Tiny Epic Dungeons Brings the Crawl Down to Size

In Tiny Epic Dungeons players control a band of Heroes...

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I've never been the biggest fan of this series, but this is absolutely a genre which could use the Tiny Epic treatment and streamlining.

They've gone pretty hardcore here, too. There's a reference card with a few dozen icons for the game:



Plus, the initial image shows sculpted minis (CMON haters unite!), rather than the usual meeples/Itemeeples that have been the standard so far.

Just to bring up a topic of discussion about this game: Yesterday, Elizabeth Hargrave (of Wingspan and Mariposas fame) pointed out the fairly sexist artwork on the box cover , where the two female characters are in standard cheesecake poses, with the otherwise shadowy rogue even having her chest lit by a spotlight somewhere in the dungeon.

Elizabeth is absolutely right. This was a poor choice by Gamelyn and, in retrospect, kind of a surprising one. I should have noticed it earlier but, as I posted in the above thread, I'm in the habit of glossing over artwork unless something really impressive is visible (and, from my comic days, a bunch of characters doing "the pose" and not advancing a story is not impressive.) But this is something that was fairly offensive and I should have noticed. The thread, of course, exploded with the usual nerd outrage about "wokeness" and other ridiculous excuses for misogyny and male privilege and Octavian and Co. have been wielding a swift hammer. But it also has some solid points about the example already being set by other games in the genre (such as Clank!) that Gamelyn could have followed.

For their part, the company has acknowledged the issue and already replaced the tentative art with an alternate image that at least allows the two female characters more body covering. We'll see where this goes.

Yeah, it's definitely the pretty classic "how can I draw a woman's butt and chest at the same time" pose.

The game seems neat. Some things that stuck out at me about the campaign:

- The initial goal of $15,000 is seriously laughable, considering it had several miniature sculpts to pay for.
- each additional miniature was an $80k stretch goal
- they literally ran out of room in the box with stretch goals, so at this point they just sit there making money. I admit the only real reason I considered pledging for this (I didn't) was that it would be small and portable, but when they essentially stop stretch goals because of their own self-imposed physical limitations.... eh. Rubs me the wrong way.

It's honestly a pretty shitty looking cover in general.

Edit: Oh jeez, I was looking at the replacement cover and thought the point was still valid. The original was definitely worse in that regard.

hotseatgames wrote: - they literally ran out of room in the box with stretch goals, so at this point they just sit there making money. I admit the only real reason I considered pledging for this (I didn't) was that it would be small and portable, but when they essentially stop stretch goals because of their own self-imposed physical limitations.... eh. Rubs me the wrong way.

It's fair to say that the "Tiny Epic" theme may have run its course. Part of their whole production is incorporating a weight limit into their budget so they know shipping costs up front. That's why they called it quits on the goals. Michael Coe has mentioned before that they've had to do redesigns to this or that component because it ends up making the box exceed their weight limit. I've always found that fairly charming about the line, since it speaks to me of smart planning, beginning to end.

ubarose wrote: They should have stuck with meeples. The Rouge mini is even more bizarrely proportioned than the original Red Scorpion.

There's been HUGE debate about that aspect, with the "meeples only" faction yelling the loudest. Gamelyn said that they thought they'd gone about as far as they could with the ITEMeeples concept and that they could actually get more loot into the box using just cards, rather than having to incorporate plastic items to accompany them. Plus, I think they just wanted to try something different. It's certainly been an eye-catcher for a lot of new customers that would've dismissed another "meeple game" but disappointment for those who've come to associate the TE line with them.

An obvious choice would have been standees. You can stack a ton of them in a box.

Sure. That makes sense. I guess it's a question of what kind of game feel you want. Is it just about the mechanics of the game or is it about the feel of playing a mini version of Descent which, in turn , is drawn from people walking their Ral Partha minis through Tomb of Horrors.

Wow, i went looking expecting to see some egregious salacious stuff but this looks like run of the mill fantasy comic book art design 101. Boringly so. Whats the controversy? Alluring rogue, scantily clad elf wizard, loin clothed barbarian, and bushy bearded dwarf. Gender swap any of them and you get the same basic result.

Now the expansion characters, thats a whole mess of stereotypes but again, nothing even remotely risque.(IMNSHO)

Its a kickstarter. If they hit goal by appealing to an adolescent male (in mindset if not in body) audience, so what?

Otherwise we'll get shapeless blocky characters that are indistinguishable in the mini, dull on the card, and only appealing to a vocal minority.

Maybe they can do two versions, one their original artistic intent, and one the most bland, four quadrant focus group tested inoffensive to all aesthetic and see which one sells better. I have my suspicions....

But it is a slight departure from their normal aesthetic so i can certainly understand some concerns, though TE defenders is pretty similar.

I think we've discussed this topic here before so i won't rehash it but i don't think we will see an end to exaggerated feminine features on a mini to distinguish it from male figures very soon. Gender specific pose is a somewhat related issue but more problematic in my view, particularly when it breaks the "casual standing" versus "action dynamic" criteria applied to the male poses.

Anyhoo, looks to be a cool game, certainly a theme more appealing to me than some of the other more recent TE titles.

I wonder how the success (failure??) of Heroes of land and sea fits in their willingness to try another big game.

jason10mm wrote: Its a kickstarter. If they hit goal by appealing to an adolescent male (in mindset if not in body) audience, so what?

Otherwise we'll get shapeless blocky characters that are indistinguishable in the mini, dull on the card, and only appealing to a vocal minority.

Maybe they can do two versions, one their original artistic intent, and one the most bland, four quadrant focus group tested inoffensive to all aesthetic and see which one sells better. I have my suspicions....

Don't worry, everyone, I found the problem.