5-Minute Dungeon

Players: 2-5
Duration: 5-30 min
Difficulty: Easy
Age: 8+

Video by Wiggles3D

Overview

5-Minute Dungeon is a real-time cooperative game designed by Connor Reid with illustrations by Alex Diochon, published by Wiggles 3D in 2017. In this frantic game, players join forces to fight their way through five dungeons filled with deadly obstacles and dangerous monsters, all in just 5 minutes per dungeon!

There are no turns in this game. Everyone plays against the clock to place cards with symbols that match the dungeon cards. You’re all in this together: either your group defeats the dungeon and advances to the next one, or you all die!

Game Components

  • 5 Hero Boards (double-sided, 10 heroes total)
  • 5 Hero Decks (one per color)
  • 5 Boss Mats
  • Door Cards (monsters, obstacles, people)
  • Challenge Cards (mini-bosses and events)
  • Timer app (free for Android and iOS)

Available Heroes

Each Hero Board has two sides with a different hero:

  • Sorceress & Wizard (blue deck) - Scroll specialists
  • Huntress & Ranger (green deck) - Arrow specialists
  • Ninja & Thief (yellow deck) - Jump specialists
  • Paladin & Valkyrie (white deck) - Shield specialists
  • Barbarian & Gladiator (red deck) - Sword specialists

Resource Symbols

Resource cards have five types of symbols:

  • Scroll - Arcane knowledge
  • Jump - Agility and evasion
  • Sword - Melee attacks
  • Shield - Defense
  • Arrow - Ranged attacks

Game Objective

Defeat all 5 dungeons in sequence. Each dungeon has a final boss you must defeat. If you defeat Boss #5 (the Dungeon Master), you’ve won the game!

Setup

Player Setup

  1. Choose your hero: Place your Hero Board in front of you with your chosen hero face up
  2. Take your deck: Get the deck matching your board’s color, shuffle it, and place it face down
  3. Draw your starting hand:
  • 2 players: 5 cards each
  • 3 players: 4 cards each
  • 4-5 players: 3 cards each

Dungeon Setup

  1. Place the Boss Mat in the center of the table (start with Boss #1: Baby Barbarian)
  2. Build the Dungeon Deck:
    • Take the number of Door Cards shown on the Boss Mat
    • Add 2 Challenge Cards per player
    • Shuffle everything together and place it on the Boss Mat
  3. Set the timer to 5 minutes (we recommend the official app: 5minuteDungeon.com/Timer)

2-Player Games

In two-player games, you’ll need extra cards. Each player must choose a second deck and shuffle both decks together.

How to Play

There are no turns! Any player can play cards at any time.

When you flip the first dungeon card, start the timer!

Defeating Dungeon Cards

There are 3 ways to defeat cards with symbols:

1. Using Resource Cards

Place resource cards in the center of the table until all symbols match those on the dungeon card. They don’t all have to come from the same player.

2. Using Action Cards

Some action cards (with black borders) let you defeat specific card types. For example, Fireball defeats Monsters.

3. Using Special Abilities

Each hero has a special ability described on their board. To use it:

  • Discard 3 cards from your hand to your discard pile
  • Announce your ability to the group
  • Perform the action on your board

Notes on abilities

  • If you don’t have 3 cards, you can’t use your ability
  • Abilities that defeat a card type only work against that type
  • You can use abilities during a pause (once per pause)

Event Cards

Event Cards (marked with a star) force you to do something immediately (for example, discard your hand). Do what it says, remove the card, and continue.

Important Rules

  • A dropped card is a played card - it can’t be recovered
  • You can play cards that don’t match to empty your hand and draw new ones (but use sparingly!)
  • Against the Boss: You CANNOT play cards that don’t match their symbols
  • Action Cards don’t work against Bosses (Bosses aren’t Monsters, Obstacles, or People)

Drawing Cards

Whenever you play or discard cards, draw back up to your starting hand size (5, 4, or 3 depending on player count). If you have more cards than your starting hand, don’t draw.

Out of Cards?

If you run out of cards in your hand and deck, you can’t do anything until another player helps you with cards like Heal or Donation.

Dungeon Card Types

Door Cards

Represent challenges with symbols you must match. They have three types:

  • Monster - Hostile creatures
  • Obstacle - Traps and barriers
  • Person - Humanoid enemies

Challenge Cards

Have a horned skull on the back:

  • Mini-Bosses: Stronger than normal Door Cards. They don’t count as Monster, Obstacle, or Person, so they can’t be defeated by abilities or cards like Fireball.

  • Events: Force the team to perform a specific action immediately.

Boss Mats

The final challenge of each dungeon. They show:

  • The boss number (#1 through #5)
  • The symbols needed to defeat it
  • The number of Door Cards to build the dungeon

Winning and Losing

Victory

If you defeat the boss and all their cards before time runs out, you’ve conquered the dungeon! But you must defeat all 5 dungeons in sequence to win the full game.

Defeat

The dungeon defeats you if:

  • All players run out of cards
  • Time runs out before defeating the Boss

If you lose, reset the timer, rebuild the dungeon, and try again!

Setting Up the Next Dungeon

  1. Collect all cards and return them to their respective decks
  2. Place the next Boss Mat in the center
  3. Build the new dungeon according to the boss instructions
  4. Reset the timer to 5 minutes
  5. On to the next dungeon!

Note: Between dungeons, you can change heroes or add/remove players.

Heroes and Their Abilities

Sorceress & Wizard (Blue)

  • Stop Time ability: Stops the timer until someone plays a card
  • Special cards: Magic Bomb (provides one of each symbol), Cancel (stops events)

Paladin & Valkyrie (White)

  • Inspire/Shield ability: Varies by hero
  • Special cards: Divine Shield (pauses time + everyone draws 1), Holy Hand Grenade (defeats any card, including Bosses), Heal (recovers discarded cards)

Barbarian & Gladiator (Red)

  • Slay ability: Defeats a Monster
  • Special cards: Double symbol cards (Sword + another), Enrage (two players draw 3 cards), Health Potion (everyone recovers 3 cards)

Ninja & Thief (Yellow)

  • Ability: Varies by hero
  • Special cards: Donation (give your hand to another player), Steal (take another player’s hand)

Huntress & Ranger (Green)

  • Animal Companion ability: Another player draws 4 cards
  • Special cards: Wild Card (counts as any symbol), Healing Herbs (one player recovers 4 cards)

Communication

  • Announce what you have: “I have two swords” helps coordinate
  • Ask for help: If you don’t have useful symbols, say so
  • Don’t all talk at once: Chaos can waste valuable time

Card Management

  • Don’t waste powerful cards on easy challenges
  • Save Action Cards for critical moments
  • Special abilities are very valuable - use them strategically

Teamwork

  • Distribute the load: Don’t let one player spend all their cards
  • Protect the weakest: If someone runs out of cards, use Heal or Donation
  • Coordinate against the Boss: Save resources for the final confrontation

Tips for Beginners

  1. Start with Boss #1 (Baby Barbarian) to learn the mechanics
  2. Use the official app - it has music and effects that enhance the experience
  3. Don’t stress - if you lose, just reset and try again
  4. Constantly communicate what you have in hand
  5. Save the Holy Hand Grenade for emergencies against the Boss

History and Fun Facts

  • Designed by Connor Reid with art by Alex Diochon
  • Published in 2017 after a successful Kickstarter campaign
  • Expansion available: “Curses! Foiled Again!” adds new heroes (Druid & Shaman) and mechanics
  • The timer app is free and includes Dungeon Master narration
  • The game can be completed in about 30 minutes (5 dungeons × 5 minutes + setup)