The Düngeonmeister Goblin Quest Coloring Book
Follow Along with—and Color—This All-New RPG Fantasy Adventure!
Price: $14.99 BUY HERE
Overview
Around a decade ago, it became a hot trend for adults to invest in coloring books. There is something therapeutic about the calming activity, and we started seeing a growing selection in that market as everyone began to invest in high quality colored pencils and pens, creating minor masterpieces while relieving stress from page to page. With the release of Baldur’s Gate III and the popular cinematic adaptation of the namesake, Dungeons and Dragons has had a large revival as of late, and now we have a nice time-killer to look forward to with Düngeonmeister: The Goblin Quest Coloring Book from Simon and Schuster. How does this release measure up to other products on the market? Let’s find out.
Contents
Sure, there are Dungeon and Dragons themes within this coloring book, but there is more to it than just the theme. This book was created by podcaster and author Jef Aldrich, who crafted this product lovingly with fellow podcaster Jon Taylor – so players of the game could even sculpt their own campaign right out of the pages due to the simple yet accessible nature of the book’s design. The 96 pages has a flow of a campaign of several arcs, which may be great inspiration for a dungeon master who has been in a creative slump, as intros and the base of quests can be found with the coloring pages to provide you some direction if you choose to do more than color the images within.
The images within the book are created by Zachary Bacus, an illustrator with a knack for detail. Sure, the details in most coloring books this style come from the artist. But with narrow lines and impressive features on each page, Bacus has created an open canvas with so many little easter eggs with every image, allowing users to bring out their imagination as they color to their focal point of their own creation. Thin lines does mean that it is best to go into this book with a decent set of colored pencils or pens (I used fine-tipped sharpies for my time with the book), and due to most pages having a blank back, readers can worry not about bleed through as the backs can be used for notes or simply skipped without ruining the back page design, which is a constant intrusion in a lot of adult coloring books.
I enjoy Dungeons and Dragons and while I, personally did not create a quest, the book did give me a hunger to get back behind the dice as the images and general lore within are quite stunning as a lot of effort went into every design within the book. If I had any critique, it would simply be that it does come in a bit short, and some border imagery would have made these art pieces sing a little more. That said, the user can craft their own, as there is plenty of room to do so on every piece within.
Quality
It may not seem like much, but the design of the pages here is of high quality, with pages feeling weighty, allowing for a little more than the general gentle strokes without worry of bleed-through or indenting further pages with sharp tips. I do think the overall book would have benefited a bit more with a hard cover – rather than the paper one, simply to fit the D&D aesthetic, if nothing more. I get the price would have had to increase a bit for that to happen, but I personally feel that would be a fine trade-off for a bit more of a display piece.
Final Thoughts
Düngeonmeister: The Goblin Quest Coloring Book is an imaginative and visually pleasing product that will give you the itch all over again. With beautifully crafted art, waiting to be fleshed out with color – this adult coloring book hits a bit different, making it easy to recommend to any novice or expert player you may be looking for the perfect gift for with a lower-end budget.
