Dungeon Keeper

 iOS
User Score
0.3

Overwhelming dislike- based on 624 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 624
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 624
  3. Negative: 604 out of 624
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  1. versutus
    Dec 6, 2014
    10
    Don't listen to those "core gamer" cry babies (they clearly don't core gamers, just cry babies). If you love Clash of Clans, you will love this one too. This game (despite those negative reviews) is not about microtransaction, you can be good without paying a dime. But ofc if you could spend some dollars/euro/"whatever your currency is" on it, it will be easier for you. I'm playing itDon't listen to those "core gamer" cry babies (they clearly don't core gamers, just cry babies). If you love Clash of Clans, you will love this one too. This game (despite those negative reviews) is not about microtransaction, you can be good without paying a dime. But ofc if you could spend some dollars/euro/"whatever your currency is" on it, it will be easier for you. I'm playing it since launch, I never payed for it, and the game is still fun for me. :-) Cheers!… Expand
  2. Palkowski
    Mar 4, 2014
    10
    My favourite game on iOS. Very good graphics and sound. Gameplay is very addicting. I recommend this game for everybody. It is that FUN! Greetings form Lithuana!
  3. shoreline
    May 15, 2014
    10
    This game is great fun if you adjust many of your expectations about the game you're playing. If you don't mind playing a game for a few minutes out of every hour, with mechanics otherwise very similar to dungeon keeper you will enjoy playing this game.

    If you basically wanted to play DK1 or 2 on your phone, or while on public transport, or away from a power source, you will be disappointed.
  4. SyndShaw
    May 12, 2017
    10
    After 2017 update, game is worth playing. Never tried it before this update since the reviews where so bad. I don't know if the mechanic changed after the updates, but the building time, cost and microtransactions have uttermost been reduced concidering most of the reviews. Nonetheless I am enjoying to play this gem of a game.

    To bad the scar is to big to restore I am afraid.
  5. TheTinyMan
    Feb 19, 2014
    9
    So I was a huge fan of the older games. And the Internet is going to hate me for this - but I think I actually like the mobile game better than the originals. And I haven't dedicated a cent to it.

    The first thing to realize is that THIS IS NOT THE SAME GENRE AS THE OLD DUNGEON KEEPER GAMES. This is a mobile game built for short interactions. When I played Dungeon Keeper back in the    So I was a huge fan of the older games. And the Internet is going to hate me for this - but I think I actually like the mobile game better than the originals. And I haven't dedicated a cent to it.

    The first thing to realize is that THIS IS NOT THE SAME GENRE AS THE OLD DUNGEON KEEPER GAMES. This is a mobile game built for short interactions. When I played Dungeon Keeper back in the day, I basically just built huge rooms, learned how to get the Horned Reaper, and dropped my entire army on the heads of invaders and watched them win. (granted, I was a young kid at the time, and may not have grasped the complexities.)

    In this game, I find myself paying careful attention to the layout of my dungeon. This is for two reasons, One - I need it to be laid out well in order to deter and defeat intruders. Two - time is a resource I need to manage. And this, I think, is where people get hung up.

    There's a really good game here. Prioritizing which room to build or upgrade, picking which units to buy (by the way, I'm pretty sure producing a viable army after a major defeat is MUCH QUICKER in this game than in the classics), even engaging with my guild is a question of strategy, priority, and resource management.

    But time is a resource in this game. In most games, time is *just* an observation of your consumption of the product. In this game, it is itself a commodity, and I need to make strategic decisions about it. Kind of like I do in Starcraft, only they're bigger chunks of time. All the claims I've heard of people taking 24 hours to mine out a single block sound to me like an abject refusal to consider your time tactically. I've never mined out a 24 hour block. I only mine out 4 hour blocks when my imps are bored and have nothing else to do. Normally, when I'm mining, I'm just mining the 3 second blocks, which are by FAR the most common ones. With the speed bonus from beating my imps, my imps are mining at about the speed that I'm tapping if I have two of them freed up for digging.

    To me, the expected interactivity in this game isn't "pay to play" - it's "pay to skip the game." Or "pay to compete even if you suck." Yes, if you're drawing from an infinite cash reserve, you will have advantages over other players - but I haven't seen a single opponent that's made me think, "this guy is way stronger than me," AND, "this guy has sunk a lot of money into the game." I don't know if that's a feature of the game's matchmaking, or simply a difference in who's spending the money. But getting a really good advantage, mining through a perimeter of the 24 hour squares, costs so much money I can't imagine anyone ever accomplishing it with money instead of time. Just for digging.

    I've been trying to find a play-in-short-bursts game that could hold me for more than two or three days, and Dungeon Keeper is the first one to achieve that. With features like refilling dug out passages (using the easy to dig through dirt, not restoring what as once there) and moving rooms around, I'd say that the game does credit to its genre and to the IP. But I can understand how everyone hates the genre-hop - I felt the same way when Warcraft tried to emulate EverQuest and left its RTS roots.

    Of course, my opinion wasn't the majority then, either. :-)    … Expand
  6. mmagic
    May 2, 2014
    9
    Right now this is my favorite game on Android. I'm an old gamer that enjoyed a lot the entire series DK1 and DK2.
    The mobile version is a disappointing in the sense that it lost the feeling of being bad and the fast peace game play. But I ignore those 2 points and focus on what the game offers.
    I can see that the fast peace game-play is still there when I do raids. The strategy aspect    Right now this is my favorite game on Android. I'm an old gamer that enjoyed a lot the entire series DK1 and DK2.
    The mobile version is a disappointing in the sense that it lost the feeling of being bad and the fast peace game play. But I ignore those 2 points and focus on what the game offers.

    I can see that the fast peace game-play is still there when I do raids. The strategy aspect is very important and is found there in the defense of your base, in how you put your dungeon defense, how you trick the minds of other player to chose a certain route which is looking safe but makes them loose their army fast because of well placed traps or tricking their units to walk on long corridors of spikes, or get them in death rooms where cannon, freeze, lightning, burn trap, mushroom and door combine their forces with some attacking rooms and can obliterate and entire army in seconds.

    Doing raids specially involves fast strategic thinking to be able to circumvent traps and to get to the dungeon heart or sometimes just to be happy with plundering as many resources as possible without wining the battle. Sometimes you have to distribute your forces all over the dungeon, sometimes you have too drop all of them at once, sometimes you put some strong units to tank while mags kill without being focused. Sometimes you resurrect and entire army with new skeleton. Sometimes you disable their antiaerian traps with magic to let your ghost get in, disable some freeze traps or shock traps. Sometimes you need to break a few walls with magic.

    Then it's the resource management, which building should I make first? And here is the problem of spending the money because it's true that without spending money the game will take a huge amount of time. But see the bright part! often the best past part of a trip is not to get at the end as fast as possible but to enjoy the great walk and great sights until the end. Strategically planing the building and the feeling of one more day till it end, one more hour.

    Also the social part of having a nice guild can quickly make the game great or ruin it. Also being part of a guild has a lot to do with charity, you help the guild with donations and the guild helps you with support and nice bonuses.

    What I love about the game is that you can concentrate about other activities, you can live your life and dedicate to it as much time as you want and you will be fine without a lot of raids the gold in mines will accumulate during the 8 hours of protection after a lost raid and you will still be able to upgrade things.
    When you have no resources to build just put your imps to dig or build mines and storages which require few resources and a lot of build time.

    I like that EA comes with periodical updates which add new mechanics and now we have even a tournament.    … Expand
  7. KBEX
    Jun 23, 2014
    8
    Dungeon Keeper is a great game! Graphics, sound and gameplay are great. And the EA business model in itself is understandable....
    But the speedup prices are about twentyfold of what they should be. I don't object to paying average prices, but the game deserves to have gamers use the cheats and hacks available on the net. Enjoy! ;)
  8. medv4380
    Feb 12, 2014
    7
    It's not a great game, but it isn't as much of a money grab as first impressions give. The money grab is in the purchase of Gems that can be used to speed up the game, or give you temporary bonuses. However, unlike most money grabs, the Gems can be easily obtained without spending money. Achievements give gems, and mining will randomly give gems. Mining out all the easy soft rock firstIt's not a great game, but it isn't as much of a money grab as first impressions give. The money grab is in the purchase of Gems that can be used to speed up the game, or give you temporary bonuses. However, unlike most money grabs, the Gems can be easily obtained without spending money. Achievements give gems, and mining will randomly give gems. Mining out all the easy soft rock first gives you another 50 to 100 gems on top of the start batch of gems. Like most games of this class it will appeal to mostly tetris lovers, but they might not recognize that it's that kind of a game. Over placing early is a problem for many people. Once building are placed you're stuck with them. They can be moved, but space is limited. Over placing early forces you to build thin walls which then makes you mad because you need space to mine out the harder rock which takes longer. A deconstruct option would be nice for people who've over placed, but that could be considered part of the game. Also a time strategy is important. I've seen too many people mine strait though the hardest rock and ignore that their was a path that was one tenth the time to mine out. Also upgrading storage before laying down another storage is very important to conserve space. Keeping your minerals low and learning how to raid the minerals you need for big purchases is a plus. When raiding you need to look to see if it will be cost effective. You need to earn enough Gold to replenish your army, and make a profit. Otherwise your just wasting time and gold on raids that you can win but won't profit from.… Expand
  9. Zombieskittles
    Oct 26, 2014
    7
    Despite a shaky release that made it look more like a cash-grab than a game, Dungeon Keeper has slowly evolved to be a decent Clash of Clans style game that offers a unique style due to it's setting. You can actually plan where the enemy has to travel in your dungeon, allowing for another level of strategy in your defense.

    While it is not the best game, it is still fun.
  10. TrueNubin
    Oct 15, 2014
    7
    Ok the main reason for much of the hate for this game is this,

    Dungeon Keeper 1 and Dungeon Keeper 2 had these games not happened then this game would be a great addition to any phone!, unfortunately these games have been made, there for creating a pay2play game out of a classic brings the ire of the world! if you played the original games, don't get this game!! infact go on    Ok the main reason for much of the hate for this game is this,

    Dungeon Keeper 1 and
    Dungeon Keeper 2

    had these games not happened then this game would be a great addition to any phone!,
    unfortunately these games have been made, there for creating a pay2play game out of a classic brings the ire of the world!

    if you played the original games, don't get this game!! infact go on gog.com and buy the pc games,
    if you haven't played the originals then have fun!    … Expand
  11. c3p
    Feb 7, 2014
    5
    Please let me pay for games and stop this micropayment ****
    I know they make more money atm, but _please_ try to think in the long term and start to sell this games complete for 5€ or something. (or sell two versions of the same game...)
  12. metrj
    Jan 12, 2023
    5
    hard to enjoy if you don't pay to play this game to be honest so it's disappointing
  13. Lolzified
    Apr 5, 2014
    3
    Only Electronic Arts could make such a horrible, awful cash-grab. I just can't believe how anyone could let this game be released... But it's EA, so what do you expect?
  14. JPartha
    Apr 29, 2014
    2
    A Pay-To-Win Dead End: The game is developed by very inexperienced interns who are in way over their heads, and suffers from severe issues regarding performance, network connectivity/stability, very flawed game design/imbalances, and a Pay-To-Win philosophy. If you know and like Dungeon Keeper, I recommend checking it out for the style & voice-overs. It can be enjoyable for a short while,A Pay-To-Win Dead End: The game is developed by very inexperienced interns who are in way over their heads, and suffers from severe issues regarding performance, network connectivity/stability, very flawed game design/imbalances, and a Pay-To-Win philosophy. If you know and like Dungeon Keeper, I recommend checking it out for the style & voice-overs. It can be enjoyable for a short while, but ultimately the flaws become very clear as you progress, it's a dead end. Anybody can defeat you if they are simply willing to spend a little money to do so. I highly recommend not wasting any money on it. Each update keeps making it worse and EA has no intention of giving it the proper respect it deserves. If you simply want a good game of this type, there are far better choices by competent developers.… Expand
  15. TheQuietGamer
    Feb 8, 2014
    1
    I've played a lot of free-to-play games that relied on micro-transactions, but this is the first game I've found to be unplayable thanks to them. Unless you are willing to dish out an ungodly amount of money you will never get anywhere with this game. Everything in the game runs on timers that are irritatingly long, so the only way to make any progress in this game at all is to buy in gameI've played a lot of free-to-play games that relied on micro-transactions, but this is the first game I've found to be unplayable thanks to them. Unless you are willing to dish out an ungodly amount of money you will never get anywhere with this game. Everything in the game runs on timers that are irritatingly long, so the only way to make any progress in this game at all is to buy in game currency with real life money. Free-to-play? Hardly.

    This issue renders what would have otherwise been an enjoyable experience into nothing more than a way for EA and the developers to suck your wallet dry. This is a huge shame because there was some real potential for this game to be great. I really wish that the game would have been something that needed to be payed for, so that way the micro-transactions wouldn't have ruined the game.

    There is literally no way to have any sort of fun with the game without giving EA loads of money on the stupid micro-transactions, because they literally make the game playable. If you try to play it without paying for anything the amount of time it will take you to make any sort of progress means you will be waiting months to feel any sort of accomplishment. I'm just going to warn you to not play this "game". It will bring nothing but frustration and empty wallets.    … Expand
  16. beegeepee
    Feb 7, 2014
    1
    I really loved the original Dungeon Keepers and was very excited to play this one. However, I quickly realized it was a "pay-to-pay" game. Meaning you just kept paying to pay for more things later. There is no game.

    I gave it 1 star because it worked better than Battlefield 4 and SimCity upon release.
  17. DesignByAdrian
    Feb 8, 2014
    1
    This 'game' doesn't allow you to tap more than two things every four (4) to twenty-four (24!!!) hours! If you want to speed things up, you have to buy extra 'gems' with real money!

    How much money? The amount of gems you need to speed up mining one block is worth roughly £1.50, and there is around 900 blocks in the game! No fret, because there is a 'Best Value' package at £69 which gives    This 'game' doesn't allow you to tap more than two things every four (4) to twenty-four (24!!!) hours! If you want to speed things up, you have to buy extra 'gems' with real money!

    How much money? The amount of gems you need to speed up mining one block is worth roughly £1.50, and there is around 900 blocks in the game! No fret, because there is a 'Best Value' package at £69 which gives you the amount of gems enough for 50 blocks!

    Pure extortion!

    Mobile games could have been as good as traditional console games, but there are too many games like this on the mobile platform already and EA is leading the pack of b*stards who don't treat their gamers as humans.

    +1 for good voices and sounds and smooth 3D graphics    … Expand
  18. Aard
    Feb 12, 2014
    1
    Named it successor to a franchise, tore apart everything it stood for. 1/10 for the balls it takes to implement the shameless scam of a review system.
  19. MassAI_deekay
    Aug 10, 2014
    1
    A games designer once told me, that the purpose of the A.I. in their games was "to challenge the player, and then let that player WIN." This was done out of obligation to the player who had bought their game. One might call it a mutual agreement : if you bought one of their games, it was their sworn duty to entertain you, and then give you the satisfaction of beating the game.

    In    A games designer once told me, that the purpose of the A.I. in their games was "to challenge the player, and then let that player WIN." This was done out of obligation to the player who had bought their game. One might call it a mutual agreement : if you bought one of their games, it was their sworn duty to entertain you, and then give you the satisfaction of beating the game.

    In Dungeon keeper, the tables have turned.
    This game was not designed with the player in mind, and the purpose of the AI is now to challenge the player, and then let that player PAY. This alone gives an unappetizing taste to the game.

    The game itself is less than spectacular. It is an unimaginative clone of every tower defense game that has been around for years. There is not much to do, there is very little challenge, and you can't lose the game.

    Dungeon keeper has the usual pay-wall timers, where you wait for hours for anything to happen, unless you bypass them by the waving of your magic credit card. Regardless of whether you decide to hurl cash at the game or not, it does not make much of a difference - you are still treading stale water.

    I give the game a score of 1 out of 10, because the graphics and voice-acting are both surprisingly good.
    The remaining 9 of 10 are pure disregard for the player.    … Expand
  20. crozakos
    Dec 10, 2014
    1
    **** **** It's as if they WANT to make us angry. They took a classic and turned it into a disgraceful, pay2win **** WHY? WHYYY???

    Anyway, is the game PLAYABLE. It COULD be at least a half assed, 5/10 mobile remake. BUT, it is suffering from "MICRO"TRANSACTIONS. And believe me, there is nothing "micro" about a bunch of sh*t for 74.99$

    1/10 DON'T EVEN TRY
  21. capthavic
    Feb 10, 2014
    0
    Just when you think EA can't sink any lower, can't be any more shameless grabbing for cash, and run out of beloved franchises to ruin...they do it again! This has to be the most DISGUSTING display of not just greed but blatant CONTEMPT for both the consumer and gaming in general. That this dirty little thief disguised as a game even exists would be offensive enough, but no, EA had to dragJust when you think EA can't sink any lower, can't be any more shameless grabbing for cash, and run out of beloved franchises to ruin...they do it again! This has to be the most DISGUSTING display of not just greed but blatant CONTEMPT for both the consumer and gaming in general. That this dirty little thief disguised as a game even exists would be offensive enough, but no, EA had to drag yet another beloved series through the mud in the process. When EA gets the golden turd again and once again fail to understand why...THIS will be all the explanation needed. **** YOU, EA times infinity!… Expand
  22. TJarnold92
    Feb 6, 2014
    0
    A game that is basically a timer wherein you must pay money to win. This is the definition of Pay-to-Win, and is a mark of why EA is a terrible developer.

    They are even manipulating the game in such a way as to only allow positive reviews to appear on the Android store. Just so incredibly and blatantly shady, does EA even care about their namesake?
  23. GanymedeJupiter
    Feb 2, 2014
    0
    Even by mobile free-to-play standards this game is a disgrace. Yet another classic franchise is made victim to cynical money-grabbing. Keep the hell away from this garbage.
  24. Rudraski
    Feb 6, 2014
    0
    Anyone that wasted any money on this deserves it, the only way to stop EA from doing crap like this is to not buy their **** anymore, This just shows how far this company is going to screw costumers for their money.
  25. darwiniandude
    Feb 12, 2014
    0
    EA sinks to a new low of filth with this pathetic bastardisation of the classic and beloved Dungeon Kepper from 1997. The title is Dungeon Keeper. You're meant to build, manage and protect your dungeon. Digging out a single block in the original took less than a second, and you could tag many blocks, your imps would work through them automatically one by one. In this game a single blockEA sinks to a new low of filth with this pathetic bastardisation of the classic and beloved Dungeon Kepper from 1997. The title is Dungeon Keeper. You're meant to build, manage and protect your dungeon. Digging out a single block in the original took less than a second, and you could tag many blocks, your imps would work through them automatically one by one. In this game a single block could take 24 hours to remove. Worse, you can only tag two blocks for removal if you only have two IMPs, you cannot queue commands.

    Really nasty. I'm happy to pay for games, but this isn't a game.    … Expand
  26. Doniazade
    Feb 14, 2014
    0
    When I saw this game I was amazed. "Oh boy! Dungeon Keeper is back!" I said, quickly reaching to download it. With anticipation I waited for the installation to be completed... 98%... 99%... And suddenly, my phone came to life and kicked me in the balls, stabbed my dog and violated my girlfriend.

    This game is quite literally worse than the Holocaust.
  27. Bruciato
    Feb 11, 2014
    0
    Possibly the worst game that EA could have think of. How can you insult people with this, EA? I would like to have a talk in a closed room with who decided that dungeon keeper should have been done like this.
  28. takjar
    Feb 4, 2014
    0
    EA made the game unplayable!

    In Short: Dungeon Keeper is not a video game, not any more. Instead it’s just a virtual beggar, constantly demanding your spare change and offering nothing in return. Pros: Older smartphones aren’t compatible. Cons: A sickening perversion of the whole concept of video games, with nothing in the way of gameplay just constant cajoling for you to bribe    EA made the game unplayable!

    In Short: Dungeon Keeper is not a video game, not any more. Instead it’s just a virtual beggar, constantly demanding your spare change and offering nothing in return.

    Pros: Older smartphones aren’t compatible.

    Cons: A sickening perversion of the whole concept of video games, with nothing in the way of gameplay just constant cajoling for you to bribe your way to victory.

    http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/04/dungeon-keeper-review-microtransaction-hell-4289901/    … Expand
  29. XanderZane
    Feb 8, 2014
    0
    Total garbage. EA is trying to suck gamers dry of their funds with crazy microtransactions just to continue to play the game. You'll have to either wait hours and hours to get anything accomplished, or fork over cash again and again to get what you want accomplished quickly. One of the BIGGEST SCAMS in IoS gaming history. EA should be fined for doing this crap. First it was buying the NFLTotal garbage. EA is trying to suck gamers dry of their funds with crazy microtransactions just to continue to play the game. You'll have to either wait hours and hours to get anything accomplished, or fork over cash again and again to get what you want accomplished quickly. One of the BIGGEST SCAMS in IoS gaming history. EA should be fined for doing this crap. First it was buying the NFL license so no other company good make great football games to compete against their Madden NFL series. Now EA is trying to scam gamers out of their hard earned money. Don't waste your time on this garbage. Even Peter Molyneux says. "I think EA got this game all wrong." He's 100% right.… Expand
  30. dricks
    Jul 10, 2014
    0
    You pay, you dig.
    You pay, you dig.
    "You mean, the main goal is to dig ?"
    No, i mean, the main goal is to pay.
    Boring and useless, you should forget this one and play the real dungeaon keeper on PC, one of my greatest game ever.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
42

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 22
  3. Negative: 13 out of 22
  1. Gamer.nl
    Feb 19, 2014
    10
    Dungeon Keeper is a new mobile free to play game by EA, and one of the most aggressive games in the genre. It has elements of a game, but these are so well hidden beneath shiny buttons, childish images and tons of tough rock, that it’s better to avoid the dungeon altogether.
    Read full review
  2. SpazioGames
    Feb 17, 2014
    40
    The game is heavily influenced by the in-app purchases, to the point of becoming a pay-to-play title. Don't Play it.
    Read full review
  3. Gamereactor Denmark
    Feb 15, 2014
    10
    Dungeon Keeper is an anti-game. It sucks the joy of gaming out of me and it has no redeeming qualities, not in the slightest. Calling it greedy would be understatement of the year. The already tarnished image of free-to-play could hardly receive a more devastating blow than that which Dungeon Keeper has given it. It eats at my soul every time I play it. And that's why I'll uninstall, nay, banish it from my tablet as soon as I've finished this sentence.
    Read full review
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