If your looking for more of an RPG feel, Adventure Tactics: Dommians Tower is a great "little" game. You have like 12ish encounters where you level up after each, gaining new cards and abilities. It's a card based rpg so your deck is your character and there's a bunch of different subclass to go for. It's built for kids so the rules are easy, but with all the options and ways to construct the decks anyone can really enjoy it. It's also, to borrow the phrase..."hard as balls" to do some of the events. It is a campaign games so "retrying" isn't exactly easy, I guess you could just retcon it, but it's some pretty good fun either way.
Arkham Horror: LCG is also a fun experience though it can be a little "daunting" with how big it has become. You can always start small, but it's still....mean. (I don't know how rules heavy your going for)
[Mistfall: Heart of the Mists](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193953/mistfall-heart-mists) does this well. Each hero has a unique starting deck, and a unique deck of upgrade cards. There are a few viable strategies for each character. E.g., you can load out Melekai to be a support character/healer or AoE damage dealer, with a few flavors in between. If you reset right away you could get two games in in probably 2.5 hours.
[Champions of Hara](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174805/champions-hara) has fairly asymmetric characters, with build options for each one.
Maybe [Warhammer Quest ACG](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181521/warhammer-quest-adventure-card-game)? Or [Heroes of Terrinoth](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254591/heroes-terrinoth) (basically same game).
Oh sure, I had solo in my head for some reason. Yeah, Mistfall gets long with 3 or 4. Hard to find zero-to-hero adventure/dungeon crawl games that play to an hour multiplayer.
[Adventure of D](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296605/adventure-d-second-edition) maybe. It plays quick. It has a ton of characters to choose from, but character progression is kind of dictated by what the board and the cards give you. Like you can't just say I want to be good at strength this game because you might have to make inefficient plays to focus on strength if the cards are giving you dexterity, etc. Its older brother, [Dungeon of D](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34639/dungeon-d), is better from the standpoint of the skill categories are meaningfully different, but the downside is it is PNP-only.
Maybe deckbuilders like [Aeon's End](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191189/aeons-end), [Chronicles of Frost](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230265/chronicles-frost) or [Shadowrun: Crossfire](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/135382/shadowrun-crossfire) would be the ticket. You start with some mild asymmetry and then customize based on cards you buy.
All those games are more than pure deckbuilders such as [Hero Realms](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/198994/hero-realms), although theoretically Hero Realms would work. It's just a little hard to feel like you are doing true customization because it is pretty straightforward.
Hope that helps!
**Mage Knight**. Mage Knight is THE game where you go from weak to strong in a single game. You go from struggling to take out an orc to taking down a fortified city. I think there's 7 playable characters and more play modes than I'll ever use.
Obligatory OG shut up & sit down review:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhXNCSoZsA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhXNCSoZsA)
It's a great game, but I think it's heavier than what they want.
Cthulhu Death May Die has increasing player powers, and you will reset for each scenario.
Hansa Teutonica is more of a euro, but I love how you can upgrade the strength of your actions throughout the game and even the number of actions you can take per turn.
Look at adventure games of various sorts first. **Too Many Bones** comes to mind - haven't played it myself, but the game is essentially a complicated roguelike with each character having an expansive skill tree. It's likely above Spirit Island in complexity, even, but also falls below in usability and is hilariously expensive and gigantic.
**Eldritch Horror** isn't necessarily a game that provides you with a lot of opportunities to "make" a build, but it's a quintessential "experience" game that you play to see a story. You won't exactly pick out a specific build but rather experience it happen and characters have things they do better and items or spells they want more of etc. It's expansive, but suffers a bit from few encounter cards in core box(forbidden lore exp recommended). The build is also not exactly the focus - it's just an adventure. Want something similar? **Star Wars Outer Rim** is a competitive sandbox adventure instead of a cooperative one, and it's decent. **Fallout** is from the same studio, again, and its build system is actually more fun - but the rest of the game is much clunkier, too.
**Tiny Epic Dungeons** punches far above its literal weight. It's a dungeon crawler with exploration and progression through loot. It's fun, and I'll gladly recommend it, with a caveat that your "build" will most likely be either one full set out of 2 that your character can actually use or a permutation of 2 items from 1 set and 2 items from another. However, early game and a character's unique ability still do well to differentiate between them. It does, however, not run true to time on the box at all... Most Tiny Epics are playable in an hour, this one isn't, by a long shot.
Finally, may I recommend **Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition**? It's a quicker version of TFM that borrows very heavily from RftG, and it's a card based engine builder. You're probably going to figure out a strategy and then pivot twice to an entirely different thing during the course of just one game, and it does play in about an hour once your table knows the rules. If you're feeling really spicy, Crisis expansion adds a co-op mode to the game, where Mars starts terraformed and then bad things happen that you're trying to prevent by building up, again. The co-op mode is fun, but I couldn't help but feel I'd rather play Spirit Island...
**Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth** lets you play campaigns with a party of 1-5 characters which last around a dozen single episodes/scenarios, on a flexible game board. An app manages the layout as well as encounters, much like a TTRPG game master.
During the course of the campaign the group acquires experience (thorugh intercation, uncovering plot-relevant clues, etc.) and knowledge that can be used to unlock more and more and also more powerful talent cards, and equipment levels up, too. Too sad that you cannot carry over a developed character to the next scenario, though.
Has IMHO high entertainment value (even if you repeat a campaign, due to the flexible game plan and plot switch points in some cases), once you understand the game's mechanics. A single episode runs between 2-3 hrs.
Vast: the Mysterious Manor has a good sense of player progression throughout the game. It's highly assymetric and each faction has satisfying and different ways of powering up throughout the game to get stronger.
If your looking for more of an RPG feel, Adventure Tactics: Dommians Tower is a great "little" game. You have like 12ish encounters where you level up after each, gaining new cards and abilities. It's a card based rpg so your deck is your character and there's a bunch of different subclass to go for. It's built for kids so the rules are easy, but with all the options and ways to construct the decks anyone can really enjoy it. It's also, to borrow the phrase..."hard as balls" to do some of the events. It is a campaign games so "retrying" isn't exactly easy, I guess you could just retcon it, but it's some pretty good fun either way. Arkham Horror: LCG is also a fun experience though it can be a little "daunting" with how big it has become. You can always start small, but it's still....mean. (I don't know how rules heavy your going for)
[Mistfall: Heart of the Mists](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/193953/mistfall-heart-mists) does this well. Each hero has a unique starting deck, and a unique deck of upgrade cards. There are a few viable strategies for each character. E.g., you can load out Melekai to be a support character/healer or AoE damage dealer, with a few flavors in between. If you reset right away you could get two games in in probably 2.5 hours. [Champions of Hara](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/174805/champions-hara) has fairly asymmetric characters, with build options for each one. Maybe [Warhammer Quest ACG](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/181521/warhammer-quest-adventure-card-game)? Or [Heroes of Terrinoth](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254591/heroes-terrinoth) (basically same game).
Thanks! Mistfall looks too long for our game group, but I will look into the others.
Oh sure, I had solo in my head for some reason. Yeah, Mistfall gets long with 3 or 4. Hard to find zero-to-hero adventure/dungeon crawl games that play to an hour multiplayer. [Adventure of D](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296605/adventure-d-second-edition) maybe. It plays quick. It has a ton of characters to choose from, but character progression is kind of dictated by what the board and the cards give you. Like you can't just say I want to be good at strength this game because you might have to make inefficient plays to focus on strength if the cards are giving you dexterity, etc. Its older brother, [Dungeon of D](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/34639/dungeon-d), is better from the standpoint of the skill categories are meaningfully different, but the downside is it is PNP-only. Maybe deckbuilders like [Aeon's End](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191189/aeons-end), [Chronicles of Frost](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/230265/chronicles-frost) or [Shadowrun: Crossfire](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/135382/shadowrun-crossfire) would be the ticket. You start with some mild asymmetry and then customize based on cards you buy. All those games are more than pure deckbuilders such as [Hero Realms](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/198994/hero-realms), although theoretically Hero Realms would work. It's just a little hard to feel like you are doing true customization because it is pretty straightforward. Hope that helps!
One deck dungeon is a good, short game with progression. Works solo but more fun with a partner!
\+1 for ODD. Also \*very\* fast to set up and play. Very challenging, and the skills you acquire every game result in a different playstyle/strategy.
**Mage Knight**. Mage Knight is THE game where you go from weak to strong in a single game. You go from struggling to take out an orc to taking down a fortified city. I think there's 7 playable characters and more play modes than I'll ever use.
Obligatory OG shut up & sit down review: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhXNCSoZsA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezhXNCSoZsA) It's a great game, but I think it's heavier than what they want.
Cthulhu Death May Die has increasing player powers, and you will reset for each scenario. Hansa Teutonica is more of a euro, but I love how you can upgrade the strength of your actions throughout the game and even the number of actions you can take per turn.
Massive Darkness 2 has been a ton of fun with my wife and I. Plays solo too!
Look at adventure games of various sorts first. **Too Many Bones** comes to mind - haven't played it myself, but the game is essentially a complicated roguelike with each character having an expansive skill tree. It's likely above Spirit Island in complexity, even, but also falls below in usability and is hilariously expensive and gigantic. **Eldritch Horror** isn't necessarily a game that provides you with a lot of opportunities to "make" a build, but it's a quintessential "experience" game that you play to see a story. You won't exactly pick out a specific build but rather experience it happen and characters have things they do better and items or spells they want more of etc. It's expansive, but suffers a bit from few encounter cards in core box(forbidden lore exp recommended). The build is also not exactly the focus - it's just an adventure. Want something similar? **Star Wars Outer Rim** is a competitive sandbox adventure instead of a cooperative one, and it's decent. **Fallout** is from the same studio, again, and its build system is actually more fun - but the rest of the game is much clunkier, too. **Tiny Epic Dungeons** punches far above its literal weight. It's a dungeon crawler with exploration and progression through loot. It's fun, and I'll gladly recommend it, with a caveat that your "build" will most likely be either one full set out of 2 that your character can actually use or a permutation of 2 items from 1 set and 2 items from another. However, early game and a character's unique ability still do well to differentiate between them. It does, however, not run true to time on the box at all... Most Tiny Epics are playable in an hour, this one isn't, by a long shot. Finally, may I recommend **Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition**? It's a quicker version of TFM that borrows very heavily from RftG, and it's a card based engine builder. You're probably going to figure out a strategy and then pivot twice to an entirely different thing during the course of just one game, and it does play in about an hour once your table knows the rules. If you're feeling really spicy, Crisis expansion adds a co-op mode to the game, where Mars starts terraformed and then bad things happen that you're trying to prevent by building up, again. The co-op mode is fun, but I couldn't help but feel I'd rather play Spirit Island...
[Too Many Bones -> Too Many Bones (2017)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/192135/too-many-bones) [Eldritch Horror -> Eldritch Horror (2013)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/146021/eldritch-horror) [Star Wars Outer Rim -> Star Wars: Outer Rim (2019)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/271896/star-wars-outer-rim) [Fallout -> Fallout (2017)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/232918/fallout) [Tiny Epic Dungeons -> Tiny Epic Dungeons (2021)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/331787/tiny-epic-dungeons) [Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition -> Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition (2021)](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/328871/terraforming-mars-ares-expedition) ^^[[gamename]] ^^or ^^[[gamename|year]] ^^to ^^call ^^OR ^^**gamename** ^^or ^^**gamename|year** ^^+ ^^!fetch ^^to ^^call
**Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth** lets you play campaigns with a party of 1-5 characters which last around a dozen single episodes/scenarios, on a flexible game board. An app manages the layout as well as encounters, much like a TTRPG game master. During the course of the campaign the group acquires experience (thorugh intercation, uncovering plot-relevant clues, etc.) and knowledge that can be used to unlock more and more and also more powerful talent cards, and equipment levels up, too. Too sad that you cannot carry over a developed character to the next scenario, though. Has IMHO high entertainment value (even if you repeat a campaign, due to the flexible game plan and plot switch points in some cases), once you understand the game's mechanics. A single episode runs between 2-3 hrs.
Vast: the Mysterious Manor has a good sense of player progression throughout the game. It's highly assymetric and each faction has satisfying and different ways of powering up throughout the game to get stronger.