So the thing with The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons Game was that it was shockingly popular and, because I suspect it was a rather cynical cash-in on the popularity of HeroQuest, TSR didn’t have anything lined up to supplement the game (except, you know, the Rules Cyclopedia and the rest of D&D). It took a while to directly supplement the big black box. The Dragon’s Den (1992) was the first out of the gate.

The box is the same big board game sized format. Inside are lots more standees, three battle maps, some tiles, character cards and three scenarios. In a lot of ways, it really does feel like a low rent HeroQuest, but I find these boxes charming in their own particular way. For one, yes, that is a crop of Clyde Caldwell’s cover for DL14: Dragons of Triumph, but man, I don’t care. I love getting that view of Takhisis, far, far bigger than any other D&D product previously allowed. This follows through for all the boxes.

The scenarios are fine, each a pretty simple dungeon crawl. Ken Rolston penned them all and does his best to insert variety into the proceedings. The weirdest thing about them is the fact that, well, they all revolve around dragons. TSR at this point understood the broad marketing appeal of dragons, though, so who cares if the scenarios are gaged to levels 1 through 5? Give ‘em dragons!

There are also rules included for a one-against-all style board game, using the box components, so it retains its playability after the scenarios are used (and if they aren’t used at all). This really leans into the HeroQuest vibe.