be it a pile of skulls in a rubble pile of ancients ruins, arcane runes in an otherwise innocent campsite, and so on.
Critical Fumble
Honestly, the only thing negative that can be said about the dungeon tiles is that storing them can be a pain in the rear, as there are many small pieces. Other than that, these things are golden.
Coup de Grace
Ultimately, Dungeon Tiles provides a huge range of usefulness for DMs across the board, allowing for the same map to be rearranged to be a bugbear's lair or a gnoll encampment or a dragon's cave. They're relatively cheap at only about $15, and are most assuredly worth the cost. Just make sure you've got a convenient place to store them, or else you run the risk of losing some of the smaller pieces.
Final Grade: A
