Lost to the annals of the ages, Rediscovered Realms has uncovered a Spanish Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon tile game from 1985! Strap on your rollercoaster belts as we join Hank, Diana, Bobby, Sheila, Presto, Eric, Uni, Venger & Dungeon Master to hurtle through “The Tunnel of Time”.
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Another huge market was Spain and South America where “Dragones y Mazmorras” or “Calabozos y Dragones” was the name fans flocked to - where even large food & drink companies capitalized on TSR’s crown jewel for massive national cross promotions.
Somewhere in those heady times (1985 to be exact) came this tile matching game from the company, Didacta, exclusively for the Spanish market.
The Dungeons & Dragons animated series was big business while it aired back in 1983 - 1985, and our Hispanic fellow adventurers seemed to love the show as much as kids my age did in the U.S.
Adore the D&D Animated Series? Then you’ll love these past Rediscovered Realms editions:
They even had their own D&D Cartoon comic book that kids in any English-speaking domain would have killed Venger for!
So what about this tile game and who is it for?
I was expecting a “Memory” type matching game, but when translated, the Spanish instructions reveal it’s more Domino-like where you match the ends of the (super-thick cardboard!) tiles.
English Instructions
"The Time Tunnel"
For 2 to 4 players.
Ages 4 and up.
Contents: 30 tokens.
The characters from the Adventures of Dungeons & Dragons are meeting here to play with you. Shall we go?
Start by placing the thirty tokens on the table, face down and well mixed. Each player takes three tokens and places them in front of him without his companions seeing them. The rest of the tokens are kept in reserve for when they are needed.
The youngest player starts the game, placing one of his tokens face up in the center of the table. Then it is the turn of the player on his right and so on one after the other.
The second player has to place a token that matches the image with one of the two halves of the first. The other players will do the same, continuing the game from either end.
If at any time during the game, one of you does not have the token to place, take one from the pile; If this one doesn't work either, he keeps it and passes the turn to the next player.
Whoever is lucky enough to get the Dungeon Master figure, which serves as a wild card, can place it next to any tile. On the other hand, if someone takes the Venger figure, he must not play for two turns; on the third turn he will exchange the tile for another one from the pile and mix up the remaining ones so that no one knows where Venger is.
The first player to place all his tiles wins.
I tried to play through, but found the instructions lacking in some key details (illustrations would have been nice!) about how to actually lay & match the tiles.
Originally trying to play it like Dominoes led to matches ending in literally 3 turns, with no challenge or strategy or fun. (I mean, I am playing solo by myself, so strategy doesn’t really matter, but still!)
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Inspired by the game’s title, I started laying tiles only end-to-end in a single file “tunnel”, and seemed to achieve how the game was conceived to be played.
NOW, matches lasted longer, tiles needed to be occasionally drawn (extending the game), there was a bit of strategy you could apply to make your next round better . . . and I could see the fun a young elementary-school-aged “me” would have had with this.
The “tunnel” could potentially get pretty long, but you shouldn’t need to expand into your neighbor’s house by the time a player depletes their hand.
Dungeon Master was as enigmatic as his onscreen presence, though. Treated like a wild card, there was no indication of how the next player should treat this tile if laid. I decided it had to permanently match the abutted tile, like in Uno - and that seemed to be the tile, er, the ticket.
(Also, if you drew Venger in your initial hand, I think you were pretty much done for that match since you have to skip 2 of your turns - when each player starts with only 3 tiles! Much better would have been to allow players to trade out Venger if in the initial draw - at least in MY more egalitarian world of Dungeons & Dragons.)
There’s not much more to it than that.
I adore the artwork, and the quality of the tiles is phenomenal, especially considering they have now reached 40 years old!
Let me know if you’re ever in town and want to play a couple quick matches - just give me a heads-up so I can don my long-sleeved shirt to provide Dungeon Master a nice hiding place. 😈
Spanish Instructions
"El Túnel del Tiempo"
De 2 a 4 jugadores.
A partir de 4 años.
Contenido: 30 fichas.
Los protagonistas de las aventuras Dungeons & Dragons se reúnen aquí para jugar con vosotros. ¿Vamos allá?
Empezad colocando las treinta fichas sobre la mesa, boca abajo y bien mezcladas. Cada jugador toma tres fichas y las coloca ante él sin que sus compañeros las vean. El resto de fichas quedan en reserva para cuando se necesiten.
Inicia la partida el jugador más pequeño, poniendo una de sus fichas boca arriba en el centro de la mesa. Después pasa el turno al jugador de su derecha y así uno tras otro.
El segundo jugador tiene que poner una ficha que coincida en imagen con una de las dos mitades de la primera. Los demás jugadores harán lo mismo, continuando el juego por cualquiera de los dos extremos.
Si en algún momento de la partida, uno de vosotros no tiene la ficha que corresponde colocar, toma una del montón; si ésta tampoco le sirve, se la guarda y pasa el turno al siguiente jugador.
Quien tiene la suerte de coger la figura del Dungeon Master, que sirve de comodín, puede colocarla a continuación de cualquier ficha. Por el contrario si alguien toma la figura de Venger, debe estar dos turnos sin jugar; al tercero cambiará la ficha por otra del montón y mezclará las que queden para que nadie sepa dónde está Venger.
Gana el primer jugador que consigue colocar todas sus fichas.
You are not only brave, but a Generous Adventurer whose love of Discovery, Imagination & Fun transcends our mere mortal coils . . .
There are several on this list that I’m pretty excited for - but I don’t want to get my hopes up just yet!
World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, donned some armor and medieval weapons to battle 5 armored opponents in “Medieval Knight Fighting”!
This was much more entertaining & instructive than I expected. Fighting in armor is no mean feat and it surprised me on how much you need to change tactics when your armored foes decide to swarm you.
(This is just the books!!! You should see the other fantasy merch)
Hope you enjoyed this week’s discovery, Playful Adventurer. Matching these D&D game tiles isn’t too unlike matching the imaginations & interests of like-minded companions. Thank you for being here.
“A good companion shortens the longest road. - Turkish proverb
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The Tunnel of Time [Verse] Jumpin' through the tunnel of time we go Hank's got his bow watch those arrows flow Diana’s acrobatic leaps so high Bobby’s swingin’ club makin' monsters fly [Chorus] Tile to tile match them in a line Sheila's sneaky tricks you’ll be just fine Presto's magic pullin' rabbits from thin air Eric's shield can block any scare [Verse 2] Uni prancin' with a friendly neigh Dungeon Master shows us the way Venger lurking in shadows so dark We’ll light it up with our heroes’ spark [Chorus] Tile to tile match them in a line Sheila's sneaky tricks you’ll be just fine Presto's magic pullin' rabbits from thin air Eric's shield can block any scare [Bridge] Through caverns deep and castles old Guarding treasures heroes bold Every match brings us closer still To winning with our cunning skill [Verse 3] Teamwork strong and hearts ablaze In the Tunnel of Time every step's a craze Victory dances as we match and fight In this realm of magic every move is right
Interesting find. There was quite a bit of "extras" in the Spanish market. I'd say the cartoon D&D was even more popular in Spain than in the US. Spain even produced cartoon DnD action figures in the 1980s.
Knight fights are highly entertaining, actually. Leagues popping up everywhere. I am anxious for some good new shows, but cautiously optimistic. I wasn't thrilled with Wheel of Time 🤷
Interesting find. There was quite a bit of "extras" in the Spanish market. I'd say the cartoon D&D was even more popular in Spain than in the US. Spain even produced cartoon DnD action figures in the 1980s.
Knight fights are highly entertaining, actually. Leagues popping up everywhere. I am anxious for some good new shows, but cautiously optimistic. I wasn't thrilled with Wheel of Time 🤷