Sorcerer's cave is played with a deck of postcard size cards. These cards are used to create a labyrinth of tunnels and chambers into which a party of adventurers seek their fortune. You descend into the maze via The Gateway, and each turn you place an area card. If its a tunnel, nothing happens, but if its a chamber card then cards are drawn from another deck of cards to reveal what has been found. This can be treasure, hazards or Creatures. A die is rolled to resolve the encounter, which could result in you gaining more companions or in a battle. Points are gained for defeated foes and treasure that can be found.

As you explore, you discover stairs down to deeper levels. Chambers on these lower levels cause you to draw more cards, so treasures become richer, but the creatures become more numerous !

At some point, you decide when you should end exploring and work your back to the surface. The winner is the player who has left the cave with the most points in creature and treasure cards.

SUMMARY:
Long out of print, it can still be found on the net if you look in the right place. The game stands up well to the test of time. However, the game does require LOTS of room to play. As the area cards are postcard size and each level of the dungeon has to be started in a seperate area, you need lots of floor space!

Drakon covers similar ground using smaller cards, so the ideas and themes that Terence Donnelly laid down still hold well today.

Due to the modular nature of the game, it's very easy to create new tunnels and chambers and to create new encounters and treasure. My edition came with several blank small cards. I created these few cards
Mystic Fog - Turns this area and the 8 surrounding areas through 180 degrees. Replace in pack and shuffle pack.
Deadly Fog - The fog causes 1-6 creatures to appear also.
Cerebus, 3 Headed Dog - 1-4 Hostile, 5-6 Indifferent. The 3 headed dog must be slain 3 times. If killed by one person, adds 3 to Fighting Strength.
Death Scroll Artefact - On being read by Humans, destroys all enemies in the area. Party is cursed.
Genie's Lamp - When rubbed, roll die. On a 1 a hostile spectre appears, otherwise friendly.

Review by Brian