Dungeon Royale

A superb mix between dungeon-crawling and battle royale multiplayer mayhem, Dungeon Royale is the combination you never thought you wanted to play – until now. Featuring a retro look with charming aesthetics, Dungeon Royale’s gameplay might feel a bit simple for most fans of the battle royale genre, but don’t let the appearances deceive you.

Taking clear inspiration from some classic dungeon-crawling and adventure games from the 16-bit era, Dungeon Royale sets an impressive groundwork for what might become one of the most addictive – and simple – multiplayer games ever made; if you manage to find a match, that is.

Simple Fun

Just one look at Dungeon Royale’s gameplay can tell you a lot about what to expect from the game. It’s clear that most of the levels are a homage to the original The Legend Of Zelda. But how exactly do you take such a single-player-oriented game and turn it into a battle royale?

Matches begin with all players in the role of adventurers with the goal of finding the most treasure in a dungeon. The twist is that, once an adventurer is defeated, they become a creature that can take down other adventurers. This means that, in the end, only one adventurer will remain.

Taking The Binding of Isaac and turning it into Fortnite is no easy task, so it’s great to see that Dungeon Royale manages to ace that transition in most regards. Some elements of rogue-lite games, like stat-enhancing items, are also available in the game – though they tend to break the experience due to how overpowered some of the items feel.

Being a 2D game, the controls are mostly responsive, even if the diagonal attacks seem to be wonky at times. It’s also worth mentioning that the game is still in the early stages of development, so some degree of clunkiness is to be expected from some of its mechanics.

Retro Revival

The fact that players can keep interacting in the match even after they’ve been eliminated makes the game feel much more dynamic than most battle royales. Monsters controlled by players can evolve as they discover treasure and eliminate players, eventually becoming the final boss of the dungeon that the last adventurer must face to win the match.

It’s a fun and interesting mechanic that makes the game stand out amongst its peers – and considering how crowded the battle royale market is nowadays, it’s great to see games daring to take the formula to the next level.

The entire design evokes a sort of retro nostalgia that’s great to see and hear. The music can be a bit repetitive at times, but it seems like the developers took great care in making the game resemble a retro experience as much as possible.

One issue that seems to be the game’s greatest weak point is that, apparently, there are no bots at the moment. This means that matches won’t start until the necessary amount of players has connected, which can take up to two minutes of waiting. If you’re used to the snappy process of finding a match in Fortnite, lower your expectations a bit before you play Dungeon Royale.

Pros

• Great 2D pixel art
• Interesting mechanics keep players invested through the whole match
• Unique concept for a battle royale game

Cons

• Repetitive music
• Unbalanced items can make some matches feel unfair