Dungeons of Dredmor

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 219 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 147 out of 219
  2. Mixed: 49 out of 219
  3. Negative: 23 out of 219

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  1. DarkCowboy
    Aug 2, 2012
    7
    Great game. **** 'retro' graphics though.
    With the graphic potential of modern hardware, graphics that look like a mid 80's Commodore game just seems like cutting corners.
    Still, the game has lots of replay value as no to games are the same.
    Permadeath is on by default, and I recommend playing that way.
    Makes it a lot more interesting.
    Easy worth full price if you love old school RPG.
  2. haileris2
    Sep 11, 2011
    7
    Good points - Good game for what it does, varied attack options, lots of levels, lots of skills to enjoy. Details is good but not amazing - not in the Nethack league for example

    Bad points - slightly repetitive, not funny at all (in my opinion anyway - how anyone finds this amusing is beyond me!), lack of documentation on different classes is somewhat annoying (to start with at least),    Good points - Good game for what it does, varied attack options, lots of levels, lots of skills to enjoy. Details is good but not amazing - not in the Nethack league for example

    Bad points - slightly repetitive, not funny at all (in my opinion anyway - how anyone finds this amusing is beyond me!), lack of documentation on different classes is somewhat annoying (to start with at least), updates breaking the save system isn't that funny either, several crashes that has lost me my character.    … Expand
  3. MrKeats
    Sep 7, 2011
    6
    Want to know what this game is like? Knock on the door of every house on the block. Punch everyone who answers in the face. If you win the ensuing fight, loot their house. If you lose...well...yeah game over. Obviously I'm not encouraging you do attempt this in real life, but percentage wise, the chance of failure in this game is extremely high. I would wager to guess that I might actuallyWant to know what this game is like? Knock on the door of every house on the block. Punch everyone who answers in the face. If you win the ensuing fight, loot their house. If you lose...well...yeah game over. Obviously I'm not encouraging you do attempt this in real life, but percentage wise, the chance of failure in this game is extremely high. I would wager to guess that I might actually have a better chance of winning the punch a neighbor out experiment than I do of getting through a single level of Dredmor on hardmode with perma-death. It's sadomasochism at heart, and although rewarding in some levels, at the end of the day, you do sort of just feel like you payed someone $14.99 to kick your ass. There's a whole lot of backstory with rogue-likes etc, but when it comes to the average gamer, I bet most just want to have fun. Fun is to be had, but again...it's the type of fun where you have to enjoy it in the moment because your beloved character is always literally one door or corner or misplaced trap from death.… Expand
  4. TheBank
    Sep 16, 2011
    5
    This game is one to add to your collection if you want something to play while watching a movie while splitting a screen, or on your second screen. It really doesn't have any story (or at least you won't encounter one by your first death). It's buggy, and lacks a definite goal. The game attempts humor based on the knowledge of other games. This happens so much it starts to make you thinkThis game is one to add to your collection if you want something to play while watching a movie while splitting a screen, or on your second screen. It really doesn't have any story (or at least you won't encounter one by your first death). It's buggy, and lacks a definite goal. The game attempts humor based on the knowledge of other games. This happens so much it starts to make you think you should be playing a real game. It's fun, but not engrossing enough. I regret buying it.… Expand
  5. Thampsan
    Sep 24, 2011
    6
    A cheap, entertaining game riddled with bugs and the sort of sense of humour found in the Munchkin card game. It loses marks because despite the true random element in loot spawning and level design, it lives in the shadow of far better roguelike games like ADOM, Nethack, Transcendence and the innumerable mods of these games which took interaction with the game itself to a whole new level.A cheap, entertaining game riddled with bugs and the sort of sense of humour found in the Munchkin card game. It loses marks because despite the true random element in loot spawning and level design, it lives in the shadow of far better roguelike games like ADOM, Nethack, Transcendence and the innumerable mods of these games which took interaction with the game itself to a whole new level. Unlike the majority of unmodded roguelikes the game has a shiny, easily interpretable GUI with menus, difficulty options and the ability to save (if desired). It also comes with a very indepth crafting system. These are definite pluses, but they are mitigated by the horribly buggy skill system, the disgusting system lag (even on top end computers) and the limited fashion that one can engage with the dungeon environments.

    Worth a few dollars and a few hours of game play.    … Expand
  6. Tridus
    Nov 2, 2011
    7
    Sorry, meant to write a review for another game. Never played this one but I want to clear the old review, so I'll just give it a 7 and hope people don't get too mad. :)
  7. badrain
    Nov 28, 2011
    6
    Roguelike rpg ? Can this be enjoyable in 21st century ? It can and surely is. Example - Dungeons of Dredmor! Apart of real graphics instead of ASCII, this game is typical rouglike rpg with random generated levels. There's plenty of good humour too. Unfortunatly, graphics could be a little bit better. I know, it's indie production but... Well, we should be grateful there's graphics atRoguelike rpg ? Can this be enjoyable in 21st century ? It can and surely is. Example - Dungeons of Dredmor! Apart of real graphics instead of ASCII, this game is typical rouglike rpg with random generated levels. There's plenty of good humour too. Unfortunatly, graphics could be a little bit better. I know, it's indie production but... Well, we should be grateful there's graphics at all, developers seem to say. Game lacks story, but that's not a flaw - you dont need a story in a game like this. It's just about fun, exploring, leveling up and killing your enemies. Of course, there is the last, final boss in the last 10th level of dungeon (Mr.Dredmor, indeed)... and a couple of minor bad guys on the way. You would not be bored;) Another interesting thing - Dungeons of Dredmor features permadeath - long forgotten, now revoked! Of course you can choose to switch it off, if you value your sanity. Try losing your character after couple hours of gameplay... ;) But if you want to play as if it's still 1995, go ahead!:) Some gamers reported bugs and crashes with DoD. I guess it's all patched, because im playing without any problems. In conclusion - nice little game, but marked for a small group of players. If you like classical rpg's, dungeoneering style games, you'll like Dungeons of Dredmor. For rest of you guys, this game gets boring and repetitive after half an hour.… Expand
  8. Kluge
    Oct 7, 2011
    6
    I enjoyed this game. It's a solid attempt at a modern roguelike. It's very replayable, and discovering new ways to use the many, many skills and items is rewarding. Turnbased may seem like the obvious choice for a roguelike crawler, but I much preferred how Binding of Isaac handled combat - having it real-time. Due almost solely to their decision to keep it turn-based, combat is tedious.I enjoyed this game. It's a solid attempt at a modern roguelike. It's very replayable, and discovering new ways to use the many, many skills and items is rewarding. Turnbased may seem like the obvious choice for a roguelike crawler, but I much preferred how Binding of Isaac handled combat - having it real-time. Due almost solely to their decision to keep it turn-based, combat is tedious. Nethack was saved from being tedious due to the unique level of detail in the game. There were hundreds of types of monsters, hundreds of different items, a fascinating "BUC" system, deities, factions, and on and on. Dungeons of Dredmor does not match this level of detail, as others have noted -- we're talking about a much more shallow game, with maybe 20 different NPC types, ~100 items, poor inventory management, a fairly clunky GUI, and adequate graphics. Don't forget -- while DoD has a low price tag, Nethack is free and easy to modify. OTOH, the crafting system is an addition.... but the items aren't particularly interesting, and the poor inventory management ends up leaving you unable to craft what you want as there isn't enough inventory space, and this ends up turning DoD into a bit of a "inventory management game." While I recommend trying out DoD, I don't believe their attempt at "bringing roguelikes to the masses" was much more than stripping out most the work that went into Nethack and putting a mediocre graphical overlay atop it. Nethack was also able to get away with lack of balance (that is, one game could be dramatically easier or harder than the last based on one randomly-generated item you happened to find) because everything had strengths and weaknesses. In DoD, there isn't much room for strategy -- you hit the target, the target hits you - back-and-forth until someone dies. It's kind of like cover-based FPS games, but without any of the intensity. With all this criticism, there are some glimmers of great design within, and I hope we'll see continued development from Gaslamp Games.… Expand
  9. GolovA
    Jan 13, 2012
    7
    The beauty of the game is not in its balance of the RPG element, but in its funny description of all the things in it. For example - you will not find out what certain character traits do by simply reading them! :) The gameplay, however, is rather monotone - it gets boring pretty fast, simply because there is no STORY in the game! And what is an RPG without a story and strong NPC's?!
  10. tech-noir
    Feb 24, 2012
    7
    Dungeons of Dredmor is a modern, turn-based, roguelike RPG, comparable to The Binding of Isaac. In it, you will enter randomly generated dungeons with various levels to explore, and a large amount of loot to collect and experiment with. The artwork is charming and adequate, albeit not too creative. There is even a crafting system, for those interested in hoarding items for the hope ofDungeons of Dredmor is a modern, turn-based, roguelike RPG, comparable to The Binding of Isaac. In it, you will enter randomly generated dungeons with various levels to explore, and a large amount of loot to collect and experiment with. The artwork is charming and adequate, albeit not too creative. There is even a crafting system, for those interested in hoarding items for the hope of usage as you progress. There is a tutorial with several chapters, but even then it fails to explain and introduce a few aspects of the game to the player, which leads to a slow-paced approach to learning how to play. Dungeons of Dredmor is more focused on exploration, rather than action. There are many items to find and experiment with, as well as the innumerable crafting combinations. It is also more difficult and less forgiving than The Binding of Isaac. Death comes from various means, and there will be many times where you will be overwhelmed by the enemies. There are also many skills to choose from when creating a new character, which makes each attempt at the game different each time. Personally, I have no interest in crafting. To be able to craft valuable items, you must hold on to many different items needed for a very long time, in hope that you eventually will be able to craft something worthwhile. This means that your inventory will be populated by mostly garbage. Besides, if you proceed through the levels deep enough, you will encounter good, quality items to equip your character with. This to me, makes crafting practically abandoned. As you go deeper in the dungeon, the appearance of the levels change, and become more interesting. There will also be more unique and challenging enemies to fight against. As with everything else in the game, the shopkeeper is populated in the levels at random. This means that sometimes you will need to go up or down a few levels to sell your loot. Dying and losing everything is part of the genre, but that doesn't stop it from being slightly frustrating. The game also tends to crash sometimes, which means you will lose all your progress and be forced to start over. The developers even added a Steam Achievement for this. Dungeons of Dredmor is a difficult game. More difficult than The Binding of Isaac. You will die much more often and much easier than you ever did in The Binding of Isaac, while accomplishing much less. Even though the game is filled with what is supposed to be clever humor, I personally did not find any of it funny, but it does not ever get in the way of the game's enjoyment. Unfortunately, any items that you equip during the game do not change the appearance of the character in any way. I feel that this particular shortcoming detracts from the indulgence of the game, as there are many items that would make the game much more interesting if they actually changed the character's looks. The constant dying and lack of real progression through the dungeon in this roguelike leaves much to be desired overall. It simply isn't as exciting or as rewarding as The Binding of Isaac. With that said, Dungeons of Dredmor is still a title that should be kept installed for future casual ventures as a more classical style of roguelike game. In moderation, and with much patience there is plenty of fun to be had with this game.… Expand
  11. keefbaker
    Nov 7, 2011
    5
    I get it... I do.. Nice idea to make a Hack n Slash roleplayer that self generates levels and at first you think, "wow, this'll last me for ever" until you realize that without a narrative there's not a lot to it and you don't (or at least i didn't) get the feeling of progression you get from a lot of RPGs. Shame. I really wanted to think this was great.
  12. EmberVine
    Dec 17, 2011
    7
    Where to start? Here. The humour is funny and keeps you amused, in fact, the whole thing to me seems like the devs took a load of jokes then stuck them in a engine. This is what came out. Colourful, the skills trees are awesome, the interface is easy to use, but its just to reptitive. Crawl all the way through dungeon no.1. Go down to next floor. Proceed. Go to next floor. Oh look you diedWhere to start? Here. The humour is funny and keeps you amused, in fact, the whole thing to me seems like the devs took a load of jokes then stuck them in a engine. This is what came out. Colourful, the skills trees are awesome, the interface is easy to use, but its just to reptitive. Crawl all the way through dungeon no.1. Go down to next floor. Proceed. Go to next floor. Oh look you died from a monster zoo, well done silly billy. The games tutorials (and trust me there are alot of those) dont explain much and are very hard to remember. They basically say: Kill the diggle using new type of weapon, well done you are a dungeon master. The difficulty is unmatched and i wouldnt buy it unless you love beating your brains out for being stupid or throwing your laptop out of the window. Think of bop-it on a computer screen.… Expand
  13. namDa65
    Mar 11, 2012
    5
    If you like roguelikes, you will think this game is great. I liked it but after playing BOI, I can't play any other rogue like games even though BOI isn't really a roguelike. I just don't like it.
  14. kay2
    Jan 8, 2012
    6
    While attempting to present the core of a roguelike, but simplified, it's actually more difficult to get into due to a complete lack of documentation, confusing crafting, non-obvious skills, and other problems.

    Needing to reference an internet wiki (frequently!) to figure out what ingame items are is a sign of shoddy workmanship.
  15. suneater
    Mar 3, 2013
    7
    A true "Rogue-like" with improve graphics, controls, and interface functionality for a modern audience. Character customization is fantastic with many diverse skills, unique build options, and damage types to choose from. On "Normal" difficulty you can pretty much play however you want provided you are careful with your positioning and kiting. Although more forgiving than many permadeathA true "Rogue-like" with improve graphics, controls, and interface functionality for a modern audience. Character customization is fantastic with many diverse skills, unique build options, and damage types to choose from. On "Normal" difficulty you can pretty much play however you want provided you are careful with your positioning and kiting. Although more forgiving than many permadeath games, it is easy to get cornered and beaten to death; My biggest complaint about this game is how some enemies have very unpredictable movement sets. Many enemies will also have very high resistances to specific damage types, leaving you unable to kill them. With the right skills, you can teleport and parry your way down 10 gigantic floors that are packed with plenty of loot, puzzles, secret passages, and a wide variety of traps.… Expand
  16. AWG
    Jul 17, 2013
    5
    I have really nothing original to say about this unoriginal game, so just read MrKeats' review twice and you'll know what I think about Dungeons of Dredmor.
  17. rheibe
    Jul 15, 2013
    7
    This game is better than what I expected. You chose the skills of your character (and there are a lot). The rpg style of this game is somewhat complete. However, I would like to see this game in multiplayer in the futur. The game could be a little bit repetitive and the music is not exceptional.
  18. Laice31
    Jun 26, 2014
    5
    Dungeons of Dredmor is a quirky game. The designers' sense of humor is readily apparent and that's probably its best feature. There are a lot of options for class/skill differentiation, but they don't seem to make a ton of difference.

    DoD gets old really fast. The dungeons get repetitive and there's not real sense of purpose to playing after a couple hours.
  19. beefcake1
    Aug 4, 2016
    6
    Some great ideas and humour ruined by minimal monster and dungeon variety, imbalanced skills and item drops.

    Having played this game for 100+ hours, I wanted to love this game so much, the flavour and humour in describing items is just perfect. And the skill tree concept works beautifully well with the idea that you can make nearly any combination of skills viable...but then it    Some great ideas and humour ruined by minimal monster and dungeon variety, imbalanced skills and item drops.

    Having played this game for 100+ hours, I wanted to love this game so much, the flavour and humour in describing items is just perfect. And the skill tree concept works beautifully well with the idea that you can make nearly any combination of skills viable...but then it doesn't.

    Some skills are woefully imba, some skill trees are quite underpowered, and the part which sadddens me the most - crafting {my absolute favourite part of rpgs - who doesn't love crafting elite equipment from scavenged loot?}; gives minimal pay-off. Also, often by the time I finally craft my high-end items, I will have discovered another item of similar power-level from chest or loot drop.

    Fighting monsters is also quite repetitive. Just point and click, use your timer or magic-based skills appropriately, drink potions as necessary, rinse repeat. There is very little variety in terms of monsters or monster strategies, besides of course ranged vs melee enemies. "Boss monsters", just hit really hard, but rarely do much else, and since this game is turn based, you can kite all monsters easily {assuming you cleared the dungeon leading up to them before -hand}, so its not like there's any real moments where I go "Oh, I might die here if i'm not careful". You just run away or even go back up stairs where monster can't follow, eat food, heal up and then your good to go again {monsters themsleves don't regen}. YOu can also lead groups into a corridor so that you only ever have them one-on-one instead of being surrounded.

    The only times I had "scared of dying" moments was when I was acting foolish in a huge group of monsters, or being reckless. This was on the hard difficulty.

    Each dungeon has the same basic layout So there's no real surprises besides when you open a door to group orf angry monsters but then you soon learn to expect that.

    It sounds like i'm really down on this game, but its only because I see so much potential in it, and don't want to see it wasted.

    -So, what about having skills which scale to your level - so low-leveel skills can still be used at high-level dungeons?
    -what about having unique boss monsters which can teleport and/or heal / cast unique spells / use unique items and give unique item drops?
    -what about items which give boosts to skills, temporarily, to allow characters to diversify or specialize their builds?
    -more items, better crafting system, with a range of items at certain levels {even with secret recipes} rather than just one main item. E.g "steel sword of magma", AND "steel sword of tesla" AND "steel sword of toxicity" at same level.
    -what aobut unique dungeon scenarios? There's some good stuff here but it gets repetitive. What about corridors of traps, pits of lava that fall, hidden walls that must be activated / scouted, sequences of buttons that must be pressed exactly but can only be learned from completing a quest elsewhere. A la, dungeon master???

    Final score 6 is because 4 points for concept and another 2 for excellent humour. If only the execution was there too I would love to give a 10. This game feels like it just almost there but lacks the core gameplay and variety, in both items and monsters, to keep me coming back for more.    … Expand
  20. Dco326
    Jun 23, 2023
    7
    Nesto u njoj mi se ne dopada ne znam tacno sta, vidim zasto je zabavna drugim ljudima pa cu dati 7.

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Best PC Game of 2011
70
#70 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. RPGamer
    May 9, 2012
    70
    If you can accept some mechanical quirks in exchange for a torrent of indie exuberance, check it out.
    Read full review
  2. Games.cz
    Jan 15, 2012
    50
    Dungeons of Dredmor is like a year-round tyre: it will do its job but no one is going to be enthusiastic about it. Masochists will find this game too soft, while common gamers will find no amusement at all.
    Read full review
  3. RPG Fan
    Jan 3, 2012
    72
    Dungeons of Dredmor isn't without problems, but the good humour and addictive gameplay make it an amiable purchase. It might not be to everyone's tastes, and the random generation can be frustrating, but for only a few dollars it's pretty easy to recommend.
    Read full review
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