Realm Brew Magnetic Map Tiles Review

Realm Brew is a set of magnetic hex tiles that snap together into a map, and the tiles themselves are great. They feel solid, look cool, and the fog of war is a treat. The catch is how you use them: you design the map first, then build your adventure around it.

Plenty of big names in the hobby promoted this campaign. Here's how it actually went at my table.

What I reviewed

I backed the super early bird for $139, which was everything the campaign offered: the Underground Caverns, Subterranean Rivers, and Man Hewn Dungeons tile sets with their overlays, the Goblins' Hideout, Red Dragon's Lair, and Alchemist's Workshop overlays, and three Fog of War sets. That's 44% off the $270 retail price for the same set. I've used them in one game.

Quality15/20

The tiles have a good, solid feel, and they snap together easily. I haven't put them through a lot of table time yet, but they feel like they'll last, and like they'd survive spills and travel.

Usability9/20

This is where it falls short for me. Each set is built for a particular environment, so it's not something you'll use all the time, and even then the shape of the tiles makes some designs impossible. The hexes are a blessing and a curse: great for caves, not so great for man-made dungeons.

In practice, you design the map first and build the adventure around it. Then you cover it up, or take a picture so you can put it back together.

I learned that the hard way. I planned a cave with a few rooms at home, then had to rebuild it at Joe's, where we were playing, with the players right there, because the cave came later in the session. I had to pause the game while I hunted for the pieces I needed, in the right order and facing the right way, without letting anyone see the map. It was time-consuming. And it defeated the fog of war: I had to pull the fog off to see which tile was which and where it went, then put it back, and by then the players had already seen it. The reveal was gone.

Looking back, I could have written on the fog sheets to mark where each piece went. I didn't think of it at the time. If you're going to build ahead and carry a map to another table, do that.

That also makes it hard to use with published adventures, where you're trying to match a map that already exists.

When you can set the map up ahead of time, the fog of war is the highlight. Covering the map and slowly revealing it is a lot of fun, and I love that you can write on the tiles and wipe them clean. The sticker overlays are fun, but I don't see myself using them much.

Look17/20

They look cool. The tile art is great, it all lines up from tile to tile, and you can mix and match sets. The natural-looking caves are the best of them.

Value15/20

Was $139 worth what I got? Yeah. Compare it to Dwarven Forge, where a small room can run $300, and you get a lot more here. But I wouldn't spend $270 on it.

Who it's for

GMs who write their own adventures, especially ones heavy on caves and underground spaces, and who don't mind building the map before the session. I'd have gotten a lot more out of these back when I made my own adventures more often. If you mostly run published adventures, they're a harder fit.

Realm Brew isn't for sale right now. You can see their next campaign on The Shop of Many Things' site.

The verdict

A 14 out of 20. Great tiles and a great fog of war, held back by how much setup they need.