Dungeons & Dragons: Edge of the Realms

Today's review is of the 2025 release, Dungeons & Dragons: Edge of the Realms. For 2-5 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

You are exploring the Forgotten Realms, building a 4x4 map and satisfying various objectives along the way. 

Here, everyone starts with a starter map tile and their adventurer in the middle of it. After setup (in which you choose a quest card and area card to give objectives for the game), all players draw three map cards and the turns are played simultaneously. On each turn:

- draw until you have 4 map cards in hand

- choose a map card and place it facedown in front of you

- all players reveal their chosen map card simultaneously and add them to your map (in a prescribed order, snaking from the starter map tile in the top left), then perform the action based on the landmark shown on the tile you placed (actions let you place cities, terrain tiles, move your explorer, or save a map card to place later)

- check if you have completed the stated quest, scoring points for any who have

- pass your hand clockwise

Game components; image from here

The game ends after 15 turns (resulting in the aforementioned 4x4 map). Final points are scored and the highest total wins!

Review

This is a light, fast-playing, and enjoyable game. The D&D theme is pasted on; this is ultimately about making a map and balancing the way to score points (moving your figure, contiguous terrain, and actions) based on the game's objectives. It is highly replayable. It has echoes of Kingdom Builder but I enjoyed this one more.

Rating: A-