Playing Dungeons & Dragons is amazing, but it does have a tiny flaw: the game doesn’t actually contain any real dungeons OR real dragons. I know that sounds like I’m being a smart-ass, but stick with me here. D&D players are usually incredibly creative and you help each other make this game that takes place mostly in your mind come to life. Still, wouldn’t it be amazing if Dungeons & Dragons had actual dungeons and actual dragons in it? Wouldn’t it be amazing if you actually got to actually explore a dungeon and interact with various creatures, solve puzzles you can touch, and physically overcome obstacles? D&D as it stands is awesome (I mean, how many hours have we all dedicated to Critical Role where we watch someone else play a game that we can’t even see, right?), but if you could take what happens in our heads during a D&D session and make it real, that would be taking D&D to a whole new level. Turns out someone has done just that, and it’s called True Dungeon.
True Dungeon is a 40,000 square foot, live-action D&D experience that you only get to experience at GenCon. You and your group get to spend two hours in this dungeon where you work through one of two quests custom made for that year’s convention. True Dungeon doesn’t skimp on props, either. It’s filled with amazing, interactive props and uses LCD projectors, Xbox Kinects, switches, magnets, and all sorts of clever tricks, as well as over 200 volunteers to make the dungeon not only look cool but interact directly with you and your group’s adventure. The entire experience sucks you in from the very start, where you have to practice a particular skill based on your character class. For instance, rogue types have to learn lock-picking on locking device, so in-game, instead of just rolling to disarm a trap or pick a lock, you actually get to use your hands to disarm a trap or pick a lock.
But be warned, just because the game has moved from your imagination to real life doesn’t mean the game will be easy. These guys spend an entire year making the True Dungeon experience awesome, but also really freaking challenging. The puzzles are incredibly hard to solve and require you and your group to work together. Not every group will successfully finish their True Dungeon adventure, which makes it that much sweeter when your team reaches the end of the adventure.
You can learn a bit more about True Dungeon in this video about the experience:
The masterminds behind True Dungeon essentially spend the entire year creating the next, biggest, and greatest True Dungeon experience, so if you’re going to GenCon, you’ll definitely want to hit up True Dungeon. Of course, this thing is understandably popular (in 2015 over 8,000 people experienced True Dungeon, and even a few of the Knights of Good from The Guild have successfully completed it), so tickets sell out FAST. The GenCon site is where you want to head to find yourself tickets to the adventure.
Have you done True Dungeon or are you planning to go this year? What was your favorite part? What tips do you have for first-timers? Let us know in the comments!
Image credit: TrueDungeon.com