Video games Dungeon crawl

an in-game screenshot legend of grimrock real-time, first person view, tile-based dungeon crawler in style of dungeon master. in center of image, view dungeon. on right open inventory of party member.



crawl, powerhoof.

due potential simplicity , limited expectations players have plot , logical consistency in dungeon crawls, popular in role-playing video games. roguelike genre common , typical example, endless procedurally generated dungeon terrain , randomly placed monsters , treasures scattered throughout.

the 1980s may seen golden era of form of game. games wizardry, bard s tale, cosmic soldier, might , magic, megami tensei, phantasy star, dungeon master, madou monogatari , gauntlet set standards, while primitive graphics conducive style, due need repetitive tiles or similar-looking graphics create effective mazes. dungeon crawlers era employed action role-playing game combat, such dragon slayer , tower of druaga.

variations on dungeon crawl trope can found in other genres. recent years have seen modest resurgence in popularity, particularly in japan, largely due success of etrian odyssey series atlus.

first-person party-based dungeon crawlers

example of hand-drawn dungeon map

this subgenre consists of rpgs player leads party of adventurers in first-person perspective, typically in grid-based environment. examples include aforementioned wizardry, might , magic , bard s tale series; etrian odyssey , elminage series. games of type known blobbers , since player moves entire party around playing field single unit, or blob .

most blobbers turn-based, games such dungeon master, legend of grimrock , eye of beholder series played in real-time. games in genre lack automap feature, forcing players draw own maps in order keep track of progress. spatial puzzles common, , players may have to, instance, move stone in 1 part of level in order open gate in part of level.