The first stage of Dungeon Dev, which is playable in the demo version, serves as the introductory stage where players can learn the basic gameplay.
The game begins as you, intrigued by a "Dungeon Developer Recruitment Notice" posted by the Demon Lord, visit the Demon Lord's castle.
You initially expect to design a "dungeon to defeat the heroes," but things turn out a bit differently.
The Demon Lord has struck a secret deal with the king of the human kingdom, and your task is to create a "dungeon to satisfy the heroes."
To create a dungeon that satisfies the heroes, you must meet two conditions:
- The final winner of the battle must be the heroes.
- The expectations of each hero based on their role must be fulfilled.
In the first map, you will face a swordsman who plays the role of a "Damage Dealer."
A "Damage Dealer" is satisfied by dealing a certain amount of damage in battle, and as indicated by the UI, the swordsman's damage requirement is 200.
In this map, you can only place goblins with 75 HP, so to satisfy the swordsman, you need to place at least 3 goblins.
Now, you've placed 3 goblins in front of the swordsman. Let's see how the battle goes.
Oh no, the swordsman couldn't survive the attacks of the 3 goblins and was defeated.
This time, let's try spacing out the 3 goblins.
By spacing them out, each goblin engages the swordsman one by one, allowing the swordsman's expectations to be met, and the battle ends with the heroes' victory.
As you can see, even with the same number of monsters, the outcome can vary depending on how they are placed.
In the next map, you'll face a knight who plays the role of a "Tank."
Unlike a "Damage Dealer," a "Tank" is satisfied by taking a certain amount of damage during the battle.
According to the UI, the knight's damage requirement is 100.
In Dungeon Dev, the attack speed of all heroes and monsters is the same by default.
However, to prevent battles from being determined by luck due to a 1-frame difference, the heroes' attacks will always land before the monsters'.
With this in mind, let's calculate the scenario.
The knight's attack power is 10,
The goblin's HP is 75, and its attack power is 5.
The knight will defeat a goblin after 8 attacks, during which the goblin will attack 7 times. If they fight one-on-one, each goblin will deal 35 damage to the knight. So, to satisfy the knight, you'll need 3 goblins.
Let's place 3 goblins spaced out so that they fight the knight one by one. Now, let's see how the battle progresses.
As calculated, the knight takes 105 damage, fulfilling their expectations and winning the battle!
But there's actually a simpler way to clear this.
This time, I placed 2 goblins right in front of the knight. Let's see what happens.
Once again, the knight's expectations are met, and they win the battle!
Depending on how you place the monsters, the number of monsters required can change.
Alright, now that you have a good understanding of the game, let's quickly go over the next maps.
In the next map, the swordsman and knight will team up, and the game will get more serious.
Even when multiple heroes appear, the concept remains the same: satisfy their expectations and design the dungeon so they can win.
One thing to note is that as long as all victory conditions are met, it doesn't matter if some heroes fall during the battle.
After successfully clearing a few maps, you'll unlock new monsters: the Orc Shieldbearer and the Orc Axeman.
The Orc Shieldbearer, with low attack power but high HP, is well-suited for satisfying "Damage Dealer" heroes.
On the other hand, the Orc Axeman, with high attack power, is better for fulfilling the expectations of "Tank" heroes.
As you continue playing with new monsters, you'll encounter a new hero role: the "Healer."
"Healers" do not have offensive abilities but instead heal all heroes, including themselves, in a wide area, and must heal a certain amount of HP to be satisfied.
To effectively satisfy a "Healer," you'll need to spread out the monsters' attacks across as many heroes as possible so that the "Healer's" area healing can be triggered efficiently.
The final new hero you'll encounter in Stage 1 is the Archer.
The Archer, like the swordsman, plays the role of a "Damage Dealer" but attacks from a distance and has lower attack power and HP compared to the swordsman.
Therefore, when the swordsman and archer appear together, you'll need to carefully place the monsters to ensure that the swordsman's high attack power doesn't end up taking the damage meant for the archer.