The Red Dragon Inn 9: The Undercity

For as long as The Red Dragon Inn has been a thing, I’m honestly SHOCKED that I’ve never played the game before. There are people who love this franchise – and purchase every game – and others who don’t. For me, I’ve felt very overwhelmed by the whole idea. The game has been around for so long, with so many expansions, that I’m not sure I wanted the hassle of jumping in now! That was until a review copy of The Undercity arrived, and I had no choice. Thank you Slugfest Games for forcing me into this one – I’m so glad I’m here drinking with you!

In The Red Dragon Inn, players are sitting back at the inn chatting with fellow adventurers, telling tales and drinking ales. Yup, I did that on purpose. This standalone game is for 2-5 players, lasts anywhere from 30-60 minutes, and is for 13+. How much ale can you drink? Let’s find out!

The game comes with a ton of different adventurers to play as, which means for the first half dozen plays or so, if JUST using this box, you will have lots to choose from to keep things fresh. I do enjoy that. Once each player has their character and associated deck of cards that they will be playing, they will be ready to go. Setting their alcohol intake to the minimum and their fortitude to the highest number, players will then attempt to be the last adventurer partying at the inn. If it sounds crazy and wacky, well that’s because it is. This is a game that I would consider a barrel of laughs – if you are not into crazy, zany fun, this probably isn’t going to be for you.

Player will be kicked out of the inn when their alcohol intake and fortitude tokens meet each other on the board, or if they run out of coins and can no longer afford to hangout and drink.

Each player deck includes action cards that can be played during your turn, as well as sometimes cards and anytime cards which will have specific requirements for when they can be played, including on other players turns. Turn are pretty quick, and always end with you placing a drink into someone else’s drink pile. While ganging up on one person seems to be a possibility, it never seemed to be the way our games went.

I never understood why I was so concerned about jumping into the world of The Red Dragon Inn. The description I provided above basically covers everything you’ll be doing in the game. While this is a standalone expansion – i.e. it can be played on it’s own or folded into your greater The Red Dragon Inn experience – adding more content seems relatively easy, and will only increase the fun. But as crazy as this game might feel at times, it not only provides a very entertaining 30-60 minutes of fun, but there is some strategic depth here with the card play.

When to pull of specific actions, when to interrupt another players turn with a card, and when to gamble with your opponents is not decisions that should be made lightly. Sure, you can have fun just playing by the seat of your pants, but if you are serious about being the last adventurer drinking, a lot of strategic decisions are going to need to be made. And this was actually a part of the game I struggled with. I was there to have a good time, and was less concerned about being the last one drinking. I played cards that created chaos, that threw other people for a loop, etc. And it was a TON of fun, not only for myself but for other characters around the table.

Have you ever played Ticket to Ride on iOS or Android, and when selecting your AI opponents you get the option for the “Trickster?” That’s kind of how I played The Red Dragon Inn, and rather than being annoyed, players around the table thought it was a lot of fun.

There is so much you can do with The Red Dragon Inn, including having it be your weekly drinking game. Grab some beers and get this to the table. It’s easy to teach, easy to get going, and tons of fun to play!