Best Dungeon Crawlers With Procedural Generation

Dungeon crawling is an integral part of many gameplay loops, providing players with a satisfying and easy-to-understand structure that revolves around combat encounters and problem-solving. Traps and puzzles are also common sights in dungeon crawlers, though some are more focused on pure combat.

Dungeon-crawling gameplay is often found in rogue-likes and RPGs, with roots in tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons. While some games, particularly RPGs, feature hand-crafted dungeons, many rogue-likes use procedural generation to enhance their replay value. From the first-person dungeon-crawls of Devil Spire to the dice-rolling madness of Dicey Dungeons, there are all manner of dungeon-crawling games to explore.

7 Devil Spire

A First-Person Dungeon Crawl Inspired By King’s Field

• Platform(s): PC
• Released: 2022
• Developer(s): Ithiro Sumi, Lucas Perdomo, Lucas Bressan
• Genre: Dungeon Crawler

This unique dungeon-crawler combines the first-person RPG gameplay of old-school FromSoftware games such as King’s Field with a rogue-lite structure. The procedural generation prevents the game from becoming predictable, but Devil Spire’s greatest strength is arguably its faithfully constructed old-school gameplay and visuals.

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Devil Spire’s slow and methodical first-person melee combat won’t be for everyone, but fans of games such as King’s Field that enjoy the rogue-lite structure should certainly give it a look. Furthermore, the game features a great variety of loot to acquire, allowing each run to feel relatively distinct from the last and resulting in a large pool of potential builds.

6 Mortal Sin

A Psychedelic Rogue-Like Dungeon Crawler

Though Mortal Sin may be far from easy on the eyes, its psychedelic art style will certainly appeal to a select few players. Furthermore, this bold graphical style is worth looking past in order to enjoy Mortal Sin’s excellent gameplay.

Mortal Sin is a first-person rogue-like dungeon-crawler that uses procedural generation to generate its levels, preventing the experience from becoming stale and keeping players on their toes. Its main draw, however, is its incredibly weighty, satisfying first-person melee combat. Mortal Sin also features all manner of weapons and playable classes, offering plenty of variety throughout the experience.

5 Dicey Dungeons

A Turn-Based Dungeon Crawler Built Around Randomness

This unique take on the rogue-like genre tasks players with crawling through several colorful dungeons packed with quirky enemies. In Dicey Dungeons, players battle enemies with dice in procedurally-generated dungeons, slotting those dice into unique equipment slots to activate powerful abilities.

Dicey Dungeons’ greatest strength is this unique combat system, but its colorful art style and light-hearted tone are close seconds. The game’s elements of procedural generation are simply a bonus, allowing the game to have a little extra replay value that it otherwise wouldn’t.

4 Noita

An Expansive Dungeon Crawler Centered Around Spell-Casting

Noita is a unique rogue-like dungeon-crawler with real-time action combat that revolves around casting spells. These spells are cast through the player’s wands, which can be fitted with all manner of magic abilities. These spells often react with the pixelated environment, in which every pixel is physically simulated, often leading to emergent gameplay.

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Noita is more than a standard dungeon-crawler, but players will have to spend hours with it in order to reveal its secrets. Even for those that don’t, however, Noita offers a satisfying experience that’s packed with replay value, in part thanks to its elements of procedural generation.

3 Cogmind

A Procedural Dungeon-Crawl With A Customizable Robot

Cogmind puts players in the role of a customizable robot, able to build themselves up over each run out of unique components. Cogmind plays (and looks) like a classic rogue-like, following the traditional dungeon-crawling structure and procedural generation that offers tremendous replay value. However, Cogmind also has several unique elements that allow it to stand out.

One of these elements is the aforementioned customization, which allows players to modify their robot with a great deal of control. However, players must be prepared to adapt on the fly, as their items can easily be destroyed. This results in an experience that rewards flexibility and creative thinking, rather than a lucky item drop. Cogmind also borrows elements from the immersive-sim genre, allowing players to use hacking and stealth to circumvent combat.

2 Caves Of Qud

A Deep RPG That Expertly Blends Hand-Crafted And Procedural Content

Caves Of Qud

Systems

Released

July 15, 2015

Developer(s)

Freehold Games

Caves Of Qud is a deep and complex RPG that plays like a traditional rogue-like, though it features gameplay options that make it much more accessible. Though it does feature an overworld map and handcrafted landmark locations that never change, many locations in Caves Of Qud feature procedural generation.

Caves Of Qud’s world is abundant with locations to explore, quests to complete, and characters to meet, but exploring the caves themselves can be particularly thrilling. It may not look like much on the surface, but Caves Of Qud’s sense of atmosphere and tactical combat makes for an engaging and often intense experience.

1 Darkest Dungeon

A Rogue-Like RPG With Procedural Dungeon Crawling

This turn-based rogue-like RPG features party-based combat and resource management, tasking players with delving into a variety of procedural dungeons packed with Lovecraftian horrors. The game’s dark, Gothic art style and dark fantasy setting provide a gloomy atmosphere that can be overwhelming, but this makes the rare triumphant moment all the more satisfying.

Darkest Dungeon can be incredibly unforgiving, especially for new players, but making it out of any one dungeon is often a rewarding task. Its harrowing gameplay won’t be for everyone, but Darkest Dungeon’s weighty turn-based combat and dungeon-crawling gameplay are remarkably well-thought-out.

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