Another Dungeons and Dragons board game is on the way, says tabletop company Wizkids. Announced on April 12, Dungeons and Dragons: Trials of Tempus seems to be one-part dungeon-crawler and one-part miniatures skirmish game. It’s designed for two to eight players, who take on the role of rival DnD parties looking to best each other in a series of trials. Wizkids estimate Trials of Tempus will release in Q3 2023.
The newsletter and pre-order page shared by Wizkids on Wednesday initially send mixed messages about what kind of game Trials of Tempus is. One describes the game as “a competitive dungeon crawl”, while the other refers to it as “a cooperative, team-based game”. We expect the two teams are competing against each other, but there’s plenty of cooperative gameplay within the groups.
What we know is players must complete quests and gather loot during the trials to earn victory points. The game’s climax will feature a battle with the guardian of the trials (presumably Tempus, god of war, himself), and the team with the most victory points once it’s defeated is declared the winner.
We also know how much D&D: Trials of Tempus is going to cost. The game is available to pre-order now, with a standard edition available for $99.99 (£79.89) and a premium edition selling for $199.99 (£159.84).
The standard edition features nine map tiles, four d20 DnD dice, 25 DnD miniatures, plus a heap of cards and tokens to accompany the rulebook. The premium edition seems to offer the exact same components, but a Gamespot feature discussing the game says the distinguishing difference is the premium edition “features fully-painted mini figures”. This is also advertised on the box art of the premium version.
Gamespot also sheds more light on how the board game plays. Trials of Tempus apparently uses random encounters rather than a book of scenarios to form its trials, and it includes some mechanics seen in tabletop RPGs and deck-building games. Co-designer Kyle Newman also points out that, while party-versus-party combat is an option, the trials can also be approached more peacefully.
D&D: Trials of Tempus is available to pre-order from the Wizkids website.
Looking for more DnD board games? We’ve got you covered. Or, if you want your D&D unfiltered, now’s a great time to start choosing the DnD classes, DnD races, and DnD backgrounds for your next DnD character build.