The version reviewed is the Kickstarter Gold Edition, some of your components may be different. The review will cover mainly what is included in the base game.

Find more info HERE.

Dungeon Kart harkens back to those glorious days of blowing on your game cartridge so it will work so you can play Mario Kart with all your friends. Dungeon Kart takes the chaotic fun of your favorite cart racer and combines it with the Character from the Overboss series of board games to create one massive and fantastic tabletop experience. In Dungeon Kart no two races are the same, which adds to the fun of the game, you never can fully strategy a complete play through. Something is always going to happen to change your course of action.

Mechanically Dungeon Kart works like other racing games in that you select your speed which essentially is how many spaces you can move. But the complexity comes from the restrictions that are placed on your movement. Each player’s racer will have different abilities that may change these rules, but the core restrictions make movement a strategically frustrating and fun experience. A player cannot simply select the highest speed and move around the track, players must spend movement points to make turns or drift their kart. However, turns and drifts are limited to one per turn. These restrictions help to maintain the balance and create some hair pulling situations when you fail to plan your route and speed properly causing you to crash or get stuck in an area you didn’t want to go. 

The key to Dungeon Kart is almost like chess in that you almost need to plan two or more turns ahead, so you can adjust your speed and know the right time to spend coins to use your characters powers. Although the best laid plans fall short when another player decides to destroy you and send you back to the planning board. 

Dungeon Kart really shines when it comes to replayability, there are numerous track tiles that can be rearranged in a ridiculous number of ways to create thousands of different tracks, couple that with each time you play you can mix and match characters with different karts, then sprinkle in the fact that track hazards are randomly selected for each race and the possibilities are endless. The rulebook comes with several track suggestion but the fun lies in creating your own and going crazy.

Then after all that there are still the spell powers, these are like the turtle shells and banana peels in Mario Kart. These give a player the ability to really affect other drivers and cause chaos on the track. Just when you think the victory is in your hand someone plays a cave in card and completely steals the victory, just like those dreaded blue shells.  Even with these take those moments it never felt cheap or gave the feeling of being cheated, especially if you go into the game knowing that it is essentially Mario Kart in board game form and take that is just part of it.

Just like all the Brotherwise Games the artwork is spectacular, Dungeon Kart does not use the same art style as Overboss, they do not have that classic Nintendo aesthetic in Dungeon Kart, although the came moves away from the pixelated art style you can tell that it is heavily inspired by videogame art. Plus there is no mistaking that this is a Brotherwise game. The track tiles look beautifully and have a great table presence and the different regions on the tack are easily read and icons stick out from the background art, so there is know mistaking which ones you cross. All the tokens are easily recognizable. 

The graphic design on the cards is easily readable and all iconography is understandable. In the numerous plays of Dungeon Kart there have been no issues with what icons mean or what they are. Even playing with new players they were able to pick up the iconography and rules of the game easily. 

The components for the game are great quality from the track tiles to the tokens everything is well made and after almost 20 plays of the game have shown no signs of wear and tear. One of the best components are the acrylic racer pieces. These acrylic standees I feel work amazingly and are a way better choice than if the publisher had decided to go with minis. Minis, although more detailed, could cause some readability issues with icons on the track having the clear acrylic bases allow player to still see icons under the standee.  The standees have character art on them that is visible from both sides and is well done where each character is recognizable on the track. 

With in the box, Brotherwise Games have included good inserts that organize the game well, and make for a quicker setup.  My only complaint with the components is that on initial setup some of the plastic grommets that hold the Kart dashboard and shifter together were lose and I had to get creative using a hammer to get them tight enough the the shift didn’t just flop around.

Although the art style may not be one similar to Overboss with the pixelated characters and environments, the artwork works well with the game and still gives you that sense of playing a video game and this one just happens to be one of my favorite video games Mario kart.

The setup for Dungeon Kart is simple and takes around 10-15 minutes if you are building your track from one of the premade tracks. Setup time may take a little longer if you are building a custom track. The tiles all fit together well, and the artwork lines up to make it easier to know how to place the track in relation to the other ones. Once you have the track designed how you like it is simply just placing hazards on the track and giving each player their character and Kart Dashboard. The fastest way is to give the characters and dashboards out randomly, making each player learn the character and kart as they play. However, as you play more you will find characters and Kart setup that you favor, and your play group may just want to choose the character and Kart. But I think the fun lies in the randomness. 

The gameplay in general is easy to teach and play, the complexity comes with how I best maneuver the track. Do I go up or down in speed, when is the best time to play my spell card etc. At first the gameplay is deceptively simple, but with that deception you can easily find yourself in a spot you didn’t want to be and playing as the caboose on the track.

Dungeon Kart caught my attention on Kickstarter and became an instant all in back for me. I love the other Brotherwise games, and like mentioned Mario Kart is one of my all time favorite Ips. It was a no brainer. I went into the game with high hopes and expectations. I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed. Dungeon Kart has lived up to the Bar I set for it, although the one downside I have is that at lower player counts it kind of suffers it loses the charm that makes it fun and that is the chaos. I found that when playing with lower player count making smaller tracks and using track tiles that have more hazard spots alleviates some of the issues, I have with playing with under 4 people. For me Dungeon Kart shines when played with 6-8 players. Playing with 4-5 players is good but only on small or medium tracks. IF you want to play big, massive tracks you really need those higher player counts. 

Dungeon Kart is a great game and a great game to introduce to new board gamers, the rules are not complex, and most people know of and have played Mario Kart before. The first play they may be relegated to the back, but even in games where I was playing the anchor I was still having fun trying to figure out how to get around the track and causing havoc from the rear with my spell cards.

I would recommend this game to fans of racing games and Mario Kart. There are some take that elements, but not to the point of feeling cheap. IF you go into the game with the understanding that you at any point may explode, crash or be bumped off the track then it can be an enjoyable time.

I have been playing on the Deluxe Kickstarter Version, but from what I have noticed there is nothing that will change the game drastically from the standard retail version. There are a couple of Exclusive characters and track tiles for the Kickstarter version, but I have played the base game and the gameplay and experience is the same. Although the metal coins are amazing. If you can get your hands on the gold edition it is worth it but the retail version is a great game and I highly recommend it for your game shelves and the table.

Interested in what another reviewer here at Everything Board Games had to say?

Then check out Jazz Paladin’s review of Dungeon Kart!

After reading Steven Foster’s review, if this sounds like a game for you at the time of this posting Dungeon Kart is completely sold out on BROTHERWISE GAMES however another seller has the Kickstarter Edition available on Amazon. Check it out and get yours HERE.

Disclaimer: Anytime you see a link to Amazon on our site, it is another way to get your product there for the normally listed price as well as a way to support Everything Board Games and everything we’re doing here, without paying any extra. We appreciate the support!

Disclaimer: Anytime you see a link to Amazon on our site, it is another way to get your product there for the normally listed price as well as a way to support Everything Board Games and everything we’re doing here, without paying any extra. We appreciate the support!

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