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Best dungeon crawlers on GamesNostalgia

In dungeon crawlers, you explore dungeons, defeat enemies, avoid traps, and collect loot; they are the earliest examples of computer RPGs.

This genre was born on computers, not consoles or arcades. Game creators such as Richard Garriott tried to translate their Dungeons & Dragons passions into computers. That's how early games such as Akalabeth: World of Doom, Wizardry, and Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai were born. They were primarily text-based, as there was no need for spectacular graphics. It is a dungeon, after all.

The golden age of dungeon crawlers started with Dungeon Master on the Atari ST and the legendary Eye of the Beholder for Amiga and PC. Those games adopted a view of the world in a portion of the screen. The perspective was first person, in a pseudo-3D. Movements were limited to four directions and 90° rotation. Many other games used the same mechanics, including the popular Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos and Black Crypt.

Everything changed with Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss, the first game to introduce proper 3D technology to RPG games. After that, 3D became the standard.

As technology improved, RPG mechanics became increasingly complex and no longer solely based on dungeons. Modern RPGs are no longer called dungeon crawlers, which remain a great classic of retro games.

Dungeon Master amigadosatari-st

Dungeon Master, developed by FLT Games initially in 1987 for the Atari ST, is an grid-based 3D action role-playing game and one of the best selling Atari ST games of all time. This...

Year: 1988 Genre: Role Playing

atari st dungeon crawler fantasy party-based real-time rpg sword and sorcery

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos dos

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos, the first chapter of the Lands of Lore series, is a real-time dungeon-crawling rpg viewed from first-person perspective (like Dungeon Master or Eye of the Beholder).

Year: 1993 Genre: Role Playing

dungeon crawler fantasy rpg sword and sorcery

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss dos

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is a fantasy action RPG developed by Blue Sky Productions (Looking Glass Studios) and published by Origin Systems in 1992 for DOS. It was later ported to FM Towns, Playstation and other platforms.

Year: 1992 Genre: Role Playing

3d dungeon crawler fantasy first-person rpg

HeroQuest amigados

Heroquest is a conversion of the famous fantasy-themed board game into an isometric RPG created by Gremlin Graphics and released in 1991 for the Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and MS-DOS.

Year: 1991 Genre: Role Playing

board game dungeon crawler fantasy hotseat licensed multiplayer party-based rpg sword and sorcery wizards and witches

Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep dosamiga

Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep, also known as The Legend of Skullkeep, is the sequel to the famous fantasy dungeon crawler rpg Dungeon Master. Developed by FTL Games, the same creato...

Year: 1995 Genre: Role Playing

dungeon crawler fantasy real-time rpg sword and sorcery

Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra amigados

Isles of Terra is the third game in the Might and Magic series. It was released initially for MS-DOS in 1991, then ported to Amiga in 1992. Several other versions were published later, including Macintosh, Sega CD, and SNES.

Year: 1991 Genre: Role Playing

dungeon crawler fantasy party-based rpg sword and sorcery turn-based rpg

Ishar: Legend of the Fortress dosamiga

Ishar: Legend of the Fortress is a fantasy RPG developed and published by Silmarils in 1992 for DOS, Amiga, and Atari ST. It was part of a trilogy that includes Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom and Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity.

Year: 1992 Genre: Role Playing

aga dungeon crawler fantasy party-based real-time rpg sword and sorcery

Black Crypt amiga

Black Crypt is a fantasy single-player roleplaying game by Raven Software, published by Electronic Arts. It was released in 1992. It was initially conceived of as a pen and paper roleplaying game by Brian Raffel and Steve Raffel.

Year: 1992 Genre: Role Playing

amiga original game dungeon crawler extra half-brite fantasy party-based real-time rpg sword and sorcery

Dungeon Master: Chaos Strikes Back amiga

Chaos Strikes Back is the sequel/expansion to Dungeon Master, one of the first examples of dungeon crawling RPG. It was released in 1989 on several platforms, including Atari ST, Amiga, X68000, PC-98, FM Towns, and MS-DOS.

Year: 1989 Genre: Role Playing

atari st dungeon crawler fantasy mission real-time rpg sword and sorcery

The Bard's Tale amiga

Tales of the Unknown: Volume I - The Bard’s Tale (or simply The Bard's Tale) is a role playing game designed by Michael Cranford and developed by Interplay. Released initially ...

Year: 1986 Genre: Role Playing

apple 2 original game dungeon crawler fantasy party-based rpg sword and sorcery turn-based rpg

Knightmare amiga

Knightmare is a role-playing game created by Mindscape in 1991, released for Amiga and Atari ST. It's based on the TV show with the same name. The title was developed by Antony Cro...

Year: 1991 Genre: Role Playing

dungeon crawler fairy tale first-person party-based rpg sword and sorcery

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight amiga

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is the second chapter of the popular RPG series created by Interplay and published by Electronic Arts starting from 1985. The game was design...

Year: 1988 Genre: Role Playing

c64 original game commodore 64 dungeon crawler fantasy party-based rpg sword and sorcery turn-based rpg

Whale's Voyage II amiga

Whale's Voyage II: Die Übermacht, released in 1995, is the sequel to the sci-fi RPG Whale's Voyage created by neo Software. The game is a mix of role-playing, space exploration, trading and a bit of dungeon crawling.

Year: 1995 Genre: Role Playing

dungeon crawler first-person party-based real-time rpg science fiction space exploration trading

Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom amiga

Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom is the second chapter of the fantasy RPG saga created by French studio Silmarils. The game was released in 1993 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS. Like t...

Year: 1993 Genre: Role Playing

aga dungeon crawler fantasy first-person party-based real-time rpg sword and sorcery