KeeperRL

Starting at $11.99Buy now

KeeperRL is a single-player role-playing game with stellar gameplay and perfect visuals. As an evil wizard, build and manage your dungeon, equip minions, and explore the world to murder villagers and research black magic. With roguelike mechanics, turn-based combat, and customizable dungeons, KeeperRL offers plenty of humor and high replayability.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,352 reviews

gameplay86 positive mentions

grinding56 negative mentions

The game offers a unique blend of Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress mechanics, providing a fun and engaging experience.
The developer is very active, frequently updating the game and responding to community feedback, which enhances the overall experience.
The ability to raid other players' dungeons adds significant replayability and variety to the gameplay.

The game suffers from a steep learning curve, with a lack of clear tutorials and documentation, making it difficult for new players to grasp the mechanics.
Combat can feel unbalanced, with some enemies being overwhelmingly powerful compared to your minions, leading to frustrating and sudden deaths.
The user interface is clunky and can be confusing, making navigation and management of your dungeon and minions tedious at times.

gameplay
360 mentions
24 % positive mentions
72 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "KeeperRL" offers a blend of dungeon management and roguelike elements, featuring procedural generation and multiple factions that enhance replayability. However, many players find the mechanics to be shallow and repetitive, with a lack of depth and polish that detracts from the overall experience. While the game has a solid core concept and enjoyable gameplay loop, it often feels like it falls short of its potential, leaving players wanting more complexity and variety.
- “The game blends dungeon management with roguelike elements, offering deep strategic gameplay and high replay value through its procedural generation and multiple game modes.”
- “I consider this game a hidden gem, it's incredibly fun and not overly complex in its mechanics while maintaining a solid gameplay progression, different playable classes provide a lot of gameplay variation and unique challenges.”
- “The overall gameplay loop is enjoyable (though not terribly deep) and a variety of starting factions (including a necromancer, goblin king, and goody-two-shoes knight) provide enough variety for several playthroughs.”
- “The gameplay has about two levels to it, and then you're through the discovery phase and everything is just repetition with different-colored sprites.”
- “There is no point to playing this game for more than 1.9 hours; in 1 hour of gameplay, you can experience the same as what it's like 100 hours in.”
- “The ui is terrible, the graphics unspeakable, the gameplay uninteresting.”
graphics
136 mentions
28 % positive mentions
69 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are characterized by simple, retro tile-based visuals that evoke a nostalgic charm, reminiscent of titles like Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper. While many players appreciate the unique art style and its suitability for the game's complex mechanics, some feel that a bit more visual polish could enhance immersion. Overall, the graphics are seen as a blend of old-school aesthetics that may not appeal to everyone, but they complement the gameplay for those who enjoy this style.
- “🎨 **Retro tile-based graphics:** Enjoy a unique visual style that complements the game’s intricate mechanics and dark fantasy theme.”
- “The retro tile-based graphics and dark fantasy setting add to the immersive atmosphere.”
- “Awesome pixel-art graphics, a lot of different things and species, skills and mechanics to explore.”
- “The UI is terrible, the graphics unspeakable, the gameplay uninteresting.”
- “Its not a bad game but graphics might be off-putting for me.”
- “Cons: music, battle, controls, instructions, notifications, constant auto save, 15 dollars wasted, graphics worse than Minecraft, no story.”
replayability
102 mentions
43 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability, primarily due to its procedurally generated maps, diverse factions, and various starting conditions, which create unique gameplay experiences with each playthrough. While many players appreciate the depth and strategic elements, some express concerns about the current lack of content and balance, suggesting that replayability may improve as the game evolves. Overall, the combination of roguelike mechanics and dungeon management offers a rich foundation for replayability, though some players feel it could benefit from additional features and improvements.
- “The game blends dungeon management with roguelike elements, offering deep strategic gameplay and high replay value through its procedural generation and multiple game modes.”
- “The procedural generation and multiple factions provide extensive replayability, ensuring that each playthrough is unique and engaging.”
- “It combines the fun of being able to raid an evil dungeon with building it, all the while offering countless hours of replayability.”
- “The randomly generated maps don't add replayability; they add endless boring maps which are all designed to have everything I need to win.”
- “At the moment I don't feel there's a ton of replay value, as I'm pretty sure I could now use my knowledge of the game mechanics to easily beat another campaign.”
- “Minion combat AI can be improved; the replayability is rather small at the moment, and I wish there were more objectives than simply 'kill everyone.' Also, the documentation is rather lacking, and most mechanics of what is actually going on with your economy, where minions are coming from, etc. are completely opaque.”
grinding
66 mentions
5 % positive mentions
11 % neutral mentions
85 % negative mentions
The reviews highlight that grinding in the game can be excessively tedious, often requiring significant micromanagement and repetitive tasks that detract from the overall enjoyment. Players express frustration with poorly designed inventory and crafting systems, which lead to a cumbersome user experience. While some find the game fun and engaging, many feel that the grinding aspect is a major drawback, making progress feel slow and laborious.
- “Decent grinding.”
- “A lot of grinding.”
- “Your lifetime of grinding.”
- “Starts off promising, which lasts long enough for the refund window to pass, then devolves into the most tedious time-wasting game I've encountered.”
- “I'm not sure if that's a bug or intended but it feels that the game is just a slow tedious crawl of hoping you don't run into awful overpowered enemies while hoping that you find resources you need in order to make it through basic starter villains.”
- “By 30 minutes in you'll have experienced most of what the game has to offer, the rest is needlessly tedious farming for research.”
story
50 mentions
8 % positive mentions
80 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely procedural, offering a dynamic experience where each playthrough presents unique challenges and bizarre adventures, often resulting in tragicomic outcomes. While players appreciate the depth and mechanical complexity, many feel the lack of a structured narrative or clear objectives detracts from the overall experience, suggesting that the game could benefit from more defined story elements and quests. Overall, it is seen as a roguelike where players embrace the role of the villain, but the storytelling aspect remains minimal and could use further development.
- “The story is driven by the dynamic nature of the procedural world, where each playthrough offers different challenges and opportunities.”
- “A dungeon builder and storyteller of bizarre adventures and tragic deaths, with way more mechanical depth than you could imagine.”
- “This story and many more are at your fingertips; do yourself a favor and play this clear, labor of love, one-of-a-kind game.”
- “The campaign/story mode needs to have some goals to accomplish; right now this is like a sandbox and needs a little more development (like quests or guidance).”
- “Like in any single mission, you will easily spend over an hour doing absolutely nothing but watching your screen.”
- “Cons: music, battle, controls, instructions, notifications, constant auto save, 15 dollars wasted, graphics worse than Minecraft, no story.”
music
38 mentions
16 % positive mentions
68 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the original soundtrack as excellent and worth purchasing, while others find it bland and forgettable. Despite the varied opinions, many agree that the soundtrack enhances the atmosphere, though some suggest it lacks excitement compared to other games. Overall, while the OST is recommended, the in-game music may not meet everyone's expectations.
- “The soundtrack is a banger, so I do recommend getting that. Plus, even though the game isn't what I wanted, I still want to give the dev of this game something, because I know what it's like to pour my soul into projects like this only for it to be mid at best.”
- “Love the OST though, so I do recommend buying that if nothing else.”
- “Great atmosphere with clear, clean graphics and excellent music which doesn't become irritating.”
- “The soundtrack is a bit boring.”
- “Graphics, music, and sound are all pretty bland and forgettable but not terrible.”
- “- music in this game has a depressing tone.”
humor
30 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a standout feature, with players enjoying its bizarre and absurd situations, such as comically tragic deaths and unexpected outcomes during gameplay. Many found the humor to be a consistent source of entertainment, with memorable moments like a potion mishap leading to a game over. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to generate funny scenarios amidst its complex mechanics and world-building.
- “First 5 minutes were the game crashing, but everything else was just me laughing at every run I tried doing and someone dying in some stupid way.”
- “There are a few different ways to play, and it can be very funny in some of the things that can happen. My current favorite was when I was trying to help an ally village with some dark elves, and one of the friendly archers saw that I was gravely hurt, so he thought he would be nice and toss me a potion to heal me... only for the potion to heal me and then break my neck, causing a game over.”
- “This game is hilarious.”
optimization
12 mentions
17 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is generally considered poor, with users reporting occasional bugs and performance issues, especially in complex dungeon designs. While the game shows potential and stability, it lacks sufficient optimization options and feels underdeveloped compared to long-established competitors, making its price tag difficult to justify.
- “Peak gameplay and performance”
- “Generally stable, though occasional bugs and performance issues can arise, particularly with complex dungeon designs.”
- “However, it's poorly optimized.”
- “It definitely still needs more optimization options, and some parts of the game still need to be fleshed out more, but it's a good game nonetheless :)”
- “It's just very unfortunate that KeeperRL has to compete with a free game with over 22 years under its belt with the foresight and hindsight of knowledge of what it wants to do (plus optimizations), when KeeperRL came out last week (Feb 24th) and has a lot of flaws that make the price tag hard to justify when a competitor offers the same things but better implemented for free.”
stability
10 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag; while players report a generally low number of bugs for an early access title, issues arise when managing large armies and stockpiles. Users note that the game is still somewhat buggy and lacks comprehensive instructions, suggesting that it may improve over time but currently requires patience from players.
- “The game gets too buggy when you have more than 20 units in an army.”
- “But it's not finished, is still a little buggy, and lacks proper instructions.”
- “So if you like a buggy game that may be stable in a year... or not, buy it.”
atmosphere
8 mentions
50 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game features a captivating atmosphere enhanced by retro tile-based graphics and a dark fantasy setting, creating an immersive experience. Players appreciate the clear, clean visuals and excellent music that complements the ambiance without becoming bothersome. Overall, the atmosphere is consistently praised as a strong aspect of the game.
- “The retro tile-based graphics and dark fantasy setting add to the immersive atmosphere.”
- “Great atmosphere with clear, clean graphics and excellent music which doesn't become irritating.”
- “It definitely has the atmosphere.”
emotional
6 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Players express strong emotional responses to the game's narrative, particularly during pivotal moments such as the death of a dragon, which evokes tears and deep feelings of attachment to characters. The emotional weight of these experiences highlights the game's ability to connect with players on a personal level, making them feel invested in the outcomes of their actions.
- “The dragon died... and I shed a tear, as I thought I would not see a single one of my men alive and that the keeper would have fallen.”
- “(Yes... I did actually shed a tear when my men killed the dragon... I'm the feeler type, okay? :p)”
- “The dragon died... and I shed a tear, as I thought I would not see a single one of my men alive and that the keeper would have fallen.”
monetization
4 mentions
25 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
Reviewers appreciate the game's lack of microtransactions and DLCs, expressing a desire for a mobile port that maintains this straightforward monetization approach. The game's ongoing development and substantial updates have fostered confidence in its eventual completion, contrasting with typical alpha games that often rely on aggressive monetization strategies.
- “What really gets me is the developer; this game is a proper alpha game. It has been in development with constant huge additions and changes since I first found it about a year and a half ago. I actually have faith that it will be finished—a weird thought for an alpha game in 2017, where it would normally be riddled with microtransactions and money-gouging DLCs.”
- “I would love if they ported this to mobile as a full game with no microtransactions.”
- “What really gets me is the developer; this game is a proper alpha game. It has been in development with constant huge additions and changes since I first found it about a year and a half ago. I actually have faith that it will be finished, which is a weird thought for an alpha game in 2017, where it would normally be riddled with microtransactions and money-gouging DLCs.”