Instant Dungeon is a cute little maze game available on both PC and the PlayStation Vita (via the PlayStation mobile section on the store) which features roguelike elements to keep things interesting. Created by lone developer Scott Mattot, Instant Dungeon keeps things incredibly simple by tasking you with little more than moving around a succession of randomly generated, top down mazes, avoiding the skeletons, vampires, zombies and other monstrosities, nabbing any treasures along the way and finding the key to open the exit door. As you progress deeper into the dungeons the light get more scarce, meaning danger could lurk around every corner.
Thankfully there are tools to assist you in your quest. Shields can be used to protect yourself from danger, daggers can be thrown at enemies, and fireball spells can be unleashed. There are also handy torches that can be used to light up the immediate area, though they stay fixed to where they were used. However, these power-ups can only be carried one at a time and can be used only once, so tactical use is essential. As you progress, the levels become larger and filled with far more enemies, making it all too easy to take a wrong turn and find yourself being approached from all sides by monsters. Every few stages there are also boss encounters, though these require you to avoid a large fire breathing dragon,a skeletal snake beast, or a lightning bolt firing wizard rather than actually engage them in combat.
Once you clear level 15 of the standard game you open up some new modes which, in turn, can be played to unlock further challenges. These include; a quest mode in which you are tasked with collecting or killing a certain number of specific things before being granted your next quest; a much darker dungeon to explore; and a boss rush mode. These new games types add much needed variety to proceedings and keep you coming back to beat your high score.
Visually the game is simple, yet gets the job done, likewise audio is merely a collection of generic 'dungeon' music alongside some pretty standard sound effects (including a 'Hallelujah' sample at the end of each stage). However, this rather uninspiring presentation can be overlooked as the game itself is fun and unpretentious. Instant Dungeon is refreshingly old school and is all the better for it and is great for quick pick-up-and-play sessions. Overall, it is cheap, cheerful and will provide you with old school arcade action. Both the PC and Vita versions are identical, but if you have a Vita then go for that as you can enjoy it on the wonderful OLED screen and it suits the portable nature of Sony's console well.
Title : Instant Dungeon
Developer : Scott Mattot
Year : 2014
System : PC, PS Vita
Price : £1.99 / £1.59
Genre : Arcade / Maze / Roguelike
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