⚔️ Dungeons & Dragons: The Temple of Elemental Evil Board Game Review

 

“Fire, Water, Air, Earth... and a healthy dose of cardboard chaos.”

☕ The Gift That Completed the Collection

So, a funny thing happened on my birthday this year:
After years of scouring every corner of the multiverse (and the internet), my collection finally came full circle. The missing piece, the holy grail of my D&D board gaming saga, arrived in glorious fashion courtesy of my absolutely drop-dead gorgeous wife (clearly aligned with the Goddess of Generosity).

Temple of Elemental Evil.

There it was. Sealed, shimmering, and humming with that peculiar energy that only D&D boxes seem to have, somewhere between adventure and bankruptcy. The set was complete at last.

Naturally, I tore into it like a goblin at a loot sale.

🧱 Components & Craftsmanship

Let’s start with the obvious: this box is a feast.

Inside you’ll find some of the best minis in the entire D&D Adventure System line: beautifully sculpted, full of character, and begging for a coat of paint. The Ettin is massive, the Flying Black Dragon is glorious, and even the smaller elemental cultists are wonderfully done. That said, they need some paint to bring out their allegiance: fire, water, air, or earth. Unpainted plastic doesn’t do their evil justice.

The tiles are works of art. Each one feels alive, especially the Elemental Nodes, which practically hum with the promise of doom. The town tiles, though, that’s the real innovation here. You can finally take a break from dungeon grime, head into town, rescue villagers, and pretend you’re civilized for a while. It adds a rhythm to the campaign that the earlier games never quite captured.

Tokens, cards, and the usual dungeon detritus are top-notch. It’s clear Wizkids knew exactly what they were doing here, give the fans what they love, just shinier.

🛡️ The Heroes

The lineup sticks to the archetypal party: Fighter, Ranger, Cleric, Wizard, and Rogue, the OGs of adventuring.

Each hero has their moment in the spotlight, but a few stand taller (and not just because of mini size):

• The Fighter shines in the town adventures, especially with his “pull three monsters” utility and ability to keep villagers alive long enough to matter.

• The Cleric remains the team’s emotional support tank. Healing, smiting, repeat.

• And then there’s the Halfling Rogue, my personal favorite, quick, sneaky, and able to slip in an extra non-attack action each turn. Perfect for those “no, I’m not running away, I’m repositioning” moments.

Every hero feels classic D&D, and that’s part of the charm.

👹 Monsters, Mayhem & Mild Déjà Vu

Now, onto the bad guys.

The monsters scale up nicely as you progress through the campaign, you’ll go from common cultists to full-blown elemental horrors. The only issue? After a while, they all start feeling a bit samey. Too many “move and attack nearest hero” cards, not enough distinct personalities.

Even the elemental bosses, while impressive on the table, lack the flair of Ravenloft’s vampire lords or Drizzt’s drow villains. Don’t get me wrong, they’ll still wreck you if you get sloppy, but they won’t exactly be quoting Shakespeare while doing it.

Still, that Ettin fight with the tiles shaking and fire erupting underfoot? Pure dungeon bliss.

🧭 Setup & Gameplay

If you’ve played Ravenloft, Ashardalon, or Drizzt, you’ll slip into TOEE like an old pair of enchanted boots.
You’ve got your Hero Phase, Exploration Phase, and Villain Phase, rinse and repeat until victory, death, or someone spills coffee on the rulebook.

The new town missions are a welcome addition, breaking up the usual “find tile, kill boss, collect loot” formula. They bring a bit of life and story between delves. That said, after a few plays, the “rescue villagers” narrative starts feeling like déjà vu. The setup and flow don’t deviate much, you almost have a sense of boredom to some of the adventures.

On difficulty: honestly, I didn’t find TOEE too punishing. Across multiple sessions, I only lost one adventure and rarely needed to use healing surges. Then again, I’m notorious for tweaking my games, I house-ruled a cap on items and limited advancement tokens to two per hero just to keep things tense. (My motto: “If you’re not sweating by turn five, you’re not playing it right.”)

⚖️ Final Thoughts

Temple of Elemental Evil is a solid entry in the D&D Adventure System. It is definitely not revolutionary, but still well refined.
It looks stunning, plays smoothly, and feels cohesive. The inclusion of town phases and elemental themes freshen up the formula just enough to make it feel new again.

That said, it does lean grindy. The monster variety isn’t as rich as Ravenloft or Drizzt, and the adventure objectives tend to blend after a few sessions. Still, as a complete package, it’s a worthy addition and for worldbuilders like me, it’s a treasure trove of usable components.

The tiles, the minis, the cards are all perfect for custom scenarios. And yes, you can bet your last gold piece that The Guild of uZ will be venturing into a fully-fledged “Elemental War” campaign in 2026. I’m already sketching out how those nodes tie into the next chapter of our Guild saga.

So, final verdict?

It’s not the hardest, not the flashiest, but definitely one of the most versatile and replayable entries yet. And if you happen to have chocolate and coffee while playing… well, that’s practically divine intervention.

🧙‍♂️ The Curator’s Scorecard

Category	Rating
Components	9 / 10
Gameplay	7.5 / 10
Replayability	8 / 10
Miniature Cool Factor	10 / 10