Dungeon Keeper

Dungeon Keeper is a strategy game in which you attempt to build and manage a dungeon or cave while protecting it from invading "hero" characters who are out to steal your collected treasures and kill various monsters. This was Peter Molyneux's last project at Bullfrog before he left the company in August 1997 to found Lionhead Studios. The player uses a mouse, which is represented in the game as a hand, to interact with a bar on the left side of the screen that allows them to select which rooms to build and which spells to cast. The player can also use the hand to pick up and carry creatures and objects in the dungeon, allowing for tactics such as gathering an attack force and dropping the creatures en masse once a position has been captured. The hand can also be used to "hit" objects and interact with them: creatures become faster when hit, some traps are triggered, and prisoners in the torture chamber can be tortured. The main view of the game is in isometric perspective; this view can be zoomed and rotated. The player also has the option of taking possession of one of their creatures and viewing the dungeon from that creature's first-person perspective, as well as using its attacks and abilities. The map is divided into a grid of rectangles, most of which are invisible. A smaller portion of the map is displayed as a mini-map in the upper left corner of the screen. There is also a world map, and at the beginning of the game, the player is assigned one of 20 regions of a fictional, idyllic land to destroy. As the player progresses through these regions, each of which represents a level of the game, the previously conquered areas appear plundered, twisted, and evil. Before a new level begins, the mentor informs the player about the current region and its characteristics. After completing a level, the mentor talks about the "improvement" of the destroyed region: "The blood of the slain flows in the streets. Cries of pain and lamentation tear through the night air like the song of a vengeful siren. This is truly a place to take the kids on the weekend." The dungeon heart represents the Dungeon Keeper's connection to the world. If it is destroyed, the player loses the level and must start over. Along with the heart, the player starts with a small number of goblins, the generic labor force for all dungeon activities: they can dig tunnels in the surrounding ground, conquer enemy rooms and portals, mine gold and gems, set traps, and even attack when desperate or threatened. Beating creatures forces them to work faster for a while, but reduces their health and happiness. Once the goblins are working diligently, the player must build basic infrastructure: hiding places for monsters, a hatchery (where chickens are bred to serve as food for the minions), and a treasury to store gold. After the dungeon has been connected to a "portal," monsters arrive. As the game progresses, the player moves along a technology tree and unlocks additional rooms. The dungeon has a sophisticated ecology: some creatures are natural enemies. Flies and spiders are often at odds with each other, while a Horned Reaper, when it goes berserk, attacks any creature that crosses its path. The objectives for each level are fairly simple: they usually consist of eliminating the heroic force or destroying all other Dungeon Keepers on the level.