Dwellings of Eldervale | board game by Breaking Games | overview & review

Description provided by Dice on Board on YouTube:

Dwellings of Eldervale – A Fiery Blend of Strategy and Adventure More than two years passed before Dwellings of Eldervale finally came down from my shelf for the first time. Now, after dozens of hours spent with it, I can say with full confidence that it has become one of my favorite board games. Yet at the same time, it’s a title that, for many, hides one unforgivable flaw. Which one? Let’s start from the beginning. Created by Breaking Games, Dwellings of Eldervale is a daring fusion — you might say — of water and fire: a Euro-style game mixed with Ameritrash flair. It’s a hybrid that combines tight, strategic engine-building with rich theme, lavish components, random ability cards, and yes... dice. You can already sense the risk in that formula, can’t you? At the start, players choose one of sixteen fantasy factions and set out to build them a new home. The core mechanic is worker placement — placing units on hexes to collect resources and treasures. These are then used to recruit new units or construct the titular dwellings. Your faction’s development revolves around ability cards, which you acquire by visiting dungeons and paying the appropriate cost. But the real twist — and the beating heart of the game — comes when you recall your units from the map. That’s when you activate your cards and unleash your engine. It may sound simple, but this rhythm of sending and recalling units creates a fascinating dance between your board presence and your evolving powers. The whole game is framed around eight elemental forces. You gain influence on their tracks by building dwellings in their corresponding regions or by venturing into matching dungeons. It all feels cohesive and well thought-out — Dwellings of Eldervale could easily be the poster child for Euro–Ameritrash hybrids... if not for one small thing. Dice – Thrill of Chance or Source of Frustration? Everything would be perfect if not for the fact that you’re not alone in Eldervale. Other players often want the same spots or resources, and from time to time the realm is invaded by monsters bent on destruction. That means conflict — and conflict means dice. Lots of dice. The number of dice you roll depends on your units, their types, and any spells or abilities you possess. But the outcome itself? Pure chance. The player who rolls the highest single die wins. In case of a tie, you compare the next highest dice, and so on. So it’s entirely possible for Player A to roll four dice and get 6, 4, 4, 3, while Player B rolls only two dice — 6, 5 — and still wins the battle. You rarely have rerolls or modifiers to adjust the outcome. You can influence how many dice you roll, but not what you roll. And that’s where the game’s biggest issue lies: a high degree of randomness in critical moments. You can plan your strategy with the utmost care, thinking several turns ahead — and then lose everything to a single unlucky roll. For Me – A Feature, Not a Flaw For many players, that’s unacceptable. But for me? It’s part of the fun. I see it as a source of excitement and tension — the moment when you question whether an attack is truly worth it. Thanks to the dice, a mighty monster can fall to a lone hero’s blade, and an overwhelming army can crumble before a humble dwelling’s defense. Don’t get me wrong — anyone who sees this randomness as a flaw has my full understanding and support. But for me, it doesn’t spoil the experience at all. Perhaps it’s because I grew up on Ameritrash-style games — I won’t deny it. Final Thoughts Dwellings of Eldervale not only looks stunning on the table — with gorgeous artwork, detailed miniatures, and high-quality trays — but it also plays beautifully. The gameplay is smooth, dynamic, and deeply satisfying. Setup takes a little while, but even with five players, there’s virtually no downtime. Asymmetric factions, a vast array of spells and abilities, and numerous possible strategies give this game huge replayability. Beneath its inviting layer of adventure lies a genuinely thoughtful, strategic experience that will challenge even seasoned players. If not for the random combat, I would recommend it without hesitation to every serious board gamer. Still — if you ever get the chance to play Dwellings of Eldervale, do it. It might just become, as it did for me, one of your most treasured gaming discoveries. Rating: 8.5/10 (and for those unbothered by the dice, a solid 9.5/10) --- Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Game overall 03:18 Production quality 03:55 My opinion 04:52 Score