As the name suggests, dungeon crawlers are games where players explore a dungeon. Navigating a dungeon crawler should feel like the player is delving deeper and deeper into danger, revealing the map and grabbing loot as they go.

A typical dungeon crawler is about entering the unknown. The player will move through corridors or rooms, encountering traps and enemies. Though the world will usually persist across playthroughs, enemies and the loot they drop can be randomized. Players can also select alternative classes for different playthroughs. This means that dungeon crawlers have a high amount of replayability, with players returning to the game, either trying to perfect their favorite character and boost its stats, armor, and weapons or creating a new character and taking on the dungeon with a different play style.

Players will often have quests to perform. Along with the randomized loot, quests are a great way of getting specific items for your character and usually add a lot of bonuses to the loot you’d gain by simply delving into the world and fighting enemies that you’d find.

A lot of dungeon crawlers have multiplayer, letting players play together or against each other. Co-op dungeon crawling will enable players to work as a team, usually mixing character builds and levels. It’s not unusual for players to ask for help from higher-level players during missions or through tough areas.

Though the games aren’t often adversarial in nature, there is also PVP in some dungeon crawlers, letting players battle it out in specifically designed arenas without any danger of ruining a mission.

Adding other players only makes it more interesting. With different play styles and approaches, the chaos can be controlled somewhat. Creating characters with synergy can give you some benefits. A good healer backing up an aggressive player will allow both players to play at their maximum abilities. Great teamwork is always rewarding, even before the loot drops, and though the random and exploratory nature of dungeon crawlers can cause chaotic moments when two or more players can react to the challenges presented, it creates a wonderful bond.

They share a lot of elements, but roguelikes will usually have a procedurally generated different world every new game. The challenge isn’t to explore an established world but to survive for as long as you can while delving into an unknown place. They don’t need to be in dungeons, either. Roguelikes can exist in any setting, from post-apocalyptic cities to schools.

Yes. Lore is a big part of dungeon crawlers. They can come with established facts and events that have shaped the world, or they could present the player with the opportunity to learn about the world as they play. Either way, a campaign that has a story, characters, and bosses is usually a big part of the genre.

Yes! A major element of dungeon crawling games is the loot you find along the way and how it can change your character’s stats and play style. Every dungeon crawler will have copious amounts of loot, including wearables like clothes and armor, to weapons of all types. Additionally, a lot of those collectibles can be modified with slots that allow additional powers. You can add fire to swords, ice to daggers, electrical bursts to arrows, and lots more combinations.

There are top-down dungeon crawlers. These are the most common form of game type. They can have real-time action or turn-based movement for a more strategic approach to the game. Some dungeon crawlers are mouse-based, meaning you direct your character by clicking where they should walk to in a level. Others will allow direct control of the character,

There are also first-person dungeon crawlers. The most famous of these are turn-based, with each step into the dungeon presenting a number of choices for the players to take. They differ from the top-down alternatives by focusing on the moment-to-moment movement through the dungeon. There’s usually no overview in first-person dungeon crawlers, making them heavily exploratory and random.