Instant Dungeon

Developer: With The Love Studios
Steam Release: Nov 2014
Hours Played: 3.1
Similar To: Fortix 2 / Iggle Pop / Millie
Rating: 1/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

If you fancy a bit of old-school style, top-down, maze-like gameplay harking back to the 1980s and in the old-school pixel style manner then look no further than Instant Dungeon. You control one of 11 characters (which all play in the same way) and thrown into the entrance of a small, medium or large maze depending on level. Your ultimate goal is to move over the randomly placed key to activate the opening of a creaky door and then to make your exit without bumping into any of the evil creatures who inhabit the maze and stand in your way. These come in the form of skeletons and zombies at first and then move up to pumpkin-heads, werewolves, snakes, cyclops and tigers and the like later on. This is hardcore permadeath; you have just the one hitpoint so one death equals starting all over again.

 

BALANCE & PACE

To assist you, there are randomly generated one-use weapons sprinkled around the map that you'll need to pick up. These start off from daggers and the slightly more powerful axes to a variety of fireballs, homing missiles and bombs that explode in a large radius. Once used, you'll become un-armed and have to search and colllect more to polish the enemies off. Added to the mix are additional power-ups like shields, helmets, torches and crystal balls plus gold coins and gems to collect which act as your score. You have a small circle of light surrounding you that allows you to see clearly in your immediate vicinity but light becomes dim and dark further away. Each maze early on can be cleared in less than a minute or two and you get a boss level every five waves. 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
We're talking chunky pixel-art here - and very large pixels at that which means it'll run on a potato. It also plays as solid as a rock. Navigation through menus is accompanied by that satisfying thunk while transitions are lightning-quick with no load-screens in sight. Sound effects are simple and few but have that satisfying ring; coins and gems jingle nicely when picked up, weapons and armour rustle comfortably and keys activate a welcoming creaking sound to indicate a door has opened. On start up you get treated to some communist military marching music while in the dungeons themselves, suitably atmospheric and quite pleasant-sounding music is played. On completing a level you'll get a blast of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus!
  

PROGRESS SYSTEM
There are 9 different modes to play in Instant Dungeon (or flavors as they call it) and these become unlocked as you work your way through. Eight of these come with their own local and online high-score charts which are easily accessible via the options path from the start-screen. Local high-scores feature a set of Top 10 scores but the game comes packaged with ten pre-loaded high-scores with quite a few that are annoyingly hard to beat. You begin the game with the Action Recipe mode along with one or two others but this first mode is solid and standard and one of the most playable where you might spend most of your time. As mentioned, coins and gem collection is key as it's these that contribute to your overall score.

CONCLUSION

Instant Dungeon is no mindless romp. Sure, it may look like it's been programmed with 1990s software but it's an in-depth dungeon crawler requiring a degree of strategy. For a start, you can only carry one weapon and one power-up at a time so choosing which one to go with is always a consideration. Monsters also always drop coins or gems so you'll need to weigh up the pros of whether to dispatch an enemy or to just exit the maze and move on. The nine modes (or flavors) is also a huge plus offering a great variety that will contribute to its longevity. Perhaps the only trick that With The Love Studios may have missed is in not including an optional speedrun dimension to the game but this is a mere suggestion. The game is solid, stable and although a little dark and dim visually, still manages to shine.