Dungeons is a real-time strategy game in which the player takes the role of a dungeon lord. He is the victim of a dark plot: his girlfriend made herself chief of the underworld! He is ranked back to the lowest rank and needs to work his way up again. The game may look like Dungeon Keeper at first sight but the main difference is, briefly spoken: In Dungeon Keeper the player builds the dungeons to suit the needs of his monsters – in Dungeons they need to make the heroes happy. The reason for this is one important gameplay mechanic: one of the two resources is life energy which improves the monster’s competence. It is gained by killing heroes which stumble into the dungeon – and the happier they are the more life energy they possess. Heroes become happy when they are successful, e.g. by finding a treasure or killing monsters, and when they can use their abilities – a fighter likes to punch stuff and mages like to use their spells. So one of the challenges of this game is to create a dungeon which supports the heroes’ efforts but doesn’t let them become strong enough to escape.
Building the dungeon of course costs money which is also gained from dead dungeon visitors. The management part is, compared to Dungeon Keeper, restricted: besides digging new corridors, setting a few traps and treasures, and building one of the few special rooms there is not much to do in this regard. The only interaction with the monsters is setting their spawn points. – the only exception being the dungeon lord who is directly controlled. Dungeon’s means to keep the player busy are quests; often multiple at the same time. Here the player has to solve missions in a tight time limit, e.g, escorting a blob or making a transition to a cave.
Those missions often require the use of the dungeon lord who can be leveled up between levels. The experience points are calculated from his achievements (or lack of them) in the previous mission. They are used to gain new talents, spells or simply to improve his fighting abilities.
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