With a growing percentage ofDungeons & Dragonscampaigns being played online or using digital assets, games likeTiny Gladecan be a fantastic companion for any aspiring dungeon master. For online sessions, searching the internet for assets to use can be incredibly inconsistent, especially with the influx of AI art flooding most searches. As moreD&Dsoftware becomes cheaper and easier to use,purchasing games likeTiny Gladeis an increasingly appealing way to improve theD&Dexperience.

EvenD&Dpublisher Wizards of the Coast itself has acknowledged how popular digitalD&Dis these days, with the revised 2024 rulebooks putting a greater emphasis on online play. WotC is also putting plenty of resources into its upcoming virtual tabletop called Project Sigil,taking advantage ofBaldurs Gate 3’s successby incorporating its assets into the new software. Whether playing on a digital tabletop or in-person sessions,games likeTiny Gladecan provide DMs with more freedom to create the assets they wantwithout as much time commitment.

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What Tiny Glade Is (& How It Works)

An Adorable And Incredibly Functional Building Game

Tiny Gladestarts players off with a small building in one of the game’s preset seasons, giving players little guidance on what to create or how to do it. As players begin to create and experiment with the game’s deceptively simple tools, the meat ofTiny Glade’sin-depth mechanics and large-scale building potential starts coming to the surface. Rather than having different options from a drop-down list of building types,Tiny Glade’sprocedural generation changes based on user interactions, creating doorways or connecting buildings using flags and other decorations.

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The main draw ofTiny Gladeover other creation games is this incredible procedural generation, intuitively filling between the lines of player buildings while adding decorations.Everything inTiny Gladesnaps together seamlessly, preventing much of the frustration behind building planners of the pastwhile still providing plenty of detailed customization. After creating their ideal fortress or town, players can useTiny Glade’s complex photo mode to set the time of day, direction, weather, and filters, alongside a plethora of precise camera settings.

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Tiny Glade’s Maps Are Perfect For DMs

Giving Players The Tools To Succeed

Tiny Glademakes it possible to quickly generate detailed and complex structures with ease, taking advantage of the automatic decorating tools to speed up the process.Tiny Gladealso features a simple top-down mode that players can swap to at the press of a button, allowing them to create withD&D’s eagle view tabletop in mind. After taking a screenshot of a finished battle map, all players have to do is slap a simple square grid on top using a program like Roll20, after which they’ll have a fully unique and customizable battle map instantly ready for play.

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One of the most exciting applications for DMs usingTiny Gladeis the newly introducedBastion system from the 2024Dungeon Master’s Guide. Rather than using different static images online for each level of the party’s base, DMs can simply load up theirTiny Gladesave and continuously add to the same existing map. Not only does this provide a greater sense of consistency throughout a campaign, butit’s also incredibly satisfying to see a base slowly expanding as players invest more resources in their Bastions,adding even more incentive to interact with the new system.

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Highlights Of Everything Tiny Glade Can Do

Surpassing The Limits Of Player Expectations

While most players will start off making small castles or little towns,Tiny Glade’sbuilding system allows for larger landscapes and cities, although there are still upper bounds on size. Some fans have even started re-creating incredibly detailed and iconic structures, like Reddit userGrufftastic, who made a 1:1 recreation of Hogwarts fromHarry Potter.These player-made creations help showcase whatTiny Gladeis truly capable of with the game’s scale, on top of its mechanics encouraging player experimentation and the creativity to try new building methods.

The main downside forTiny Gladewhen compared to other tabletop dedicated software is its ability to include NPCs and interiors. While it lacks the precise control and assets of software like Dungeondraft or theupcoming official virtual tabletop, those alternatives require more significant time investment, making a good case forTiny Gladeas an efficient alternative.

Tiny Glade’slow learning curve and gorgeous lighting can do more than make up for its missing features, especially when it’s used alongside other assetsrather than attempting to make it an all-in-one solution. Despite the tools given, it won’t meet every DM’s map-making needs, butTiny Gladeexcels as a way to quickly throw together high-quality assets for aDungeons & Dragonscampaign with the ability to go back and customize them over time.