Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Super Boss Monster is a tough game to review, mainly because I’ve gotten crusty. My tastes have gotten so oddly specific that when I encounter something that is clearly designed for the mass market rather than the nose-in-the-air critic, I am at a loss for words.
So, I’m transporting myself back, imagining that I am myself from 8-10 years ago, a person who hasn’t played hundreds of tableau builders, zillions of take-that card games, and about a billion drafting games.
For that person, Super Boss Monster is, well, fine.
3…2…1…Dungeon
The game is blissfully straightforward. There’s a row of hero cards that are revealed each round. Some heroes have special abilities, but otherwise, what matters is their suit. You’ve got sword guys, book guys, staff guys, and money bag guys. Heroes that have not invaded a dungeon from previous rounds are often pushed into spots where they go to an action space where players can send them to other player’s dungeons (or their own).
Then, a spell card and player-count-dependent room cards are revealed. Players draft one of these room/spell cards in turn order, adding them to their hand (which starts seeded with some spells and rooms).
Each of the room cards have symbols showing the aforementioned sword, book, staff, and money bag symbols., Next, we jump to the “Bait Phase,” where the heroes move automatically from the queue at the top of the board to the dungeon that has the most symbols of their respective type.
After all the heroes have been assigned (nobody gets a hero if there is a tie in number of symbols), each player, one at a time, runs the heroes through their dungeon, damaging them. If a hero takes damage equalling or exceeding its HP, it dies and is worth a point (2 points if they’re an “epic” hero) and if it makes it all the way to your boss card at the far right of your dungeon, it becomes a wound, which is a negative point.
First player to 10 coins ends the game, and then players subtract their wounds from their coins, and the highest total wins.
I cast magic missile
The game has plenty of similarities to Dungeon Lords, with a good 1/8th of the complexity. Players build up their dungeons, blast each other with annoying spells, and are done with the game in around 30 minutes. There is a bit of worker placement, where you have a single meeple you can place on the board to get extra benefits.
Super Boss Monster doesn’t satisfy my desire for tableau builders that require you to track what other people are doing. The volume of hidden information and surplus of take-that cards make it equally likely that a player ignoring everyone else will take home the win as someone who painstakingly tracks each other player’s tableau. It’s fun and silly, and if you’re the type of person who likes to blast your friends at the end of an evening of heavier games, this might just be what the dungeon master ordered.
Super Boss Monster details
- Designer: Hayden Dillard, Johnny O'Neal
- Artists: N/A
- Publishers: Brotherwise Games
- Release Date: 2025
- Player count : 1 - 4
- Age range : 13+
- Time range : 30 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Hand Management, Open Drafting, Take That, Variable Player Powers, Worker Placement
- BGG Geek Rating: 8.21337 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about Super Boss Monster.
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