Hero Master: An Epic Game of Epic Fails (2018)

Designed, hilariously illustrated and captioned by Jamie Noble Frier, Hero Master: An Epic Game of Epic Fails is a humorous card game of dysfunctional dungeoneering. As one of Snoozehaven’s worst adventurers you’ll be squabbling over the right to be the Party Leader, avoiding the “take-that” of the bungling buffoons around you and trying to get enough gold to leave behind your failure-fraught-fellowship. You’ll have to manage both your hand and your expectations... you guys really are terrible.

You’ve never really managed it as a hero. In fact, you’ve been the undoing of many a quest. Half of the parties you’ve adventured with ended up trapped in a cave-in you triggered, skewered by a trap you detonated or cooked by a monster you thought you could converse with. Somehow you have always ended up leaving unscathed, eager to join another party and change this streak of ‘bad luck’. It seems now though, just as a dragon has come to Snoozehaven and heroes look to band together, that your reputation has begun to precede you. As the numbers dwindle in the tavern and heroes sing their way to battle, you realise your hopes rest with the no-hopers sat around you. You’re just pleased that you’re probably going to be the party leader…

Hero Master: An Epic Game of Epic Fails is a parody dungeon crawler card game, with much deeper strategy than may first appear from it's comedic art style and playful humour.

Each player begins the game by drawing from race and class cards. Giving each player different special abilities, decks of cards, weapons and armour based on the mixture of the character they randomly generate. Each combination allows for a different synergy of humorous attacks and bungles that reflect a character’s personality as they desperately strive to become respected as an adventurer.

Players will be trying to get the most gold by the end of the game. Maybe that way one of the "real adventuring parties" will take them on...

Along with gold, some monsters will drop valuable treasure which may give the heroes the edge over the painfully pathetic party members.

Players will find the key to the game is keeping hold of the title of Party Leader, but it won't be easy... These calamitous cretins can't stand to be told what to do!

With so much disruption and chaos, mistakes will be made, often at the risk of those nearby. Attacks are resolved using a D20, and bungles increase the chance of a critical fail. So be careful, as a party prone to accidents, you don't want to be standing too close when an axe swing is  wildly off target!

In a game of fast flying dice, jockeying for first position and strategic card play, anything can happen. The heroes just need to stick together until they defeat the dragon, then they can go their separate ways.... Which hopefully won’t be into the dragon’s stomach.

—description from the designer