- BGG rating
- 4.2
Dungeon Academy: Punchboard
- 1–6 players
- 20 min
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #5,307
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Dungeon Academy
2019
Rules assistance for Dungeon Academy
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–6 players
- 20 min
- 10+
- Complexity 1.4/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Dungeon Academy
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Dungeon Academy is a board game released in 2019 for 1–6 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Julian Allain and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Square Grid.
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About the game
Time to enter a dungeon — a dungeon composed of dice! — to kill monsters and score as much as possible. In Dungeon Academy, each player has a piece of paper that shows four dungeons, with each dungeon being a 4x4 grid. The game lasts four rounds, and in each round you will go through one of these dungeons. Each player also has a character card that shows some amount of life (red) and mana (blue) along with a special power. What's actually in a dungeon is determined by dice that you roll at the start of the round. You roll sixteen dice, then let them settle in a 4x4 grid. The dice show red and blue monsters in both small and large sizes, as well as blue potions and red strength. You decide where to enter the dice dungeon and which dice to pass through in a continuous line that can change directions only orthogonally, and you draw this corresponding line on your personal grid until you exit at some other point of the dungeon without crossing over your line. You then claim the lowest available number card, with the number of cards matching the number of players. Once everyone has finished drawing a line through the dungeon, you trace out that path step by step, removing life (1 or 2) to defeat red monsters (small or large) and mana (1 or 2) to defeat blue monsters (small or large). You place new tokens on your character as you pass through potions and strength spaces. Once you're through the grid, you score points for the monsters you defeated, and you choose one of four quests on your sheet for bonus points. (In the second round, you choose one of the three remaining quests, so your choices diminish over time.) In player order based on your number card, you take one of the available treasures, which provide points and powers. Your life and mana levels carry over into the next round. In the second and third rounds, you replace one of the dice with a labyrinth die that can be passed through only in certain directions, and in the fourth round another die is replaced with the big boss die, giving you something giant to take on before ending the game and tallying your final score.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Buró
- The Op Games
- Matagot
- Gen-X Games (GenX)
Questions and answers
Dungeon Academy supports 1–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Dungeon Academy is 20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Dungeon Academy for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Dungeon Academy has a complexity rating of 1.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Dungeon Academy belongs to these categories: Fantasy, Dice, and Real-time. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Dice Rolling, and Square Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Dungeon Academy are: Julian Allain. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Dungeon Academy as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.