Adungeon crawl is a type of scenario infantasyrole-playing games (RPGs) in which heroes navigate alabyrinth environment (a "dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find.[1]Video games andboard games which predominantly feature dungeon crawl elements are considered to be agenre.[1][2][3]
Dungeon crawling in board games dates to the 1975 release ofDungeon!. Over the years, many games built on that concept.[4] One of the most acclaimed board games of the late 2010s,Gloomhaven, is a dungeon crawler.[3][5]
The first computer-based dungeon crawl waspedit5, developed in 1975 by Rusty Rutherford on thePLATO interactive education system based inUrbana, Illinois. Although this game was quickly deleted from the system, several more like it appeared, includingdnd andMoria.[1]
Computer games and series from the 1980s, such asRogue,The Bard's Tale,Cosmic Soldier,Dungeon Master,Gauntlet,Madō Monogatari,Megami Tensei,Might and Magic,Legend of Zelda,Phantasy Star,Ultima, andWizardry, helped set the standards of the genre. Their primitive graphics were conducive to this style, due to the need for repetitive tiles or similar-looking graphics to create effective mazes.Game Developer's Matt Barton describedTelengard (1982) as a "pure dungeon crawler" for its lack of diversions, and noted its expansive dungeons as a "key selling point".[6]
Some dungeon crawlers from this era also employedaction role-playing game combat, such asDragon Slayer,[7] andThe Tower of Druaga.[8] Games that grew out of this style are also considered dungeon crawlers, in that the player is limited to the confines of the walls of the dungeon, but still allows for complex systems around combat, enemy behavior, and loot systems, as well as the potential for multiplayer and online play.Gauntlet,Diablo,The Binding of Isaac andEnter the Gungeon are examples of these dungeon crawlers.[9]
Variations on the dungeon crawltrope can be found in othergenres. In the early 2010s there was a modest resurgence in their popularity, particularly in Japan, largely due to the success of theEtrian Odyssey series byAtlus.[10]
Inmassively multiplayer online games, aninstance is a special area, typically a dungeon or a restricted dungeon-like environment, that generates a new copy of the location for each group or certain number of players that enters the area.[11] Instancing, the general term for the use of this technique,[11] addresses several problems encountered by players in the shared spaces ofvirtual worlds, but also sacrifices the social element of shared spaces and realistic immersion in that virtual world. They also tend to be a lot smaller and more linear.
This subgenre consists of RPGs where the player leads a party of adventurers infirst-person perspective, typically in a grid-based environment. Examples include the aforementionedWizardry,Might and Magic andBard's Tale series; as well as theEtrian Odyssey andElminage series. Games of this type are also known as "blobbers", since the player moves the entire party around the playing field as a single unit, or "blob".[13][14]
Many "blobbers" are turn-based, such as theplay-by-mail gameHeroic Fantasy, but some games such asDungeon Master,Legend of Grimrock andEye of the Beholder series are played in real-time. Early games in this genre lack anautomap feature, forcing players to draw their own maps to keep track of their progress. Spatial puzzles are common, and players may have to, for instance, move a stone in one part of the level to open a gate in another part of the level.[citation needed]
A term used to describe a private portion of a gameworld created just for an individual or group of players.
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