Hi Jennifer, welcome to the amazing community of TD! Below I will post an email to one of the Game Master's for True Grind in which I had VERY similar questions to what you had. I hope it helps but bear in mind that it was from 2011, so the names of the dungeons have changed since then...
Email reply follows:
Welcome to True Dungeon and GenCon!
A typical Dungeon Run (like Lair of the Sea Lich or Dragon's Redoubt) is a mix of puzzles and combat. Puzzles mainly require your brainpower and reasoning. Combat is done using shuffleboard sliders (tokens often help combat tremendous, but aren't strictly necessary). Generally, the breakdown for a typical dungeon is somewhere around 60% puzzle, 40% combat. You have 7 rooms, and around 3 monsters on average (though many of the monster rooms might have a short puzzle beforehand).
Some dungeons, like Lair of the Sea Lich, have Combat or Puzzle versions, which have slight emphases on one or the other. Typically about 2 rooms will be different. So a Puzzle run might have about 2 monsters (and more puzzles), while a Combat version will have 4 monsters or so. It's a toss-up whether combat or puzzle is "better". Many tokenholics like combat because it provides more opportunities to use tokens, but you don't need lots of tokens to get through on the lower difficulty levels. Combat can also be fun because you may see more NPC monsters (in costume) who you can interact with.
There are different difficulty levels, which can be used to tailor your experience. The default is Normal. This year there actually will be a Non-Lethal option, if you're more interested in just seeing everything and you aren't really familiar with how things work. I think it's mostly useful for people who just want to experiment with TD for the first time, and don't want the stress of success vs. failure. In that case, it's kind of like going on a tour at a Haunted House. If you do prefer a "challenge" with the possibility of failure, Normal might be the better choice.
For Novices and new players, you might greatly benefit from the free Introductory Seminar that is run every year. That helps explain some of the basic rules and will help you get familiar with the main concepts. These are:
SEM1124794 True Dungeon 101 (Will have changed from 2011 - but same principal applies)
Thursday 1:00 PM 1 hr $0 51
SEM1124795 True Dungeon 101 (Will have changed from 2011 - but same principal applies)
Thursday 5:00 PM 1 hr $0 28
True Grind differs from a typical dungeon in that it is completely combat focused. You fight a series of monsters (one after another). There are no puzzles whatsoever. Players who like the combat (and the shuffleboard system) enjoy True Grind, as do those who want to use more of their tokens. There are different difficulty levels (adjusted to your tokens), so you *don't* need lots of tokens to do well (just some basic equipment like weapon/armor). Time is the major constraint in True Grind. Most parties lose because they run out of time, not because they take too much damage. That's why True Grind, is typically recommended for players who are already familiar with True Dungeon. At the very minimum, you should understand the combat system (with the shuffleboard sliders), how it works, and be comfortable with it. If you don't know how the combat system works, you should probably attend one of the introductory 101 seminars or go through the normal dungeon first. But True Grind is definitely a lot of fun!
Hopefully that helps out and answers all your questions. Hope you have a wonderful time at GenCon and True Dungeon!
With regards,
(Incognito)
True Grind Head DM
Preminant Resident of the State of Confusion
Part-Time Cat Herder