The Monster Eater: Delicious in Dungeon board game is getting an official English release from publisher Yen Press. You can expect the game to arrive in May 2026.
Monster Eater: Delicious in Dungeon the Board Game was first released in Japan in 2022 by Arclight Games and received English translations through fan efforts. It’s based on the Monster Maker system from Ginichiro Suzuki, which debuted in 1988 and had a 2018 remake (while Monster Eater: Delicious in Dungeon has “board game” in its name even in the Japanese release, the original Monster Maker is described as a card game). Delicious in Dungeon creator Ryoko Kui is credited with the game’s illustrations.
The 2-5 player game allows players to delve into the dungeon of Delicious in Dungeon, taking command of either Laios’ party, Shiro’s party, Tansu’s party, Kabru’s party, and the Canaries. The phases involved in a player’s turn, according to the official Japanese website, include:
• Battle, which occurs when you’ve encountered a monster. The active player picks the character cards they want to use and pit the combined combat power against the encountered monster’s. A character’s combat power value is often the result of a dice plus 3.
Victory means the monsters literally get cooked, although success depends on dice rolls. If it’s a success, the monster card gets flipped and the player receives rewards.
• Exploration, during which the active player plays one exploration card (if they have any in their hand). When the total exploration value (each card has a listed number) exceeds 100%, monster encounters will occur.
• Encounters, where the active player takes the topmost card from the monster pile and allocates it to another player’s dungeon. The target player can’t be one who’s already engaged in an encounter.
• Rest. The character cards that were used up in battle are replenished through the consumption of the food you have on hand. Afterwards, cards are drawn from a pile so that the player has five cards in their hand. One of the official screenshots shows a player holding three exploration cards, one escape card, and one encounter card..
There is also procurement, an action which allows the player to get two food tokens and discard unwanted cards. Doing this prevents the player from fighting or exploring.
A game of Monster Eater: Delicious in Dungeon the Board Game comes to an end instantly if a player defeats the mage Thistle/Sissel. The players then calculate victory points based on factors like successfully cooked monsters, monster bosses, and number of money tokens (one point per three tokens). Points will be deducted in cases where a player is still on the higher levels of the dungeon (10 points) or if their exploration value in the lower levels is less than 100 (one point deducted for every 10 percent).
A game is expected to take around 45 minutes.
Monster Eater: Delicious in Dungeon the Board Game is part of Yen Press’ New York Comic Con 2025 announcements, which includes its acquisition of the Our Party Nearly Wiped and Then Everything Went Downhill light novel. Seiji Kanai is the game designer.
Update: Added more information regarding the game.
Source: Press release
