Dungeon Keeper

Dungeon Keeper is a strategy video game in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or cave while protecting it from invading "hero" characters who want to steal the player's collected treasures and kill various monsters. It 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, represented in the game as a hand, to interact with a bar on the left side of the screen to choose which rooms to build and which spells to cast. The player can also use the hand to pick up and carry around creatures and items in the dungeon. This allows him/her to assemble an attack force and discard the creatures en masse as soon as he/she has gained a foothold. The player can also use their hand to "hit" objects and thus interact with them: Creatures become faster when struck, 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 owning one of their creatures and seeing the dungeon from that creature's first-person perspective, as well as using their attacks and abilities. The map is divided into a grid of rectangles, most of which are invisible. A smaller part of the map is displayed as a minimap in the top left corner of the screen. There is also a world map, and at the start of the game the player is assigned one of 20 regions of a fictional, idyllic country 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 starting a new level, 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 streets are full of the blood of the slain. Screams of pain and howls of fear tear the night air like the song of a vengeful siren. This really is a place to take the children for the weekend." The dungeon heart represents the dungeon guardian's connection to the world. If it is destroyed, the player loses the level and has to start again. Along with the heart, the player starts with a small number of imps, the general labor force for all dungeon activities: they can dig tunnels in the surrounding ground, capture 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 also takes away some of their health and luck. Once the goblins are hard at work, the player must build a basic infrastructure: Caves for the monsters, a hatchery (where chickens are bred to serve as food for the goblins) and a treasury to store gold. After the dungeon has been connected with a "portal", the monsters arrive. As the game progresses, the player moves along a technology tree that unlocks further rooms. The dungeon has a distinct ecology: some creatures are natural enemies. Flies and spiders are often at enmity with each other, while a horned reaper will attack any creatures in its path when it has gone berserk. The objectives for each level are fairly straightforward: it's usually about eliminating the hero squad or destroying all the other Dungeon Keepers in the level.