Sanctum

A competitive dungeon-crawl race where four heroes level up and fight a Demon Lord, inspired by hack-and-slash video games.

Designers: Filip Neduk, Tomáš Uhlíř
Published by: Czech Games Edition (CGE)
Editions by: IELLO, Devir, Rebel Sp. z o.o., Hobby Japan, MINDOK, GaGa Games, Cranio Creations, HeidelBÄR Games

Sanctum borrows the feel of a hack-and-slash video game and turns it into a competitive board game. You pick one of four unique characters and march into the fallen city of Sanctum, collecting skills and gear for the final fight against the Demon Lord. Several heroes can survive that fight, but only one gets the glory. You level up quickly, so you are often choosing new skills, and each decision matters. The game is competitive, but you are fighting the Demon Lord, not each other, so the interaction is a race: who is furthest ahead, and who gets first pick when an equipment draft triggers? Turns are brisk and can overlap, so downtime stays low.

Four unique characters with their own skillsDice workers and deck-building in oneRace to defeat the Demon Lord first

Who it's for

You like the leveling and loot cycle of hack-and-slash games and want it in a competitive board game with less direct fighting.

Not for you if…

You want a cooperative dungeon crawler or direct player-versus-player combat. Here everyone fights the boss and races each other.

Vibe's take

Fast and loot-happy, with the constant buzz of leveling up. It is a race rather than a fight, so you are watching rivals' progress more than their attacks.