Dungeon League
The Dungeon Master has grown bored waiting to kill the next hero foolish enough to enter his dungeon. The answer? Invite all the heroes in the land and make a show of it!
Dungeon League takes everything that is awesome about dungeon crawling and spews it out as ten minutes of chaotic, multiplayer, party-game action. Up to four All Stars take to the randomised dungeon to battle each other and hordes of enemies in a series of fast and competitive events. Enjoy the rapid progression of character growth as heroes gain new powers, snatch powerful items, and slay every monster in sight, all in order to come out on top as the champion of the Dungeon League.
Pit hero against hero in either the two vs two Tournament, or the ever chaotic Battle free for all. The ultimate winner will be the first to claim three round victories. Rounds last last just two minutes so players will need to quick in order to dominate the current objective, annihilate the enemy team, loot every chest, and slay every monster.
The Dungeon Master’s league has lured a powerful and bizarre cast of heroes to duke it out for supremacy. Luna, the shadow archer, moves unseen through the dungeon while slowing her enemies to a crawl with her frost arrows. Drake, the unhinged pyromancer, incinerates everything in his path with his deadly phoenix and can call down a meteor golem to do his bidding. Albert, the dreamy unicorn prince, prances through the dungeon evading enemies with his fairy blast, and bringing monsters under his control with his illustrious charm.
Each round in the Dungeon League will have a different quest objective. It is through completing these objectives that each hero can earn points for their team. There are nine different objectives in the league. In Witches Eye the heroes must hold the eye to score points but at the same time the eye is also slowly killing them. Chicken Chase has teams fighting for control over chickens by carrying them back to their pen, but you can also play dirty and steal the enemy chickens.
All of Dungeon League’s modes are available to play online. You can use the matchmaking system if you want to play against or with strangers, or setup a private lobby and lure some distant friends to their demise.
Need a break from duking it out against human opponents? Grab some friends and run the procedurally generated death labyrinth known as Gauntlet. Everything is randomised, from the dungeon layout, to the monsters you fight, to the loot that is dropped, meaning no two runs will ever be the same. How deep you delve will determine your final score, with leaderboard placements awaiting those who truly master the Gauntlet.
If you want the stakes to be raised from Gauntlet mode then Daily Dungeon has you covered. You get one attempt, with one hero, in the same dungeon as every other competitor. Leaderboards will display who is the master of the day while those that don’t place well can always try again the next day.
The Dugout is more than just an intermission. Heroes gain experience based on how well they complete quests in addition to the monsters they have slain. Heroes that level up will be able to learn new skills at the trainer. Heroes will also be able to visit Zug’s shop to spend their gold on a variety of 70+ powerful and unique items. Don’t like what Zug has to sell? Try slipping her a few gold coins…
Dungeon League has persistent unlockable items in the form of Trinkets. These can be new Cursors for the Dugout, Gravestones for when your hero dies, and a great number of in-game Emotes with which to taunt your foes.
Game Discussion
Steam User 12
Very entertaining tournament mode, only played 2 player however, probably would be even more fun with 4. One issue is the aiming often a pain and you often run headfirst into enemies because of it. Another issue is that there isnt much content at the moment, especially without online play. Make sure you have friends to play with if you are going to get this game.
Steam User 16
Invite some friends. Play with your girlfriend. Not the naughty way, but the less naughty way of doing it in this 80s composed indie pixel dungeon crawler.
Really excited to see more modes, classes and items but the current state of the game provides a lot of fun testing and slapping as you go through the levels. The more people you play with the more fun you will have.
Here is some gameplay of a full Tournament Mode playthrough. This is local co-op only!
Steam User 5
This game has a lot of potential, it looks great and the gameplay is fluid and fun. As it is at the moment you will need to have friends to play with locally otherwise you likely wont get much playtime out of it, it currently has very limited single player and no online multiplayer. Also I would reccommend you use a controller if you can as I'm not so sure about the keyboard support at this time.
The positives:
The current playable characters are awesome and fairly well balanced, plus the developer has stated that he has plans to add more and more characters as the game progresses.
The multiplayer is quite competitive and loads of fun, game modes such as 'capture the flag' and 'capture the point' aren't too common in RPG style games but they work extremely well here.
The art style and animation is very well done, pixel art isn't for everyone but this game does it well and if you give it a chance I'm sure you'll come to like it.
A few things I noticed which need some attention:
First up - ONLINE MULTIPLAYER, this is a big one, this is a great game which could really strive but in my opinion a game like this NEEDS online multiplayer otherwise it could potentially die off very early. If this game incorperates some sort of online matchmaking/lobby system where you can play with your friends and/or randoms it could really take off.
Next up, the keyboard supports feels a bit weird, I almost immediately switched to controller. Giving access to the options so we can remap keys will mostly fix this I imagine however my biggest problem is that it just doesn't feel right, the menu scrolling can be laggy and sometimes pauses if you scroll too fast, i.e. you can't mash up or down to quickly select things because it will stop registering key presses or something. This isn't noticable while using a controller as far as I could tell.
Another thing that I noticed is the free play mode could do with a bit of work, I tried playing on level 1 and was just getting mauled and dying instantly as soon as I respawned because it seems like the monsters don't scale to your level or anything like that. Free play isn't a big focus of the game and you can set your level higher to make yourself stronger so this is a minor issue but more options such as difficulty or number of enemies couldn't hurt.
Hopefully I can improve this review over time but overall I'm really liking the game so far, I just hope that online multiplayer is implemented soon, the developer said he's open to it just as long as there is a demand, so get on it people, let him know you want it!
Steam User 3
This game is really fun. Only it's lacking a lot in content. There are only two of the five modes available now. But I have high hopes for the new modes. The game looks and plays pretty good. There's only local coop. So don't buy this game if you don't have any controllers. I myself have four controllers making this game big fun.
It's early acces during the time of this review, I have high hopes for the future modes. Not much content now but still pretty fun if you have a set of controllers.
Steam User 3
A really enjoyable light dungeon crawler. Even better with friends with modes for both co-op and a heap of different deathmatch style multiplayer games (CTF, KOTH, Chicken Capture). Fun characters and a tight and light progression system. Average game length is about 10 minutes, but I've found myself playing for a few hours at a time chasing high scores in the online leaderboards.
Steam User 1
It feels like a stripped down version of Gauntlet combined with, say, Darkest Dungeon, where you keep getting sent back to square one.
The graphics are retro-cool and the game play is fun.
The local multi-player is my favorite aspect. I'm always on the lookout for a cooperative multiplayer (especially 4 players) for my son to play with his friends (or his parents and their friends). In this regard, it reminds me of Duck Game, Samurai Gun, Towerfall Ascension and Overcooked. Simple, chaotic and fun.
If you are after something similar, I highly recommend this game. I hope they continue to improve this game (and people buy enough copies to make it worth their while) as I think it has the makings of a classic.
Steam User 4
Dungeon League rates very poorly as productivity software.
It struggles to locate and quarantine any malware.
I'm not sure if it even speeds up my computer.
However when treated as a video game, Dungeon League can be quite entertaining.
Dungeon League is an action packed single player and multiplayer dungeon crawler game with both offline and online modes. What first appears to be very simple unfolds nicely into a real treat as a party game.
First impressions: I open the game and am treated by happy music as many rapping chickens spread across the screen. Good signs so far. Options are tidy. Multiplayer is quiet. So far so indie, but it has a nice unique charm all of its own.
I start as the archer Luna. First thing I notice is the epic dungeon music. It's trailer-riffic.
I'm grooving away too much to notice that the controller d-pad controls emotes instead of movement.
Keyboard players will also notice that the default controls have arrow keys for movement and QWER for the attack buttons.
I locate my analog stick and away I go. Blasting enemies left right and centre and quickly accumulating loot.
Yet if I daudle too long the game urges me on with unsettling shadows that quicken the pace.
The dungeons force you to pay attention with traps that harm both you and enemies, leading to a bit of quick thinking that can turn a bad situation into a good one.
The game lures you in with an easy difficulty curve, before hitting you with overwhelming odds that you must learn to overcome. It's fun. As a player you quickly realise victory must be earned rather than given to any player that vaguely shuffles in the right direction.
Sorry to any zombie players out there!
However the Daily Dungeon high score challenge rewards a different more patient approach for players looking to top the online leaderboards. Every room is a unique challenge that must be overcome, and a player must familiarise themselves with elemental effects to survive.
Speaking of online, the real meat of Dungeon League is in the multiplayer.
Options include Tournament, Battle and Gauntlet. There are both local and online options for all these modes.
Tournament splits players into teams, Battle is the free for all, and Gauntlet is where you team up and delve through the dungeon levels.
Battle and Tournament have a range of game types that are randomly selected. All game types are fun and benefit different styles of play. Rounding up chickens, racing to the flags or holding the witches eye are among the game types, but it's best played rather than explained.
It's always fun seeing what the game will throw up at you and these are the best modes to start in before throwing your friends into the deep end of Gauntlet. The random nature of the game and clearly defined modes definitely help make multiplayer a breeze to quickly set up.
I've played Dungeon League with a few friends and is best enjoyed beside friends that enjoy a laugh.
The whole thing is very silly, and trying to top each other with ridiculous loot and figure out all the abilities is a big part of the fun. Friends who fight together die together, and friends that die together laugh forever.
There you have it. A brief summary of Dungeon League. The little Aussie indie game that could. It won't set the charts on fire and it won't win game of the year awards, but everything it has is done well.
There's definitely a lot more content and fun to be had than first meets the eye. I'm 14 hours in and still haven't mastered half the characters or tried all the loot yet.
Dungeon League is clearly a long-time labour of love, and it's that love that gives it enough charm to make it enjoyable and memorable.
7.5/10 More than first meets the eye. As a budget party game it does very nicely.