Recently, while browsing Wargame Vault, I stumbled upon Ganesha Games’ new print’n’play solo game Demonslayer, of which I want to share my review.
“Demonslayer is a retro-fueled, sword and sorcery hex-map game for a single player” had me intrigued.
The game by Andrea Sfiligoi came out October 22 2024, so it’s still pretty hot!
Components
Demonslayer, being a print and play game, comes with 24 pages of rules and a hexboard to print yourself. Unlike that other hexboard I built.
I printed the 24 pages and stapled them into an A5 booklet.
There’s a very charming colored hex map included in the download, which I printed on A4. The author recommends printing it at A3, but I wanted it to fit into my printed zine as a folded A4.
After only 2 pages of rules, the game starts. Yes, that’s right, 2 pages!
It’s time to slay some demons!
Let’s play!
As with every RPG like game, Demonslayer comes with a character sheet.
Generating your fantasy hero is a breeze. Distribute the points from a fixed pool to your stats, and you’re done. The other values are derivatives.
A 3D6 roll determines your starting hex. From there you move hex by hex around the map, “hexploring” the world! Most hexes are uneventful, unless you roll a 1 or a 2. In that case you roll on an encounter table to see what you’ve met.
Some hexes are numbered and refer to a corresponding section in the rules booklet. It can be special, friendly or hostile, locations, an encounter with a creature you can fight, or an entrance to a dungeon which you can explore. In my case I found a disappointing 3D6 generated goblin robbers’ hideout with empty boxes and trash. Basically nothing to loot… On another occasion though I successfully fought a skeleton king and grabbed his super light and super powerful magic sword. Plus I got some XP in the process. After 30 minutes of play, I decided to call it a day and let my hero rest (+5HP) in an oasis close to the central mountains I’ve crossed before.
I haven’t encountered one of the six Demonlords yet, nor have I found any clues pointing to them.
But, one of the great things of this game, is that you can resume at any time, if you know on which hex you were last standing.
I’ll definitely pick up my “hexploration”! I need to find and vanquish that Demonlord!
Multiplayer anyone?
Besides being a solo game, I can imagine playing it with more than one “hexplorer”. Each player moves his own pawn on the map in alternating turns. During one player’s turn, his rival hero could roll the encounters and the monster’s dice for instance. The first one to find and destroy a Demonlord becomes the champion of the land. Reminds me of that famous Crown of Command in Talisman, that classic board game I really love.
Verdict
As a long-time fan of Andrea Sfiligoi’s games, this purchase was a no-brainer to me. I highly recommend you give Demonslayer by Ganesha Games a try. It’s a fun, easy, portable, and retro-feeling hex crawl solo game which you can quickly print at home. For 5.99$, you can’t go wrong.