Dungeon Keeper

"Dungeon Keeper" is a strategy game in which the player attempts to build and manage a dungeon or cave while defending it against invading "hero" characters who are out to steal the player's accumulated 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—represented in-game as a hand—to interact with a panel on the left side of the screen. This 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. This enables tactics such as gathering an attack force and mass-dropping the creatures once a bridgehead has been established. With the hand, the player can also “hit” objects to interact with them: creatures hurry when hit, some traps are triggered, and prisoners in the torture chamber can be tortured. The game’s main view is in isometric perspective; this view can be zoomed and rotated. The player also has the option to take control of one of their creatures and view the dungeon from that creature’s first-person perspective, as well as use 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 start of the game, the player is assigned one of the 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, disfigured, and evil. Before a new level begins, the mentor informs the player about the current region and its characteristics. Upon completing a level, the Mentor speaks about the “improvement” of the destroyed region: “The streets are filled with the blood of the slain. Screams of pain and howls of agony 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. Next to the Heart, the player starts with a small number of imps, the generic workforce 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. Hitting the creatures forces them to work faster for a while, but costs them some of their health and happiness. Once the imps are working diligently, the player must build a basic infrastructure: caves for monsters, a hatchery (where chickens are raised to serve as food for the minions), and a treasury to store gold. Once the dungeon has been connected to a “portal,” monsters arrive. As the game progresses, the player moves through a tech tree and unlocks additional rooms. The dungeon features a sophisticated ecosystem: 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 creatures that stand in its way. The objectives for each level are fairly simple: they usually involve eliminating the heroic forces or destroying all other Dungeon Keepers on the level.