WizKids 73591 Dungeons and Dragons Waterdeep: Dungeon of The Mad Mage Adventure System Board Toy (Premium Edition), Multi-Colored

It's a lot of fun. I've played temple of elemental evil before, but this has a lot more mechanics that keep it interesting.

I was really hesitant to buy this game after reading the reviews that said the game had all these typos and bad rules. I bought it anyway figuring I could download the errata and keep it in the box, maybe making edits to the cards where necessary. It turned out that one I got (in April, 2024) had the errors fixed (see image)! I didn't check everything in the errata, but those that I did (mor than just the 2 in the image) were fixed. As far as the rules being bad, I didn't think they were (at least for my edition), however I also played Wrath of Ashardalon (WoA) before this. Coming from WoA, the game is a major improvement (more interesting mechanics, but still simple). There's a trap card that's a monster, events as monster cards, non-events as event cards (i.e. "nothing happens"), non-monsters as monster cards, and you gradually build the campaign deck by adding and removing cards so it evolves over time (as you progress through the adventures). I was wondering if I should buy one of the earlier games (after WoA) that I didn't have instead of buying this game, but I'm glad I just went ahead and bought this game. I just bought the standard edition (unpainted figures)--yeah it took a long time to paint the figures, but I don't regret it. The only thing significantly different (other than the figures being unpainted) is that the figures in the premium edition come with translucent parts, whereas all of the figures in the standard are solid. I think mine turned out nice anyway :D There's a U-shaped figure that's a swirl of magic swords. Before I knew what it was, I thought it was missing a base, so I tried (and failed, thankfully) to glue it to a base. It turns out that it's supposed to slot into the back of the Halaster (the Mad Mage) figure--so don't try to modify it!

Exactly what we wanted!

The game seems to be a very good heir of the series, all components look amazing. We decided to start playing with kids and... were so confused because game rules totally messed the names of some characters skills!We had to use Google to make sure we dont miss any of the skill cards, and it seems to be common problem for this edition. Some of the skill cards just have wrong names!So disappointing for the 60+ dollars game!All the rest is good for now, but we just had our first scenario finished.We played 2 adults, 14 years and 6.5 years kids. Junior kid needed some help, but he’s a very hardcore board game player (for his age). Normally I’d say they game is 10+.Resume? Good game, overall improvement of the series, all components and figure look really wow, but game desperately needs another edition to fix stupid baking mistakes.

I ordered the premium edition of Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon of the Mad Mage Adventure System Board Game. It is something of a hobby of mine to collect these games and I have all of WizKids prior releases. For playing Dungeons and Dragons these are a HUGE bargain for the number of miniatures and play aides that come in a box set. If you were to buy discrete miniatures these usually run about $1.00 each for unpainted, and $4.00 and up for painted. As WizKids board games come with 44 miniatures that alone is worth the price of admission.For my money I am willing to pay a little extra to buy the pre-painted minis just to save myself the time of doing it myself. But that depends on the availability of the product. On that note I am happy with what I got. An experienced mini painter will do better, but I typically won't get any better results than the pre-painted ones anyway.Of note, some minis have bent pieces, like weapons, arms, or wings. In my experience this is a normal part of resin minis. The delicate parts tend to warp and bend. The fix is to use hot water to relax the resin and straighten the part, and cold water to get it to hold in the place you position it. I don't fault WizKids for this at all.Though I have to knock WizKids this time as four of the minis came broken. A FIRST! All three beholder minis, one of the veterans, and one of the flying swords. The three beholder minis were all broken off their bases. The veteran was completely missing their left arm. And the flying sword was off its base.A little super glue and the three beholders were as good as new. The breaks were at the base of the beholder heads and not noticeable once repaired.I was worried that the veteran's arm was irreplaceable as it was not in its package. However I found the arm later, after I opened the packaging with the grungs, intellect devourers, and flying swords. Like the beholders a little super glue and the arm was fixed back in place. I think this was a product of the casting as it appears the arm was a separate piece with a pin that slotted into place. The pin or the slot must have been the wrong size, as after gluing it into place I noticed a small gap. Should it fall out again for some reason I will need to drill the slot to get a better fit.The flying sword actually wasn't broken. Instead it is like most of WizKids other flying creatures and it just slots into a key on the base. No big deal.Based on the arm being in a separate package It looks like WizKids deliberately packaged these broken pieces rather than having them break due to jostling. So I have to give WizKids a demerit for quality control this time around. And the first time I actually had a broken part arrive in a WizKids product. At least the broken parts all arrived in the same box so I could put them back together again.In all I am happy with what I got and look forward to playing the board game, and using its pieces for Dungeons and Dragons.

I love this series and own each game in the series starting with Castle Ravenloft! The system has gotten better each game and the Mad Mage continues that tradition. The minis and counters are top notch and the system has been streamlined from the days of Ravenloft. While you can grab a few adventurers and do a "one-off" scenario, the game really shines when you follow the campaign format and watch as your group of adventurers evolves from a bunch of young amateurs thrown together to a well knit band of experienced dungeon fighters. Just a great system for that SOLO gamer looking to play some D&D without the need for a Dungeon Master or a group of friends.