3D-Printing Review: Dungeon architect - Build a dungeon in a day

I was kindly sent a bunch of review-files from the Dungeon architect - Build a dungeon in a day kickstarter.

If you read the 3D-crowdfunding watch on this campaign a while ago, you know I found this to be good idea, and having tried it out I’m more than happy with the results.

The idea here is to 3D-print your rollers or stamps and then imprint their design into a suitable medium.

I printed the roller using PLA, layer hight 0.02 mm, Infill 50% (to get it really rigid). Print time was less than four hours and I used filament for around €1.50.

XPS (extruded polystyre) foam is the recommended candidate for walls and floors.
I first tried to work on pink foam, which is high-density. That turned out to be too compact, as the stamp I tried on it just couldn’t make a good impression. So, no pink foam, which is a pity as I got loads of that.

Next was EPS, that is the ordinary expanded polystyrene, you know the very cheap, white sheets (or packaging material) built from small beads that get everywhere if you try to cut it with a blunt blade. I’ve got loads of those sheets, too.

The roller and stamp worked great on this. Okay, you see contours of the beads, but there can simply be no cheaper way to get a dungeon up and running in minutes.

If you want a really cheap dungeon made in no time, and are not so focused on the aesthetics then this is a decent candidate.

Finally, I tried to get hold of the blue XPS foam (one brand is sold as Styrofoam), which is a bit lighter in density compared to pink foam. I tried several craft shops and builders shops. It seemed impossible to get hold of thin sheets of this, so I ended with a big 5 cm thick slab. From that I carved (with a very sharp blade) centimetre wide strips and finally I imprinted these.

It took me a couple of minutes to imprint two walls and one floor-piece. A minute or two with a glue-gun to stick them together. Another couple of minutes to paint them and probably two minutes to drybrush. A sizeable piece of dungeon corridor in ten minutes or so. You can hardly beat that!

I will continue to play with this, as I also got a brick-roller, a couple of more stamps, a cutter for door-arches and a printable door. You will see a couple of builds with this, that is for sure.

Absolutely recommended if you ever need a dungeon in a hurry. Great stuff!

My gamer-son said it all when I showed the rollers and stamps to him: 

“This is just so smart!"

I do hope these will be for sale in some form after the Kickstarter. I'll keep you informed on that issue.

But don't worry, there is still time to pledge on the kickstarter, as it closes on October 17.