What is Reddit's opinion of
Desktop Dungeons?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
66 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
You're thinking of the alpha version. A lot of people, including myself, seem to prefer it to the final product. There's all this annoying town progression in the commercial game that's just ... not very fun. Here is a browser version of what you want and here is a downloadable version.
Although, its creator is unfortunately retarded... he went on a rant on Twitter blaming PC gamers for wanting high frame rates and resolutions on men right's activists. ?????????????????
Didnt really love crashlands, though i think its quite solid. It just didnt have quite enough to hook me. Worth checking out if you are interested, I think.
Blueprint Tycoon isnt fun. I loved the idea, Ive been looking for more things like Factorio or puzzles like SpaceChem where you optimise and make your own supply chains, this didnt do it for me. Bad tutorial, too complicated from the get go, and a poor UI made it a chore to play.
Desktop Dungeons is brilliant. One of the best ideas in puzzle games in years and years. Check out the old alpha that does give you a great taste of the gameplay. The steam version is a million times more polished and balanced, though. Great great game, just remember that not every board will be solvable, accept that you will have a great time.
Never heard of fortresscraft, thanks for pointing it out!
I dare to disagree. Desktop Dungeons is a great little indie title and really very addictive. There is a free, nearly feature-complete alpha available at the developer's website that can give you a good idea of the central gameplay. DD for $10 and getting the other two games for free is not a bad deal at all.
It's not a standard roguelike - it can be very punishing if you are not careful how much and when you are exploring. It's almost like a minesweeper RPG and I would recommend checking out the free version of the game first here. The retail version offers some progression between dungeon runs and is a nice little time waster.
Desktop Dungeons is a fantastic rogue-like lite game. ~10-15 minutes per dungeon dive.
Elements is a great free flash-based CCG, similar to Magic: The Gathering. Build decks from 12 elemental bases, upgrade cards, play vs. AI or live PvP.
Knights of the Chalice is an addicting RPG based on Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 (d20) rules, with beautiful retro graphics and a decent story.
If you'd like to find out for yourself, you can download an early alpha version for free.
Or you can play the same alpha version in your browser.
Dungeons of Dredmor if you like a good roguelike. Cthulhu Saves the World/Breath of Death VII if you want a throwback to early 90's console RPG's. Dwarf Fortress (free) if you like a brutal sim with a steep learning curve, deep complexity, and don't mind a few huge bugs here and there. Terraria if you want a 2d sandbox sidescroller similar to Minecraft except with more focus on adventuring and combat. So many more I could mention, I'm sure others will.
EDIT: Also, if you liked Amnesia, try their earlier Penumbra trilogy. Similar gameplay, vastly different setting.
EDIT2: Decided to add in a lesser known title I enjoyed thoroughly: Desktop Dungeons is a unique roguelike/puzzle combo
The free version of Desktop Dungeons is very short and distills some RL elements to their essence while discarding others.
100 Rogues might be worth mentioning as well.
Desktop Dungeons isn't necessarily "work-friendly" but it's a coffee-break roguelike, which means you shouldn't get into trouble if you're playing a couple times per day in your actual coffee-break (unless you have a terrible boss). It's also not exactly a roguelike but a mix between strategy, roguelike and puzzle game which is amazing!
There is a very old free alpha/demo that you can play in your browser if you want to try it out first http://www.desktopdungeons.net/HTML5/
But I think the point is, if those games exist, why not promote them? Why do I always hear Sarkeesian talking about how awful existing games are, and almost never about the fantastic feminist games that exist? Hell, she's got enough reach that she alone could probably turn a developer from a part-time developer into a full-time developer.
And yes, it's tough to get attention, but if the game is really good it's not as tough as you might think - even without budget. One of my favorite games of the last few years is Desktop Dungeons, which had, shall we say, more humble beginnings.
And which, it's worth noting, has both male and female sprites for every race/profession combination.
I've put probably over a hundred hours into this game between the alpha and official release. It is incredibly addictive once you get the hang of it and I love the sense of humor that it has about itself.
Check out http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/ for the free alpha, which despite the name is fairly feature complete and just lacks a lot of the bells, whistles, and story elements of the main game. If you get as addicted to it as the people in my office did, show them some support and buy the main game. I think its worth it.
Hey, let's keep this going in the comments. Here are some more games you might not have tried (but you should):
Mini-review: Desktop Dungeons is awesome for those short little breaks from time to time. With everything on one floor and one screen you can treat it like a puzzle game as well. Since you can play from beginning to end in 15 minutes (often less) it's worth grabbing for those short breaks now and then.
Any kind of true Roguelike, e.g. Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, Desktop Dungeons or the Bard character from Crypt of the Necrodancer.
These games tend to be hard and have several different mechanics and details, but the game only progresses after you've picked a move, which makes them ideal to pause and pick back up later.
I'd also suggest not picking a game that only has ASCII-based graphics at first, it's hard enough to learn the basics of this genre without having to learn that the '@' was supposed to be you and the 'D'(ragon) was what just killed you.
If this type of game sounds interesting to you, there's also /r/roguelikes for more information.
Desktop Dungeons was designed for exactly this (And is a great game), although it isn't action. Personally, I think the free alpha version is as good as the massively upgraded final version on steam
Here's some of my favorites lite bite games:
- Desktop Dungeons (I recommend the free version)
- Risk of Rain
- Eldritch
- 100% Orange Juice
- Hexcells Infinite
- Teleglitch
- Hero Siege
- Super Hexagon
- Spelunky
Desktop Dungeons is an amazing game (especially if you play it at work), but I wouldn't get it at this price. It was on sale on Steam last week for $7.50.
If anyone is curious to try it, there is a free Alpha version available on the developer's website that is pretty representative of the gameplay in the final product.
I really enjoyed Desktop Dungeons. The alpha is free to play. The alpha used to be in browser but I can't see that option. However the main game is in browser.
Once you unlock some of the harder types, this game can get pretty difficult. The difficulty lies in planning your steps and actions. As a bonus, an average game only takes about 15 minutes, it runs in a window, and doesn't keep going if you're not playing it, which makes it great for work.
- Dungeons of Dredmor
- Desktop Dungeons (non-steam)
- Spacechem
- Revenge of the Titans
- Pineapple Smash Crew
- Cthulu Saves the World/Breath of Death VII
- Frozen Synapse (turn based, play by email style multi, perfect for multiplayer on a business trip. Take your turns at your own pace)
- Crusader Kings 2 will probably run
are you sure unity can't handle 2D? desktop dungeons is coded under unity http://www.desktopdungeons.net/ and i never thought of it using that "3d display to look like regular 2d" technique but it's possible.
Desktop Dungeons is a great roguelike I like to play at work. Mostly for one reason: it's very easy to step away from. Enemies do not move, hp and mana are gained by exploring. It's puzzle like, but most importantly it's a fun distraction.
It can be played in a browser here: http://www.desktopdungeons.net/HTML5/
Two rather odd suggestions:
Traditional roguelikes often have solutions and journeys to mastery of a puzzle-like nature, and some explicitly have a puzzle focus (Desktop Dungeons, HyperRogue, Cinco Paus, and many others).
I also recommend the Knights and Knaves system of puzzles explored in What Is the Name of This Book? by Raymond Smullyan (and if you like that, continue to his other books).
For a more normal recommendation, TIS-100.
>man i think i like the original pixel style better. don’t get me wrong the new style is good but man
If you like Derek Yu's original pixel art then I can recommend you check out some of the other pixel art he made for two other roguelikes (both games are free).
Desktop Dungeons? It has an enhanced edition now but the original/freeware version was quite blocky
It might be a little newer than your range, though.
hehe, i forget how long it took me to download the 1.5GB rom for S5 from there, but i don't think it was that long, and anyway there is plenty to entertain on the interwebz while waiting.
try http://www.desktopdungeons.net/a-wild-html-based-desktop-dungeons-appears/
Brogue sounds perfect but no tiles means no game for me. I'd rather either download a full roguelike experience like DCSS or play the alpha version of Desktop Dungeons online http://www.desktopdungeons.net/HTML5/
Thank you for your support on creating a new game but you probably have no idea how much effort is involved into making one and I'm already hard at work with r/javelinrl. The multiplayer aspect you mention is really interesting and certainly underused in current browser roguelikes but it is also something that requires double the work to create and actually requires a server-side component which means extra work and extra costs to maintain the server working perfectly. If you'd be willing to pay for the server expenses I'd surely love to consider creating a new HTML5 roguelike.
I really like Desktop Dungeons. It is probably the lightest a game can get while still being very true to a classic roguelike experience. You can play the free version here http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/
I tried to use a lot of what I learned from it while creating my own roguelike-lilke, in special it comes to mind having the screen and game world be much smaller than normal roguelikes (which can be hundred of screens long if you consider different dungeon levels and such). r/javelinrl
I guess you could say r/doomrl is a bit like that as well.
You should look into Desktop Dungeons, IMO. The short playtime is perfect for those days in that random elective where the prof reads Powerpoints that are made available online, but still gives out a bullshit 15% for "participation".
Card Hunter is another good (EDIT: And it's free!) one.
The Wizard is a really cool game. Thanks for finding it. If you're looking for something turn-based like that I would say either Cardinal Quest 2 or something like Desktop Dungeons if you're looking for something a little more puzzle than action. Both of the games have free versions you can play.
I like Desktop Dungeons. The full version is an installable, but there's a unity version you can play in the browser, and an HTML5 version of the old version of the game.
I'm currently working on a 2d game that has a tiled map. Nothing fancy, just a bunch of random rooms of random size. I'm looking to have the tiles be randomly generated though kind of like the free version of Desktop Dungeons. I haven't made much progress on generating the tiles (currently just using a multi dimensional array) in a coherently structured way. Are there any established algorithms I should be looking into for something like this?
I Would love a thumbnail for my desktop dungeons series, as for requirements as long as its relevent to the game and theres space for a number im cool with it!
Here is the games official page & steam page, on the main page there is also a demo if you feel you could do better work if you knew what the game was about! although it is a little different now than it was then. Other than that though, i cant really give you much to go off, if you think it'll look cool i trust your judgement on what you design!
If your willing to do it then thank you!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/226620/
Desktop Dungeons is alot of fun and effectively turn based. The demo is free and I have been playing it for 100s of hours.
Desktop Dungeons is also a game I really like. You can get the alpha version from a couple years ago for free off their website still. It's a quasi-turnbased roguelike. One playthrough takes about 10-20 minutes, but they've crammed massive replay value into it via races/classes/challenges/unlocks.
I really enjoy Desktop Dungeons. It's like a bite-sized rogue-like mixed with with a puzzle game. Each dungeon only take 10 minutes max, so it's easy to get sucked in. There's a free alpha version (which feels complete enough) but I splurged for the beta version. It can be found at: http://www.desktopdungeons.net/
They removed their free demo, don't really like that.
Look at desktop dungeons, they recoded their entire game (which you need to purchase now) and the 0.2 demo is still free. http://www.desktopdungeons.net/
The ones I'm following the most closely right now are Desktop Dungeons (the rewritten beta just started, but the original/prototype version is free to download), and Card Hunter, which there isn't much info about yet, but looks quite interesting.
> There's even a lazy render mode where it only renders when there's a visual update, which specifically is there for editors of all kinds.
Oh, that's pretty cool! I can imagine this might also be a good way to save a bit of battery on mobile when used with more "static" games like Desktop Dungeons.
As a father of (soon to be) 4 I commend you for this. People on this sub seem to be very cool however you never know for sure who's on the other end of the computer screen.
But the good news is that you're still very young and that's the best time to get into learning how to program! I was in 7th grade when I started in 1987 with the old BASIC language. And better still, there are so many resources available to you now that didn't exist back then.
In the meantime if you're not looking to eventually sell it you could see if someone already has a RL game that uses spritesheets, and put your art to them. Obviously this wouldn't be the same as making your very own game but if you don't want to do the partnership thing it might be an idea for now.
I believe the game "Desktop Dungeons" allows for player-made spritesheets IIRC.
EDIT: Here's the link. I thought this was a free game at one point but now it doesn't appear to be.
EDIT EDIT: Oh okay, there is a free version on this page
Tower of the Sorcerer. The game is actually unfinished (one floor is literally a dead end room with a developer telling you there's nothing past this point). I think the only way to even get that far is with cheating, considering that I've never heard anyone else mention this room. The different ways you can manipulate your stats become so mathematically crazy later on, I'm not surprised.
DROD RPG was clearly based on this game as well (the other DROD games are more standard statless puzzles but with moving enemies and such) and a lot more reasonable in difficulty.
Oh, and if you like trying to efficiently get through sections with your resources, you might like Desktop Dungeons (which is random but in small segments) as well.
Well considering it was played on a mac around 2011 that greatly helps (...ugh, 2011 is considered 'old'... here I am playing DOS games...) Anyway!
Was it... Tales of Maj'Eyal or Desktop Dungeons?
What about Avernum?
Sound is expensive if you're a solo unpaid dev with no experience in that sort of thing. Pixels, low-poly models, and ASCII are possible to make on your own. But sound absolutely has to be expensive or else it's better off muted. Not that expensive, sure. Brogue is also a much prettier game than Nethack, with the shiny water and beams of energy. ASCII is an acquired taste and something you should probably give another chance...
ToME has a high number of enemies, so most builds should have AoE, but also quite a few very powerful single uniques and bosses.
Cogmind and ToME certainly don't have "bad graphics". The explosions, glitches, and weapon art on cogmind is amazingly creative, the art in ToME is way more detailed than Pixel Dungeon.
Desktop Dungeons, Lost Labyrinth, Tangledeep are probably your best bets. But the first two are a bit puzzle-like because enemies don't attack you, just block you until you choose to fight with them. It's bad theme but it works mechanically. Tangledeep is cool, not my style though.
I've recently re-downloaded the Desktop Dungeons Alpha. It's a fun roguelike, just you, a screen full of enemies and your wits, and runs are short so there's that.
Also bought Tales of Maj'Eyal the other night, but I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing beyond "kill things" and "don't die". Still, it was cheap enough.
In other news, the newest MtG set, Dominaria, released a few days ago, so I've been playing that, which conveniently gives me a reason to get out of the house and meet new people.
Thanks, if you haven't yet you should try this little game that uses this concept (free download):
Of course Barony is totally different, but I like how gaining health with exploration adds strategy.
Desktop Dungeons.
There is a remastered and updated version in the steam store for like 15 bucks, but they also still have the alpha available for free on their site (http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/). This game is seriously difficult, but oh so satisfying to beat! Great game mechanics too.
If you enjoy this game so much, you should know they made a new version of the game. You can find it here.
This version was originally not designed for online play, and was simply made in Game Maker, then they developed a way to port Game Maker games into HTML5, making this post possible, and unrelated to that, the developers decide to make a more outstanding version than what it started out as.
It's literally the same story, word for word, of Spelunky.
I played this game during late beta and it's a pretty neat. The game is a puzzle adventure game which takes some inspiration from roguelike game mechanics.
The interesting part is that it mixes elements of turn based and real time mechanics. Movment takes a turn, but certain attacks does not. There are a wide variety of enemies and some can only move after you've taken a turn while a few others can attack or even move in real time.
I'm pretty sure it's not available on iOS or Android yet, but it's a type of coffee break game that would really do well for that type of audience (similar niche that Desktop Dungeons filled).
http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/ Heres the website for the desktop dungeons free version. its a fun re-playable time waster.
http://www.indiedb.com/games/risk-of-rain/news/risk-of-rain-alpha-version-02920 This is the free version of risk of rain. Both games have expanded versions you can buy on steam.
Heres the alpha http://www.desktopdungeons.net/HTML5/ I haven't been keeping up with vildhjarta. lost it on greenlee for a new ip.
~ huthouston
^^Info ^^| [^^Subreddit](/r/User_Simulator)
I played Desktop Dungeons for a bit.
Edit. Don't forget the Late Night News with Loyiso Gola.
Strongly recommend Desktop Dungeons, at least the browser version. I ended up getting the paid version (which is a somewhat different game) but the browser version killed so much time for me. Also TIL you can play it on your phone. Check out /r/webgames as well.
Desktop Dungeons is a good game for short play sessions. They still offer the alpha for free on their site if you want to see how you like the basic game play
http://www.desktopdungeons.net/play-desktop-dungeons-beta/
Hmm they should really work on getting it more upfront that u can do this... i had to explore a bit on the site to find it.. its under "Buy" then play in browser.
the "beta" part is that its in beta to play thru the browser.. the game itself is the full game
Why I prefer boardgames:
Usually have better mechanics and more thinky gameplay experience. While a lot of video games have some grind to them, boardgames offer you interesting/relevant choices from turn 1. They don't hold your hand: you have to read/understand the rules, and often 'punish' you for playing poorly(Agricola, The Capitals)
Why I prefer videogames:
Better theme and immersion, by far. No matter how thematic ameritrash games want to think of themselves, they are still quite bad in giving you a truly immersive experience, compared to any decent video game. They only game that even comes close are D&D sessions with an awesome GM and when playing with friends that are really into role-play.
They play better with 1.
They are the only one capable of exploring the 'spacial' element of gaming.
There are some cross-over videogames that take the best elements of video games(spacial element, theme, exploration) combined with the best of board games(relevant decisions from turn 1, thinky gameplay, awesome mechanics, a nice learning curve). Desktop Dungeons(http://www.desktopdungeons.net/) is one of those games.
Desktop Dungeons and Dungeons of Dredmor. Both are fantastic games that only move forward in time when you make a move. The perfect kinda games to play semi-absentmindedly.
It's hard to describe as there's nothing else quite like it, but it's basically a puzzle game with roguelike elements, and a hell of a lot of depth and content hidden under the hood. It's particularly appropriate for work downtime, as it can be played in your browser, and the average game takes under 30 minutes or so.
In alpha the main deal was beating specific levels with specific classes to unlock new classes and levels. Items were unlocked by increasing a hidden number, which would seed more powerful stuff in shops. It's available free here if you feel like trying it out. So "beating it with only 5/15" would make a decent amount of sense both from a difficulty and a gameplay path perspective.
Fantastic free to play roguelike, that I've sunk hours into. It requires a basic level of computational math, but it's ever so much fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNA6vvEfhoQ <-- Totalbiscuit did a WTF of this game a while ago.
http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/
It's a strategy, (puzzle, but don't take that as a curse word!) game, but it's about 15 minutes per run. It has a rogue like advancement and death system. Excellent game once you get past the learning curve.
My favorite 'lunch break' game I play on study breaks is Desktop Dungeons. I've been playing this game now for, oh, 3 years or so? It's my Solitaire / Minesweeper. It's a more traditional rogue-like in many senses, and while a single dungeon run might only take 5-10 minutes, there's a lot of strategizing and risk-benefit weighting that go on in that time. And after a run, you come back with some gold or a new weapon, which incrementally helps you out on future runs. As time goes on, you unlock more difficult-to-use races and classes, and even after 3 years, it's fun and fresh and super challenging.
But have you looked at Desktop Dungeons at all? Because it doesn't have "true rougelike graphics". It's just... 2D drawings. Or at lest the old one was, I think the new art for the paid version is kind of isometric-y, I forget.
New (Looks like they kept the art the same for the Dungeons and just did new art for the overworld)
Speaking of Spelunky, check out tigsource.com. Lots of people release their little projects for free, and many of the are quite good.
Also, the Desktop Dungeons first release: http://www.desktopdungeons.net/media/ It requires a surprising degree of strategy.
Flash game: Transformice
Browser game: Desktop Dungeons(Still in beta which you can access by pre-ordering) Absolutely awesome rogue-like game which runs in browser using the unity addon