Desktop Dungeons from QCF Design is a quick “dungeon crawl” RPG adventure that takes all the mechanics of the genre and boils it down to the basics. I would describe it as RPG Minesweeper.  It’s a challenging game.  The game is comprised of exploring a single screen dungeon, tiptoeing around strong monsters, killing the weaklings, and leveling up your character as you go.  There are Gods, Magic, and Pickups thrown in for good measure too.  Each Dungeon can be completed in about 10 minutes.

The graphics aren’t the greatest, but they don’t claim to be and convey a very retro style. The player explores a randomly generated self-contained map and levels up their chosen character with special abilities or “divine intervention” to smite ever increasingly hard to kill goblins, goats, zombies, warlocks, etc. Don’t let the simplistic graphics fool you into believing the gameplay is anything easy. Strategy is definitely an important part of the game and I was often stuck with too little life and no enough unexplored map to rejuvenate my character. Sound and music are pretty run of the mill (love the sword swoosh) but appropriate for the style. The game design lends itself equally well to the quick and casual crowd (who isn’t looking for in-depth character development or complex story) or the hardcore addict who wants to see their name up there on the big board. I’d keep in on the desktop for a good distraction.

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