Stepping into the dungeons, into the domain of a necromancer...
Not as a hero. Not as some chosen warrior. But as someone equally dangerous.
Folks, we're in for a necromancer vs necromancer!
Picture this:
You’re rolling dice to command skeletal minions, carve your way through layered dungeons, avoid triggering cursed Hexes, uncover trapdoors, empower different jobs within your skeletal army, and slowly push toward a final boss waiting deep within the dungeon...
As if that's not enough, EVERYTHING can change, literally.
Erm, how?
Cause Mïnomancer is a Dynamic Print-and-Play. A DPnP.
In case you're wondering what a DPnP is, it’s a game where parts of the experience can be dynamically configured before you print it out.
Mïnomancer is my second Dynamic Print-and-Play game from Pagepunk, right after BYTE:SHIFT. Back in my issue on BYTE:SHIFT, I mentioned how much I believed in Pagepunk’s mission of releasing a new DPnP every month.
After BYTE:SHIFT, I spent the next month wondering what Pagepunk would throw at us next. How far could they really push this concept? Time to find out.
So... what's the story?
In Mïnomancer, you are a necromancer invading the dungeon of a rival necromancer. Win, and they become another nameless skeleton in your army. Lose... and vice versa.
You’re trying to descend through three dungeon layers before finally confronting a boss in the final chamber. Every turn, you roll three dice representing your skeletal minions, split them into groups, assign them jobs, and then let the dungeon decide which group survives. One group gets devoured while the other continues the invasion.
Those surviving minions are then used to carve paths through the dungeon, trigger events, unlock keys, discover trapdoors, and slowly close in on the final boss. So there's a really cool sense of progression.
So what is configurable?
Quite a lot.
The dungeon layouts themselves change. The minions change. The event outcomes change. The dungeon's desires change. The boss conditions change.
Since the dungeon itself changes shape every time, your route through it changes too. That gives it a whole new feel every time you hit the configure button.
Alright, what do I need?
Thankfully, not much. You need:
One configurable Mïnomancer sheet
Three D6 dice
A marker or pen
And... drums rolling
A deck of cards? Yes!
My experience with games that incorporate a standard deck of cards has almost always been fantastic, and Mïnomancer just got added to that list.
The deck determines which group of skeletal minions survives each turn. You split your dice into two groups, reveal a card, and the dungeon decides which group gets devoured.
The cards elevate the dungeon crawling tension, and that's something worth a shoutout. Robin and Jack, the minds behind Pagepunk, aren’t just relying on the configurator to make the game stand out. They’re also adding interesting mechanisms around it.
The cards, the Life Crystal system, the event spaces, minions and their jobs, the boss conditions... they all work together pretty well.
So how do I win this?
Your goal is to descend through the dungeon layers and defeat the final boss waiting at the end. Depending on the sheet, bosses can have completely different requirements. One of mine required me to fill exactly 13 squares around the boss chamber, and I somehow managed to pull it off.
Your final score is based on the number of empty spaces left throughout the dungeon. The lower your score, the better. I ended my run with a score of 10, which officially made me a True Lich. I'll take it!
So… better than BYTE:SHIFT?
I’ll be honest. Yes.
And I really liked BYTE:SHIFT. Its floppy disk system, the hacking angle, and the configurator were all pretty clever. But Mïnomancer feels like a much bigger leap. The configurator here doesn’t just alter puzzles. It alters the personality of the dungeon.
I’ve done a LOT of dungeon crawling through PnPs, and Mïnomancer genuinely felt like something new.
Tas, would you recommend this?
By now you know it, haha. It’s a yes, and from two completely different fronts:
As a Dynamic Print-and-Play
I’ve been following Pagepunk’s monthly DPnP mission since day one, and the couple of games I’ve played so far have been fantastic. Mïnomancer made me even more curious because now I really want to see how far they can continue playing with this configurator thingy.
What’s the next big idea? What can be better than Mïnomancer?
Now I got to wait one more month till the next one comes out. Damn it!
As a game itself
Even if you completely remove the configurator from the equation, Mïnomancer still stands on its own.
You grab a sheet, three dice, a marker, and a deck of cards, then descend into the depths of a dungeon as a necromancer trying to take down another necromancer. The incorporation of cards adds another layer to the experience, especially when you're carefully allocating your skeletal minions into groups and hoping the dungeon doesn’t instantly ruin your plans. That minion allocation turned into one of my favorite decision spaces in the game.
Where can I find it?
Mïnomancer is currently live on Gamefound.
From what I shared, is it your kinda thing? Then it's time for you to roll them bones.
- Tas.
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