Of all the starter kits I've ever seen in my life, this one and the new BattleTech Beginner Box are running neck-and-neck for the best "bang-for-your-buck" experience. This is one of the best thought-out and best put-together kits I've ever seen. A lot of care obviously went into the making of this set and it shows in the decisions, such as the perfect binding of the books (they could have saddle-stapled and called it a day), the quality of the paper and cardstock used for the maps and cards, and the crispness of the printing shows that this is them putting their best foot forward and not just slapping something together to make a quick cash-in. And keeping the price down to $25 (or on Amazon, $15) is, pardon the pun, essential to getting new players interested.

Although geared to beginners, the box has a lot of draws for a veteran DM as well.

* A hard copy of the Basic Rules. Essentially all you actually need to play the game -- while they're a free download from the Wizards of the Coast website, the presentation and the care in printing and production of the book make it worth the price of admission. And included is a new page of rules for "sidekicks", quasi-NPCs that the players can use to bulk up small playing groups. As well as all the other goodies you get with it:
* A full-scale adventure book, giving some encounters to bedevil players with, also printed to amazing production standards;
* 72 full-color, fairly sturdy cards detailing conditions in battle, the various quests in the adventure book, magic items available in the quests, "sidekicks" referencing the new optional rules, and also initiative counters. All but the last are cool ideas -- I can see the initiative cards as being pretty useful for brand-new players or for groups with kids, but for most groups they're superfluous as the DM usually tracks and calls initiative order;
* The most surprising thing is a pre-assembled box to store said cards, something most starter kits don't bother to include, a very classy touch in my opinion;
* DICE! For the first time I can remember, a D&D starter set has a full "regulation set" of dice -- actually a bit over what you need to actually play the game (There are 2d20, 4d6 -- great for rolling character stats, 1d8, 1d12, 1d10, 1d00 -- for percentages--, and 1d4 -- previous sets have often skimped on the d00 and would have just 1d6 and 1d20), a total of 11 dice. Not even Chessex or other dedicated dice manufacturers usually include so many dice in a set. That alone may be a draw, as we gamers are stereotypically dice hoarders. The dice look to be fairly good quality in red transparent plastic.
* A DM's Screen. While earlier reviews have described it as "flimsy", and it certainly isn't going to be to the standards of their separately-sold screens, it is still solidly within the excellent production standards of the kit. It's made of laminated cardstock and looks like it would work fine for a starter screen. It has all the basic info a DM would need, and is very serviceable. At any rate, it is equal to or even slightly better than the quality of DM's screens TSR sold separate back in the '70s and '80s
* A double-sided map, one side showing the Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms (as a personal quibble, it's a map I'm likely to never use as I usually DM in the World of Greyhawk) and the other side showing the town of Phandalin, used in the adventures in the adventure book. The maps are on a glossy heavy paperstock and have gorgeous art.

About the only thing they could have thrown in to have made it better would have been miniatures (either plastic or standee), as with the old 2e starter sets, but they're not strictly necessary and probably would have upped the price by a significant amount. So better to get more people into the game than appease a cranky grog like me :-)

If you, for some reason, can buy only one D&D product in your life, the Essentials box is really all you need. Game on!

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.8 (21342 ratings)
Price	$17.29
Category	Action & Adventure

D&D Essentials Kit (Dungeons & Dragons Intro Adventure Set) Age Range:12 Years & Up