When I went to buy Castle Ravenloft at the local hobbyshop, they told me they didn't take American Express. "Oh, c'mon man, this is for work!" I told him, going back to my wallet for my personal debit card. "I have to bring this game to the Internet!"

"Like in Tron?" he asked. Sometimes my job provides moments of great fun, and that was certainly one of them.

This is our third board game review here at Ars—we've previously reviewed Elder Gods and Drakon, both by Fantasy Flight—and we had originally planned to dive into Tannhauser, a WWI-era miniatures game, also by Fantasy Flight. But someone pointed out in the comments to our last review that the idea is to talk about board games in general, not have a Fantasy Flight column. Hence, our decision to go with Wizards of the Coast's Castle Ravenloft in the third installment. Besides, Castle Ravenloft's claim to fame is offering bite-sized chunks of fourth-edition Dungeons and Dragons—and that's hard to pass up.

Dungeons and Dragons is a game that requires preparation—time to create character sheets and plan a campaign—and the sessions can be long if you're in the middle of an adventure. You can set up one of the 13 co-operative adventures in Castle Ravenloft in a matter of minutes, and a game will last between one hour and 90 minutes once you understand the rules. It's a great way to get your fix, or to bring a new player into the fold. Let's take a look at how the game plays, and what you get in the package.

What you get

If you're a fan of miniatures, this game offers some serious value. The box is large, and comes with 40 plastic miniatures, dozens of dungeon tiles, stacks of cards for encounters, monsters, treasures and the like, as well as a rule- and adventure book. The miniatures are the same sculpts as past Dungeons and Dragons releases, so you may be getting some doubles if you already collect. If you're starting from scratch, though, the game's $65 list price is much easier to swallow once you see the bags and bags and heroes and monsters, including some larger enemies. The color-coded nature of the minis means that finding the particular enemy you're looking for is a snap, and every monster you'll encounter in the game is included.

The miniatures are all unpainted, and come with their own card with their stats and attacks. The tiles include adventure-specific areas for use with the adventures included in the package.

The adventure book tells you exactly how to set up the board for each adventure's victory and defeat conditions, and gameplay consists of three phases per turn: Movement, Exploration, and Villain. Movement is determined by your character's speed rating—you lay down a new dungeon tile if you end your turn at the edge of an existing tile, and a monster spawns on each new tile. The villains move and attack according to the actions listed on their card, and you gain treasures by playing through encounter cards or by killing the monsters. It's all very streamlined, as the fourth-edition rules have been boiled down to their core.

This is a combat game, through and through, and winning is not assured. You'll have to move as a group, saving your daily and utility powers until they're needed, and working towards each adventure's goal. The game comes with pre-rolled characters, and you pick your powers and abilities at the beginning of the adventure (the rule book has suggestions for beginning players). You gain experience by destroying monsters, and you can gain a level and slightly higher stats by rolling a natural 20 in the course of the game and spending 5XP to flip your card over. You can also spend experience to get out of encounters.

In some adventures you'll be searching for loot, in others you'll be hunting down vampires, and in the most difficult scenario you'll be going after the lord of the castle himself. Each adventure has some specific pieces that come into play, and there are multiple strategies for winning each one; the replayability is vast. Since everything you're playing is compatible with fourth-edition rules, adventurous DMs will soon be creating their own adventures with the included pieces, or adding their own traps and monsters.