14 DAY TRIAL // Legend of Keepers knows that many of us are nostalgic for Dungeon Keeper, even if we have not played it in more than 20 years. The developers at Goblinz Studio also know that we miss the game that we remember rather than the one that actually was available. So they’ve created a modern take on the genre that manages to accessible, deep, and engaging, even if somewhat simplified.
The gameplay loop is simple. A group of three heroes tries to explore a dungeon and the player has to use traps, minions (in groups of three), and spells to take them out. The order of the rooms where they can be placed is random and of everything else fails the adventuring group has to face the Keeper that players have chosen at the start of a run.
When the player succeeds they get blood, tears, and treasure, resources that allow gamers to improve their creatures and traps, and to train their leader. Monsters also need to regain motivation if they are killed, forcing rotation and rest periods. As time progresses random events appear and there are opportunities to upgrade the Keeper.
As the enemy heroes become more capable it’s important to take into account their resistances and vulnerabilities to prepare monster teams and traps that efficiently exploit them. Eventually, powerful champions show up and even the player’s capable Keeper can be unable to stop them.
Legend of Keepers expects experimentation, mainly because a good player needs to target both the health and the morale of enemy heroes. My initial strategy focused on the Skeleton Archer and its powerful area of effect poison attack, which becomes even better when upgraded. This killed quite a few adventurers but forced me to focus on blood-based upgrades.
Once I unlocked more monsters and traps I also developed ways to take down morale. When enemies consistently started to reach my Keeper I re-tooled my approach to stack negative effects and really hit their weak spots. Only after 15 to 20 encounters does a run tend to become a little monotonous.
Conclusion
If the game also allowed players to re-built the room structure of their dungeons it would be a great spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper. But the current incarnation of Legend of Keepers still manages to deliver a solid run based strategy experience that’s easy for newcomers to get into while also offering good depth for veterans.
