Dungeon Crawler CarlUnstoppable
A card game for one or two players, set in the World Dungeon of Matt Dinniman’s novels. Every card has two faces: on the front, your power. On the back, the monster you must beat to get it.
Your deck is full of monsters.Beat them, and they become cards.
You do not draw at the start of your turn. New cards only come from the monsters you defeat.
Eighteen floors. One show.
The Earth has become the World Dungeon: eighteen floors run by an alien company, the Borant Corporation, where survivors fight in front of an audience. Each floor has its own way down. You have to find it before the floor finds you.
You play Carl or Princess Donut, his talking cat. Monsters, allies and quests carry the names from the books: Bad Llama, Chilly Goat, Mold Lion, Mordecai, Mongo.
A dead monster does nothing to you. Remember it on turn three.
Princess Donut
GC, BWR, NW, the Queen Anne Chonk
Those are the titles printed on her portrait card, and she will want you to read them all. In the game she is the second crawler: her starting cards lean on mana and allies, like Magic Missile, which spends 1, 2 or 3 mana for as much damage, and Mongo, an ally that does not leave play easily. In two, one of you is Carl. The other one is her.
floors in the books
The box covers the first two novels: floors 1, 2 and 3. New floors arrive with the expansions.
crawlers
Carl and Princess Donut, each with three starting cards of their own.
books to read first
You do not need the novels to play. Those who read them find names and jokes on the cards.
The game in eight answers.
Your deck grows as you beat monsters, and you improve cards by sliding upgrades into their sleeves.
↓ the cardIcons, keywords and card combos. BGG says 3 out of 5, from very few votes: the game is just out.
↓ the turnIn two you share the draft and can hit each other’s monsters. Win together or lose together.
↓ in twoLuck is in the order your deck reveals its monsters and in the three cards of each draft.
100 core cards in six levels, 36 upgrades, 76 threats, 17 bosses, 17 quest cards, 8 races, 8 classes.
↓ modesShort effects with icons and keywords. Quest cards have a paragraph of story.
↓ see a cardSolo is the main rule set. Two players is the variant.
↓ soloIn two, upkeep, threats and cleanup are simultaneous, and you play your cards together.
One card, three pieces, one sleeve.
- Front
The core: your power. Cost in action points, stat symbol, effect, level from 0 to 6. Tactics are discarded at the end of the turn; allies stay until you level up.
- Middle
Upgrades, up to two. You buy them with gold and slide them into the sleeve. They add something to the power in front and something to the monster behind.
- Back
The threat: the monster. Attack, defense, a bonus when you beat it, sometimes a keyword. Health is attack plus defense.
The more you power up a card, the nastier the monster on its back.
Five phases. The fourth one hurts.
- Upkeep. +1 mana, 3 action points, exhausted allies stand back up.
- Draft. Three cards from the deck of your level, you keep one. It goes into a sleeve with the next threat of the floor, face down: you will meet it later.
- Main phase. Cards with action points, spells with mana, allies, upgrades with gold. In any order, as long as you can pay.
- Threats. Every monster on your battlefield deals you its attack. At 0 health, you lose.
- Cleanup. Monsters come in from your deck until there are 3 on the battlefield and 1 on top. The danger marker moves forward.
When your deck runs out, you level up.
You reshuffle, the allies in play are discarded and from then on you draft from a stronger deck. The six levels are the six core decks, from 1 to 6.
What monsters can do
does not count toward the 3: more monsters come in.
stands still until you hit it.
every hit deals you 1 damage back.
beat it and you discard a card or an ally.
every damage must go to it.
every hit costs you 1 action point.
A turn on the first floor.
Goal: end the turn with as few monsters as possible on the battlefield, because each one attacks you. In the real game you win by going down the stairs before your health or the danger track runs out.
Simplified deck: only Strike, Royal Tantrum, Goblin and Chilly Goat, with the values printed on the cards in the rulebook. Goblin attacks for 1 + danger and has no defense; Chilly Goat attacks for 2 and its defense equals the danger. «Later» is an example situation. The achievement messages are ours: in the game, achievements are listed on the floor mat and give XP.
How do you get off a floor?
Every floor mat has a danger track. The marker moves one space per turn, and its value, from 0 to 5, is added to many monsters’ attack or defense. When it reaches the skull, you lose. This is the first floor in arcade mode:
Some spaces give an optional effect, like spending 1 gold to remove a card from your deck.
You win if
- every player goes down the stairs.
- The Stairs card is shuffled into your deck: when it reaches the top it comes into play, and you go down if no boss is active and you met the floor’s requirements.
- On the first floor (arcade) bosses join your deck at levels 2, 3 and 4: you need one neighborhood boss and one borough boss per player.
You lose if
- your health or your partner’s reaches 0;
- the danger marker reaches the skull.
- Each floor sets its own rules on its mat: the third one uses quests, cards in two to four parts to complete in order.
Four difficulty levels
skips the green spaces of the track
skips the yellow ones
skips the red ones
as Expert, and every level-up from 3 to 6 pushes danger one more space
Campaign or arcade?
Campaign
The rulebook suggests starting here
- Floors in order, one per session.
- A campaign sheet, filled in pencil: your deck, your XP, your defeats.
- Achievements on the floor mat give XP; with XP you buy permanent benefits.
- Race and class arrive after floor 2.
- Lose a floor and you try it again, at -3 on your final score.
- Little carries over: each floor you start from your starting deck and the benefits you bought.
Arcade
One evening, one floor
- Pick any floor.
- Race and class right away: draw three of each and keep one, or use the pair on the back of your portrait.
- No campaign sheet.
- A score if you want it: difficulty, spaces left on the track, bosses, quests and achievements, times 100.
Alone in the dungeon.
The rulebook is written for one player: everything above is the solo game. There is no automa. The challenge comes from three things.
The clock
The danger track moves every turn and makes monsters stronger. You cannot wait: every turn spent getting ready is a turn closer to the skull.
Your own deck
Every card you draft brings a monster in with it. Grow too fast and the deck turns against you; grow too slow and you cannot keep up.
The bosses
They enter your deck as you level up, with much more health. Juicer, a first-floor boss, needs 8 damage.
Your turn alone: by the end of the main phase you want few monsters left, because the threat phase hits you for each of them. The choices that matter: which monster to finish, whether to spend gold on an upgrade now or save it, whether to hit the monster on top of your deck before it comes in.
And in two?
- One plays Carl, the other Princess Donut, each with their own deck, mat and battlefield.
- Draft: each reveals two cards from their own level; if Carl picks from Donut’s pair, Donut must pick from Carl’s.
- You can hit your partner’s monsters: the card goes to their hand, the bonus to whoever lands the last hit.
- Upkeep, threats and cleanup are simultaneous; the danger marker moves only once.
- You win only if both go down the stairs.
Which box do you need?
The base game is always needed: both expansions require it.
Base gameUnstoppable
Floors 1 to 3, Carl and Princess Donut, campaign and arcade. Everything to play alone or in two.
For everyone: start here.
Expansion · floor 4The Iron Tangle
The fourth floor: a subway of interconnected tunnels on a map with stations and a train token. 5 new bosses, 16 floor-4 monsters, new tactics, allies and upgrades.
For you once you have gone down the stairs of floor 3.
Not needed yet if you are still on the first floors.
Expansion · crawlersCrawler Chaos
New playable crawlers, including Katia, Imani, Prepotente and Archie, plus rules to build your own. 8 races and 8 classes, and a booklet with Ben Wolf’s short story on how Archie entered the dungeon.
For you if Carl and Donut are not enough.
Not needed for your first campaign.
Not to be confused: the Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG is a role-playing game, with rulebooks, dice and a game master. Unstoppable is the card game. Same world, different games.
Is it for you?
You will like it if
- you often play alone and want a deck that grows fast, turn after turn
- you play in two and want to really help each other, not just sit side by side
- you like a short campaign you can start over at a higher difficulty
- you have read the books and want to go back into the dungeon
Skip it if
- you play in three or more: the game stops at two
- nobody at your table reads English
- icons and keywords on every card tire you out
- you want a story to read: here it lives in names and quests, not in a book
- crude language bothers you: there are swear words on the cards, 14+
Frog’s advice
Start with the base game in campaign mode, on Normal, with the crawler you like most. Play a floor in arcade first if you want to learn the turn without the campaign sheet. After the stairs of floor 3, The Iron Tangle; Crawler Chaos when you want new faces.
What people ask before buying
What is Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable?
A cooperative card game for 1 or 2 players by John D Clair, published by Renegade Game Studios, based on Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl novels. 45-75 minutes, ages 14 and up. Each game you try to survive one floor of the World Dungeon and go down the stairs.
Is it the Dungeon Crawler Carl role-playing game?
No. The Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG is a role-playing game with rulebooks, dice and a game master. Unstoppable is a card game for 1-2 players. Same world, different games.
How does it work?
Each card is a sleeve: on the front a power (the core), on the back a monster (the threat), in the middle up to two upgrades. Monsters come from the top of your own deck onto the battlefield; when you beat one, the card flips into your hand. You do not draw at the start of the turn: new cards come from defeated monsters and from one draft per turn.
What happens in a turn?
Five phases: upkeep (+1 mana, 3 action points), draft (three cards from your level, keep one), main phase (cards, spells, allies, upgrades), threat phase (every monster on your battlefield deals its attack), cleanup (monsters refill to 3 plus 1 on top of the deck, the danger marker moves on). When your deck runs out you level up and draft from a stronger deck.
How do you win and lose?
You win when every player goes down the stairs: The Stairs card is shuffled into your deck and you can go down when it is in play, no boss is active and you met the floor’s requirements. You lose if a player’s health reaches 0 or the danger marker reaches the skull.
Can you play it solo?
Yes, the rulebook is written for one player and the two-player game is the variant. The challenge comes from the danger track, your own deck full of monsters and the bosses. There are four difficulty levels: Normal, Hard, Expert and Unbeatable.
How does it play with two?
One plays Carl, the other Princess Donut, each with their own deck. In the draft you swap choices, you can hit each other’s monsters, and upkeep, threats and cleanup are simultaneous. You win only if both go down the stairs.
Campaign or arcade?
Campaign: floors in order, a campaign sheet, XP from achievements to spend on permanent benefits, race and class after floor 2. Arcade: any floor, one evening, race and class right away, a score if you want one. The rulebook suggests starting with the campaign.
How much English is there?
A lot of short text: every card has its effect written in English with icons and keywords, and the quest cards of floor 3 have a paragraph of story. At least one player must read English comfortably.
How much luck is there?
There are no dice. Luck is in the order your deck reveals its monsters and in the three cards you see in each draft.
Which box should I start with?
The base game: both expansions require it. The Iron Tangle adds floor 4, with a subway map, 5 bosses and new cards: take it after floor 3. Crawler Chaos adds new crawlers such as Katia, Imani, Prepotente and Archie, rules to build your own, 8 races and 8 classes.
Do I need to have read the books?
No. The rules explain everything. The box covers the first two novels, floors 1 to 3, and readers will recognize names and jokes on the cards.
Is it suitable for kids?
The box says 14+. The language comes from the novels: there are swear words on the cards.
What is in the box?
2 portrait cards, 6 starting character cards, 16 starting core cards, 22 starting threats, 100 core cards, 54 threats, 36 upgrades, 17 bosses, 17 quest cards, 2 Stairs cards, 8 races, 8 classes, 6 floor mats, 2 dual-layered player mats, 120 sleeves, 20 dividers, 30 campaign sheets, 2 reference sheets, tokens, markers and discs, and the rulebook.
The stairs are down there. Are you coming?
Our assistant has read the Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable rulebook. Ask whatever you like: you stay on this page.