Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager

Here, we have a totally new kind of dungeon crawler rogue-lite, where you won't be the one exploring dungeons on a heroic quest... Instead of playing as a group of heroes in search of glory, you'll be playing as the dungeon keeper tasked with repelling any intrepid adventurers bold enough to enter. Funny and smart, all at once.

Imagine being a dungeon keeper, responsible for managing the defence of your evil lair. Instead of treasure hunting, your mission is to protect your dungeon from endless waves of adventurers, using a combination of monsters, traps, and spells. This innovative approach adds a new dimension to classic dungeon crawler mechanics, and brings a touch of strategy to the rogue-lite genre.

The gameplay in Legend of Keepers is split into two main sequences. The first is the management phase, where, between each assault by adventurers, you get a few weeks to plan your dungeon. You'll be recruiting and training monsters with a variety of abilities, installing ingenious traps, and upgrading your skills. Each week you'll be faced with important decisions that directly affect the robustness of your defences. This phase combines resources management and strategic planning, and your every decision can impact the results of the battles to come. Each week takes about 40 minutes of playtime.

The second phase is the battle sequence. When the invading heroes arrive, you'll need to prepare your defences and face the intruders. You can examine the heroes to see their strengths and weaknesses, and then adjust your strategy accordingly. The battles take place in real time, with an option to speed up the rounds. The traps and attacks that you deploy might cause damage, inflict debuffs, or affect the adventurers' morale. Success depends on your ability to exploit the heroes' weaknesses while effectively protecting your treasure.

We liked the game's quirky sense of humour. Its humorous tone applies modern business management terminology to a fantasy world filled with goblins and demons. The character dialogue and descriptions are brimming with puns and funny references, making the whole experience more entertaining.

Our favourite part was the depth of the gameplay. You can customise your defences, recruit varied monsters, and set up strategic traps, making every game unique. The many tactical decisions available to you mean that you can tailor your strategy to defeat a given group of adventurers.

Our tip to help you on your way?

• You can choose to kill the intruders or cause them to flee. The adventurers have a morale gauge that certain skills cause to fall. Once it reaches zero, the intruders will flee, a particularly useful strategy against damage-resistant enemies.
• Afflictions (poison, burning, freezing, fatigue, etc.) are often more effective than direct attacks. They will gradually weaken your enemies, lowering their hit points as they progress through the dungeon.
• Analyse the adventurers' weaknesses before each battle so that you can choose the most effective traps and monsters. And make sure you manage your team well, because your monsters need rest and healing if they are to avoid burnout.

We also liked the pixel art dungeon environments and the detailed monster sprites. The graphics work really well.

Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager ** is a breath of fresh air to the Dungeon Crawler rogue-lite genre**. With its unique blend of management, strategy, and humour, it serves up a truly original experience. If you've always dreamed of marshalling an army of monsters to defend your own dungeon against those pesky adventurers, then this is the game for you.