Dungeonland
- November 12, 2013
- Critical Studios
Dungeonland is nowhere close to perfect, but in multiplayer its a brilliant bastard of a game. Just add friends or enemies.
"Dungeonland" is a historical role-playing game that supports 2-4 players in single-player and multiplayer modes. Players assume the roles of The Rogue, The Warrior, or The Mage and cooperate to navigate through a medieval theme park ruled by an evil overseer. With its focus on teamwork and hilarious gameplay, Dungeonland promises a unique and entertaining experience in this "Tragic Kingdom."
Reviews
- Dungeonland is a fun and chaotic game that shines when played with friends, especially in Dungeon Master mode where one player can control the game environment.
- The game offers a unique blend of cooperative gameplay and humor, making it enjoyable for groups looking for a lighthearted experience.
- It has a variety of character classes and abilities, allowing for different playstyles and strategies when teaming up with friends.
- The game has been abandoned by developers, leading to a lack of support, broken online features, and a diminished player base.
- Single-player mode is lackluster and frustrating due to poor AI, making the game heavily reliant on having friends to play with.
- Many players feel misled by the transition to free-to-play, as previously purchased content is now inaccessible, leading to dissatisfaction and a sense of being ripped off.
- gameplay17 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, offering enjoyable dungeon-crawling mechanics and cooperative elements that can be fun for a short period, particularly with friends. However, it suffers from a lack of depth and variety, floaty controls, and limited support, leading to a decline in overall enjoyment after initial play. While some players appreciate the humor and balance, many express disappointment with the game's basic mechanics and server issues.
“The gameplay involves you either dungeoncrawling through a fun, cartoony dungeon filled with monsters and traps while playing one of three classes (who also split up into 3 specializations).”
“Everything is shared and the gameplay is all about working together and helping each other out in order to survive.”
“An amazingly smart and fun game with a well balanced gameplay and witty humour.”
“This game is a sheep in sheep's clothing: it's bad gameplay hiding as bad game design.”
“Game is no longer supported by the developers, servers are down and gameplay is limited - stay clear of this title!”
“It's very basic, and the gameplay doesn't have much variance.”
- humor9 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised, with players finding it hilarious and enjoyable, especially in co-op mode with friends. While the game offers a fun and comedic experience, issues like poor netcode and AI can detract from the single-player experience. Overall, it is considered a highly entertaining and funny game, particularly when played with others.
“A fun, if a bit simple co-op diablo-esque adventure with excellent humor.”
“It is hilarious when all of you are chatting via TS to each other while your DM friend is laughing at you.”
“Everything about this game is addicting, hilarious, and a ton of fun.”
- stability5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been criticized for being buggy, particularly in multiplayer mode, leading some players to uninstall it due to frustration. While it faced significant issues at launch, there is hope that future patches will improve the experience, making it potentially worthwhile for fans of similar games.
“The game was buggy at launch.”
“Uninstalled because it was too buggy.”
“It's buggy and unfulfilling, a rather unpleasant experience brought upon by the promise of pandemonium.”
- graphics5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are generally praised for their vividness and variety, particularly in the all-access version, which features more diverse worlds, enemy types, and engaging battle scenarios. However, some users feel that the free-to-play version lacks depth and variety, impacting the overall visual experience. The art style has been compared to that of "Wizard101," indicating a whimsical aesthetic.
“Good gameplay, vivid graphics.”
“Great game, great graphics, great gameplay and now it's free.”
“The free-to-play version has substantially less worlds and you'll see more interesting battle scenarios (being able to ride creatures, deal with more environmental hazards, etc.) and much more varied graphics and enemy types by going all-access.”
“The free-to-play version has substantially fewer worlds, and you'll see more interesting battle scenarios (being able to ride creatures, deal with more environmental hazards, etc.) and much more varied graphics and enemy types by going all-access.”
“Dungeonland suffers from not knowing their demographics, and until they figure out who they want to play with, it’s best to close this park for now.”
“The art style is similar to Wizard101.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game enjoyable initially, especially when playing with friends, but it quickly becomes repetitive and tedious, leading to boredom. Many hours spent in this mode highlight the grind for new spells and items as a significant drawback.
“Farming became repetitive and we got bored of it.”
“Almost all of the 22 hours I have put into this game are from this mode, aside from farming for some hero items via an exploit (which has been fixed though).”
“Grinding for new spells and items becomes tedious very fast.”
- story3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The game's story is perceived as lacking depth and primarily serves to highlight design flaws rather than engaging players in a meaningful narrative. While the gameplay is enjoyable, the absence of a compelling story detracts from the overall experience.
“I feel like this is less a story about me and my friends than it is a story pointing out a major flaw with the design of this game.”
“Overall, this game is fun and cool, but it has no story, so I give it a 7.5/10.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game is criticized for being poorly implemented, with premium and in-game purchases perceived as a cash grab rather than enhancing the experience, leading to a sense of abandonment from the developers.
“Premium in-game purchases seem to be broken.”
“It's an interesting concept, but it feels like a cheap cash grab, and the game has been left to die.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is mixed; while some players find it lacking in content and quickly lose interest, others praise its high replayability, particularly highlighting the engaging and challenging co-op mode.
“Huge replayability level and one of the most meaningful, and deliciously cruel, co-op modes ever.”
“Was fun at first but very little to do, not a lot of replayability. I really struggled because I wanted to like this game, but it just ran flat so quickly.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is criticized for being unfriendly, with issues such as limited dungeon master mode stages and the need for more bug fixes. Despite these concerns, players still find the game highly entertaining.
“The game needs a bit more optimization and bug fixes though, but despite those problems it's tremendously entertaining!”
“My only problems with the game are that the optimization is very unfriendly, and the DM mode recycles the same stage with varied layouts.”
“My only problems with the game are that the optimization is very unfriendly. The DM mode recycles the same stage with varied layouts, and for some reason, when I play DM mode, I only get to be Dungeon Maestro for 1 stage (I know there's a way to play for more stages; I've seen it in videos!) versus the 3 or 4 that you go through per zone as a hero.”
“The game needs a bit more optimization and bug fixes, though, but despite those problems, it's tremendously entertaining!”
Critic Reviews
Dungeonland Review
Dungeonland may be intended for multiplayer, but there’s no need to crowd around this one. You’re better off going out back and taking turns hitting your friends with a wiffle bat. It certainly won’t hurt as much and if you’re lucky your friends might set their swing on Easy. Dungeonland suffers from not knowing their demographic s and until they figure out who they want to play with, it’s best to close this park for now.
50%Dungeonland review
Dungeonland is nowhere close to perfect, but in multiplayer its a brilliant bastard of a game. Just add friends or enemies.
70%Dungeonland review
80%