Our collection of games like Dungeon Keeper includes games that combine elements of real-time strategy, control, and god gameplay.
Dungeon Keeper proved to be a hit with a mix of game genres mixed with dark language and a cheeky style of humor. Both games in the series were developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts.
In Dungeon Keeper games, the player takes control of a dungeon and interacts with the game through a floating hand. Players build rooms, research spells, construct traps, and lure creatures into the dungeon through portals. Players then train these creatures and use them to conquer the various levels of the underworld that are currently under the control of good.
Games like Dungeon Keeper try to capture the same gaming experience as the DK series. This collection focuses on strategy games with management aspects (mostly dungeon related).
Dungeons Franchise
There are three parts of this game, and every sequel feels like a better version of the 998 previous ones. Also, the third game has overwhelmingly positive reviews on steam, so if you never played any Dungeons game, you can easily start with that one.
The game has a twist of a Warcraft 3 style map on top of your dungeon that you can go raid, pillage, and rape while building up and defending your lair. Dungeons 3 is a solid dungeon manager that will keep you entertained for many hours. It’s mainly RTS, but it has a pretty decent tower defense element going with it. Every stage introduces a new mechanic and an amazing narrative. Though some find it a bit annoying. The game has a random map generator with many custom settings & nice AI. The campaign will take about 30 hours of your time.
By the way, campaign co-op mode works really well, so it’s worth having at least one friend so you can play with him. So, trick someone into liking you and have a great time together. Offer him some herring or potato salad and you will have a friend for life.
Back to the game. I should warn you that the game has an easy start but the more you play – the harder it gets. And then you will reach the point where you get magic traps and the difficulty goes down again. So don’t panic if it gets too hard, try even harder and you will prevail.
Is it worth buying? That is entirely based on your financial status. If you live in Eastern Europe, as I do, wait for a sale, because in my country for that price you can buy 6 bottles of vodka, so you must really consider what is best for you. But overall, if you have spare money, then yes, it’s a great game!
War for the Overworld
It is a spiritual successor of Dungeon Keeper. Some even call it Dungeon Keeper 3. Well, it’s not. It’s similar but also different in its own way. There is replayability across many game modes that will keep you entertained for 40 hours or more if you try to complete all the achievements and other stuff.
You start with a dungeon core, you dig out various rooms with certain purposes, and then watch minions appear through a claimed portal. As for the combat, it works almost exactly as it did in Dungeon Keeper 2. It is hard to get bored playing this game as there is always something to do.
Though the single-player is challenging and fun to play, multiplayer is almost nonexistent. If you want to smash, bash or crash other human beings, you have to go to the Steam group, or forums and play organized matches. Or you can play with your sister. Or mom. Or that fake friend you tricked into liking you.
Another great thing – mapmaking. It has great tools and in the Steam workshop, you can even find original Dungeon Keeper map remakes and other cool stuff.
Is it worth buying? Well… no game so far is more Dungeon Keeper like this one and it’s cheaper than Dungeons 3. So, the answer is also yes.
Undermaster
Your task in Undermaster is to develop your own dream dungeon. “No, not that kind of dungeon”. But by looking at it you might think “Comrade, this game looks like a herring without onions, why graphics so lame? “While this game is not so good looking as a previous one, it has one amazing feature, or should I say freeture, because this game is free.
Undermaster runs in your browser and adds another element to dungeon design by requiring players to place objects within a room for it to be effective, such as beds in the dorm, cooking pot for your kitchen or refrigerator for your vodka cellar. OH wait, maybe it’s a different game. So placing these items in a room along with decorations is also a key factor to improving your glory which is vital to attracting creatures. And of course, like in many other browser games you can chase achievements and compete against other players in the leader board.
Prison Architect
Ok, this time it’s not a dungeon, it’s a prison. So you might say “Comrade, this is not dungeon game, this is very different”. No, stop it right there. What do you get in Dungeon Keeper? Units spawn automatically, and you build different rooms for your minions while they act around on their own will. You do the same here, in Prison Architect. Then you might say “No, comrade, still no good, I like 3D games, and this has only two dimensions”. And, wrong again. See that symbol? This is the biggest secret of this game. When you click it – everything becomes 3D. This is almost as good as potato salad with extra potatoes.
So, anyway, here you will build an amazing maximum security prison where you can be sadistic tyrant and torture your inmates, or you can build, I don’t know, Norwegian prison, where inmates live better than they do in freedom in most of the countries.
A Game of Dwarves
A Game of Dwarves combines Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress to create a fun strategy orientated title. The game puts you in the role of a dwarf ruler who is tasked with reclaiming your people’s land.
A Game of Dwarves is also packed with mysteries and treasures that reward exploration of each game level. The game also borrows some gameplay aspects from Minecraft and by that I mean that you can burrow not only to every side, like in Dungeon Keeper, but also downwards. This adds more, heh, deepness to this game.
A Game of Dwarves also has a number of downloadable content, add-ons to enhance the base gameplay and while some Dungeon Keeper fans were disappointed. I recommend for you to be open minded and try this anyway.
Evil Genius
“Comrade, comrade… what is this? This is not a dungeon again, are you trying to trick me?”
No! The game has very similar gameplay to the Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital (which is also made by Bullfrog – creator of Keeper games). And in this game, you will have to build your own layer in order to achieve world domination. It’s like Austin Powers combined with Dungeon Keeper.
Your evil doings will attract a wide variety of government agencies, so your lair will have to be protected with security system sand traps. To reach your ultimate goal of world domination you’ll have to complete missions and steal from around the world to create your superweapon. Yeah, like that, and of course, sarcastic humor and funny narrative are included.
Dwelvers
This is another close successor to Dungeon Keeper. The game has massive potential, but there is only one developer (yes, this is made by one man!) and updates are slow. But with the content that the game has currently, you can play freely for hours without getting bored.
Though the game lacks a campaign and better UI. Here you can dig rooms out, construct farms, dining rooms, kitchens, prisons, and other things any dungeon should have. Maps are randomly generated. You can select the difficulty level and input a seed number (or accept the random number offered to you), so there’s infinite replay possibility.
Your minions have needs. They need sleep, food, and alcohol. Of course. If their needs are not met they will become unhappy. If they get too unhappy they will rebel against you and attack your other minions.
As for now, the game is a sandbox, but a very enjoyable one. Dwelvers is in early access now, so expect better stuff to be added in the future.
