The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The very last items we purchased at GenCon '98 were four of the MasterMaze sets from Dwarven Forge. Each set comes with several fully hand-painted, highly detailed, 25 mm scale dungeon pieces that can be connected to form the rooms and passages of a dungeon. There are floor pieces, floor and wall pieces (straight, 45-degree angle, and curved), passage pieces (straight, "L", "T",and 4-way intersections), doors (which can be opened and closed!), pillars, and stairways.

Each floor piece has four squares marked on it by way of flagstones. Each of the 'stones' is about the size of the typical 25mm miniature figure's base: perfect for most dungeons.

The walls give the appearance of being made of stone. The colors of each stone vary from light brownish to more of a granite color. The overall effect is striking.

All of the pieces are very solidly constructed, and have a nice heft. This makes dungeons built with MasterMaze components much more stable than would otherwise be the case. A little bump against the table won't move them around, nor will knocking lightly against a wall as the figures are picked up and moved around the dungeon.

There are several sets to choose from. The Room & Passage Set is the biggest. It includes 9 passage pieces, 25 room pieces, 3 swinging doors, and 55 of the bow tie connectors that are used to attach pieces to one another. This is probably the best starter set. Cost: $89.

The most basic set is the Room Set, which contains 29 room pieces, 2 swinging doors, and 50 bow tie connectors. Cost: $60.00.

If you want to get fancy, you can buy the Octagonal Room Set, which contains 29 room pieces (including 6 diagonal (45 degree angle) wall pieces), 2 swinging doors, and 50 bow tie connectors. Cost: $60.00.

Once you've purchased one or more of the above, you might be interested in the Wicked Additions Set. It contains two curved passage pieces, four rounded corner pieces, a long, two long, straight passage pieces (one with a huge demon head on one wall), two large floor pieces for quickly building rooms, two lower stairs, two upper stairs (which can be combined to make one large staircase), four pillars (which can be used decoratively, or to make multiple-level rooms by using them to support floor pieces), one raisable portcullis, and 40 bow tie connectors. Cost: $79.00.

The final set is the Ogre's Den. It contains very little: one room (non-disassembleable), one raisable portcullis, one swinging door, and 1 treasure pile. What makes this item noteworthy is the detail work on the room: the fireplace, the animal skin rug, the barrel along the wall, and so on. Cost: $60.00.

Each set also contains a booklet of example setups. The booklet is generic, showing example setups for each of the four main sets (excepting only the Ogre's Den). It also includes a helpful sheet that provides advice on using the pieces in play: building the dungeon en toto before play, building it a piece at a time, etc. Each option is discussed, with positive and negative aspects of each noted.

Dwarven Forge also makes most of their pieces available individually. The most common ones can be purchased in groups of 12 or 25 for a lower cost per piece. Costs for single pieces range from $3 to $10.

My wife and I bought the Room & Passage Set, the Room Set, the Octagonal Room Set, and the Wicked Additions Set. We skipped the Ogre's Den because of two things: 1) we didn't have the money to blow, and 2) we couldn't see using the room more than once every few games. It's just too detailed and, therefore, memorable to use more often. We could just imagine the players saying, "How come every fourth monster lives in exactly the same room?" Nonetheless, we will probably buy it when we have the money to spare. It's just too cool to pass up.

Which probably tells you how much we like these products. Granted, they're a bit pricey, but you're definitely getting everything you pay for. Each set comes with one or two styrofoam trays with cut-outs for each piece and a styrofoam cover to keep the pieces protected between uses. And, again, every piece is fully hand-painted, is highly detailed, and is of solid construction.

The only down side that we can see to the MasterMaze line (aside from the pricing) is that not all the pieces fit together perfectly. For example, if you take a "T" passage and try to put a floor and single wall piece on it, you'll end up with a little indented area along the corridor wall because the floor-and-wall piece is less wide than the "T" passage. To avoid this, you have to use a floor piece (without a wall) on each of the openings on the "T" passage (and any of the other large pieces), then branch out from there with floor-and-wall pieces.

That's not a major down side. And, from an engineering perspective, it's clear that they had to do it the way they did, or offer some pieces that are larger than others and which wouldn't be useful for any other purpose than connecting directly to the large pieces. In other words, what seems like a bug really isn't, although it is bothersome until you get used to it.

My recommendations:

If you're on a budget, buy the Room & Passage set. You can get by with it, although you'll be disassembling rooms and passages during play, since there are only enough pieces to make a couple of good-sized rooms and a nice, twisting passage between them. Still, it's usable, and you can always add more later.

If you have the money, though, I recommend buying the four sets we did (Room & Passage, Room, Octagonal Room, and Wicked Additions). That gives you at least two of each piece in the line (excepting the Ogre's Den main room), and will allow you to build half a dozen or more large rooms and the passages to connect them. Then, you can buy individual pieces (or even second copies of one or more sets, if necessary) to fill out your collection once you've become comfortable with the system and have developed a building style of your own.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

MasterMaze
Author: N/A Category: miniature Company/Publisher: Dwarven Forge Cost: $60 to $89 per set Page count: n/a Playtest Review by Joseph Walsh on 08/10/98. Genre tags: none	The very last items we purchased at GenCon '98 were four of the MasterMaze sets from Dwarven Forge. Each set comes with several fully hand-painted, highly detailed, 25 mm scale dungeon pieces that can be connected to form the rooms and passages of a dungeon. There are floor pieces, floor and wall pieces (straight, 45-degree angle, and curved), passage pieces (straight, "L", "T",and 4-way intersections), doors (which can be opened and closed!), pillars, and stairways. Each floor piece has four squares marked on it by way of flagstones. Each of the 'stones' is about the size of the typical 25mm miniature figure's base: perfect for most dungeons. The walls give the appearance of being made of stone. The colors of each stone vary from light brownish to more of a granite color. The overall effect is striking. All of the pieces are very solidly constructed, and have a nice heft. This makes dungeons built with MasterMaze components much more stable than would otherwise be the case. A little bump against the table won't move them around, nor will knocking lightly against a wall as the figures are picked up and moved around the dungeon. There are several sets to choose from. The Room & Passage Set is the biggest. It includes 9 passage pieces, 25 room pieces, 3 swinging doors, and 55 of the bow tie connectors that are used to attach pieces to one another. This is probably the best starter set. Cost: $89. The most basic set is the Room Set, which contains 29 room pieces, 2 swinging doors, and 50 bow tie connectors. Cost: $60.00. If you want to get fancy, you can buy the Octagonal Room Set, which contains 29 room pieces (including 6 diagonal (45 degree angle) wall pieces), 2 swinging doors, and 50 bow tie connectors. Cost: $60.00. Once you've purchased one or more of the above, you might be interested in the Wicked Additions Set. It contains two curved passage pieces, four rounded corner pieces, a long, two long, straight passage pieces (one with a huge demon head on one wall), two large floor pieces for quickly building rooms, two lower stairs, two upper stairs (which can be combined to make one large staircase), four pillars (which can be used decoratively, or to make multiple-level rooms by using them to support floor pieces), one raisable portcullis, and 40 bow tie connectors. Cost: $79.00. The final set is the Ogre's Den. It contains very little: one room (non-disassembleable), one raisable portcullis, one swinging door, and 1 treasure pile. What makes this item noteworthy is the detail work on the room: the fireplace, the animal skin rug, the barrel along the wall, and so on. Cost: $60.00. Each set also contains a booklet of example setups. The booklet is generic, showing example setups for each of the four main sets (excepting only the Ogre's Den). It also includes a helpful sheet that provides advice on using the pieces in play: building the dungeon en toto before play, building it a piece at a time, etc. Each option is discussed, with positive and negative aspects of each noted. Dwarven Forge also makes most of their pieces available individually. The most common ones can be purchased in groups of 12 or 25 for a lower cost per piece. Costs for single pieces range from $3 to $10. My wife and I bought the Room & Passage Set, the Room Set, the Octagonal Room Set, and the Wicked Additions Set. We skipped the Ogre's Den because of two things: 1) we didn't have the money to blow, and 2) we couldn't see using the room more than once every few games. It's just too detailed and, therefore, memorable to use more often. We could just imagine the players saying, "How come every fourth monster lives in exactly the same room?" Nonetheless, we will probably buy it when we have the money to spare. It's just too cool to pass up. Which probably tells you how much we like these products. Granted, they're a bit pricey, but you're definitely getting everything you pay for. Each set comes with one or two styrofoam trays with cut-outs for each piece and a styrofoam cover to keep the pieces protected between uses. And, again, every piece is fully hand-painted, is highly detailed, and is of solid construction. The only down side that we can see to the MasterMaze line (aside from the pricing) is that not all the pieces fit together perfectly. For example, if you take a "T" passage and try to put a floor and single wall piece on it, you'll end up with a little indented area along the corridor wall because the floor-and-wall piece is less wide than the "T" passage. To avoid this, you have to use a floor piece (without a wall) on each of the openings on the "T" passage (and any of the other large pieces), then branch out from there with floor-and-wall pieces. That's not a major down side. And, from an engineering perspective, it's clear that they had to do it the way they did, or offer some pieces that are larger than others and which wouldn't be useful for any other purpose than connecting directly to the large pieces. In other words, what seems like a bug really isn't, although it is bothersome until you get used to it. My recommendations: If you're on a budget, buy the Room & Passage set. You can get by with it, although you'll be disassembling rooms and passages during play, since there are only enough pieces to make a couple of good-sized rooms and a nice, twisting passage between them. Still, it's usable, and you can always add more later. If you have the money, though, I recommend buying the four sets we did (Room & Passage, Room, Octagonal Room, and Wicked Additions). That gives you at least two of each piece in the line (excepting the Ogre's Den main room), and will allow you to build half a dozen or more large rooms and the passages to connect them. Then, you can buy individual pieces (or even second copies of one or more sets, if necessary) to fill out your collection once you've become comfortable with the system and have developed a building style of your own. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)