How To Play: Devil’s Den

After a wild weekend of Devil's Den with my friends, here's what matters: control the map like a boss, time your reinforcements smartly, and strike a balance between attack and defense. Oh, and always remember How To Play devil's den for the win! It's a blast, trust me.

Devil's Den: Box Cover Front

Overview

If you’ve ever wanted to outsmart your friends in a game that’s part brainpower, part luck, and all chaos, Devil’s Den is your next obsession. I’ve played it enough times to earn a medal (if they gave medals for board game heroics). This guide covers all the basics—an outline of the rules, plus the sneakiest strategies I’ve used to win and annoy my pals.

What’s in the box

  • 1 Game Board
  • 4 Faction Boards
  • 60 Soldier Tokens
  • 20 Cavalry Tokens
  • 12 Artillery Tokens
  • 30 Control Markers
  • 1 Initiative Marker
  • 4 Reference Cards
  • 45 Order Cards
  • 1 Rulebook
  • 6 Dice

How To Play Devil’s Den: Rules Summary

Setup

  1. Place the game board on a flat table. Make sure everyone can reach it. If you have a small table, prepare for elbows in your chips!
  2. Each player picks a color and grabs the matching army pieces, cards, and tokens.
  3. Shuffle the event cards and place them in a draw pile. Keep them away from your snack zone. Trust me.
  4. Put all resource tokens in the supply area on the board.
  5. Players roll the dice; the highest roller picks their starting area on the map. Go clockwise until everyone has chosen.
  6. All players place three army units on each territory they control.
  7. Give each player their starting resources (check the rulebook, or just ask Jenny—she remembers everything).

Gameplay

  1. On your turn, draw an event card first. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes your army gets a flat tire.
  2. Collect resources from your territories. If you control a mine, it’s payday!
  3. Spend resources to recruit, move, or upgrade your troops. Do not attempt to bribe your friends; bribing the game is enough.
  4. Attack enemy territories by rolling the attack dice. The defender rolls the defense dice. Highest wins each face-off. Loser removes one unit.
  5. Once finished, pass your turn to the next general wannabe.

Winning

  1. The first player to control all four corners of the map claims victory and eternal bragging rights.
  2. If no one claims all corners after the event card deck runs out, count up controlled territories. Most territories wins. Ties go to the player with the best snack selection.

Special Rules & Conditions

  1. If your last unit leaves the board, you’re out. You can still heckle. Heckling is a free action.
  2. Some event cards change the rules for one round. Read them out loud with your best evil laugh.
  3. Alliances are allowed but non-binding. This means you can betray your friends without guilt—almost.
  4. Keep an eye out for the “Devil’s Gambit” event. When it pops up, all attacks that round get a +1 bonus. Things get spicy.

That’s the basics! Now you know How To Play devil’s den, at least until someone knocks your armies off the board and calls you a war criminal. Have fun, and may your dice rolls be less cursed than mine!

Best Devil’s Den Strategies

Locking Down Devil’s Den: Grabbing the Best Spots

Why Map Control Matters

During my games, I found that holding key spots can make or break your chances. You see, when you own the right places, your enemies panic. So, let’s talk about grabbing those spaces.

Picking Prime Locations First

  1. Rush for high-resource areas early. Everyone fights for these, so act fast!
  2. Set up near choke points to block sneaky moves from your pals.
  3. Keep your forces ready to reinforce any weak spots.

Making It Stick

After you’ve claimed good ground, keep piling up defenses. In my group, if you slack, someone else will swoop right in. That’s why How To Play devil’s den always means: defend those key spots, or prepare for chaos!

Master the Tug-of-War: Attack vs Defense in Devil’s Den

Whenever my friends and I play, someone always goes full berserker. They never last. Balancing attack and defense is key. If you play too safe, you lose ground. Go wild, you get swamped. Here’s how I found the sweet spot for How To Play devil’s den.

Read Opponents Carefully

  1. Watch their troop movement closely.
  2. Spot weak spots before they see yours.
  3. Bluff when you need breathing room.

Pace Your Attacks

  1. Strike only when you’ll gain more than you lose.
  2. Don’t overextend, or you’ll be picked apart.
  3. Leave enough units to defend your key areas.

Build Flexible Defenses

  1. Keep reserves in the middle.
  2. Use them to plug holes or surprise attack.

Master Reinforcements: Outwit, Outplay, Outlast in Devil’s Den

React Fast to Opponent Moves

Keep your eyes open each turn. If an enemy stacks troops near your border, act quick. Reinforce weak spots before they become a bullseye. Timing matters a lot, as waiting too long means trouble.

  1. Watch rivals’ placements closely.
  2. Reinforce just before a possible attack.
  3. Don’t leave key areas empty.

Save for the Right Moment

You’ll feel tempted to drop troops everywhere. However, if you wait and use all your reinforcements at once, you can flip the board. When an opening appears, strike hard with a big wave. My friend Bob learned this the hard way when I smashed through his lines!

  1. Hold reinforcements in reserve, sometimes.
  2. Wait for your rivals to get distracted.
  3. Attack when gaps appear in their lines.

Spread Forces Smartly

Don’t just stack in one zone. Instead, cover all weak points so you aren’t easy prey. This keeps your opponents guessing and helps you spring traps. After testing many games, I never spread too thin or too thick—find the sweet spot.

  1. Cover both flanks and chokepoints.
  2. Rebalance after each skirmish.
  3. Move troops where the pressure is highest.

So, How To Play devil’s den? Time your reinforcements wisely and you’ll have a real shot at winning!

Master the Chaos—Or At Least Enjoy It!

After many late nights, bad pizza, and even worse strategic blunders, I’ve learned that winning at Devil’s Den is half planning and half hoping your friends forget the rules. Balancing attack and defense is key, but so is laughter—especially when you put your cavalry the wrong way and still manage to win. Now you know How To Play devil’s den like a pro, or at least pretend you do until someone calls you out. Remember: control the map, time those reinforcements, and don’t let your fearless leader (me) run out of snacks. Good luck in the den, and may your dice always roll high (unless you’re playing against me).

Want to know what we think of Devil’s Den? Read our detailed review of Devil’s Den here

Jamie in his proper element: With all of his board games
Jamie Hopkins

With years of dice-rolling, card-flipping, and strategic planning under my belt, I've transformed my passion into expertise. I thrive on dissecting the mechanics and social dynamics of board games, sharing insights from countless game nights with friends. I dive deep into gameplay mechanics, while emphasizing the social joys of gaming. While I appreciate themes and visuals, it's the strategy and camaraderie that truly capture my heart.