Mobile game review: Dungeon Keeper

If like me you are someone who used to be a gamer in the good old days, but in the frantic pace of modern adult life fails to find time, then the iPhone release of the 1997 EA game Dungeon Keeper may be for you.
By Colin Ainscough
Published 28th Mar 2014, 10:53 BST
Dungeon KeeperDungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper

In the trend of strategy games such as Moshi Monster Village for younger children and the slightly more grown up Clash of Clans, Dungeon Keeper brings a touch of evil to the genre, and a little retro fun for those who remember the original.

The premise of the game is to (as the game’s slogan states) ‘Dig, devise, dominate’! You achieve this in two ways; firstly with your handy little imps, who help build your dungeon, create traps, dig through rock and unlock new areas to your evil world.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Secondly, are your minions, these are the array of magical creatures that you can control in defending your dungeon, or if you are feeling particularly devilish, in battle, attacking other players.

Dungeon KeeperDungeon Keeper
Dungeon Keeper

Throughout the game you are constantly mining for your two main resources of gold and rock, which you can then trade in for new rooms, traps and other goodies.

However, you can also mine gems, but these little beauties don’t come easily. Only your imps can find these while digging, and the deeper they dig the more gems you can find.

Dungeon Keeper for the iPhone is graphically strong, and the animation and playability are great, even on such a small screen.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

My only advice would be to make sure your internet connection is strong wherever you are playing it. Dungeon Keeper relies on you being connected, and if your signal drops while you are playing you will lose your progress, which let me tell you is rather annoying.

As with all freemium games you can purchase more resources at any time, ranging from £2.99 up to just short of £20, so if you are letting your children play this just be warned.

Summary

Dungeon Keeper is a wickedly clever strategy game, which you can dip in and out of at your leisure. Having only played this for a few weeks it’s hard to say how far you can take the game, but so far it feels pretty infinite. However, there has been a lot of hate towards this remake and its in-app purchases, but I think they just need to accept that this is the evolution of gaming, and just enjoy the game for what it is.

Dungeon Keeper

Publisher: EA

Platform: Mobile/Tablet

Genre: Strategy

Graphics – 4/5

Gameplay – 4/5

Overall – 4/5