Tending to your own home can be hard – just ask any housewife. Things would definitely turn for the worse, however, if the home in question was actually a dungeon, and you were sharing it with imps, minions, and other dastardly creatures. Worse, your mentor is an actual devil, and you are also constantly under attack by your neighbors. Thus, you should definitely be able to put up your defenses as well as have the ability to strike back. Dungeon Keeper is a humorous take on the battle against the forces of Evil, with you running with the same crowd as them. Build structures, harvest resources, and summon monsters to do your bidding in this building and battle simulation game with some tower defense elements thrown in for good measure.
Gameplay
Dungeon Keeper is a building and battle simulation game where in players must gather resources and build rooms that they can use to both improve their dungeons, which serve as bases, as well as summon minions that will serve as their troops as they raid other dungeons or defend their own. There are also spells, traps, and other items that can be unlocked in order to build an impenetrable fortress as well as to make your dungeon truly unique. Various game modes will also allow players to attack or defend under the various modes available.
Currency
Gems are the premium currency within the game. Gems can be used to purchase boosts, additional resources, imps, and even speed up tasks. Gems can be found when digging through dirt and can be given as rewards when quests have been completed. Gems can also be bought using real currency via in-app purchases.
Additional items that also serve as currency of sorts are gold and stone. Quarries and mines can be reclaimed within your dungeon, and these can generate a steady stream of resources for you, but make sure to collect them so that you would be able to spend them. Gold and stone can also be acquired via raids or by having your imps dig through rocks. There’s a cap on how much gold and stone you can store, but this can be increased by building and upgrading your storage buildings.
Gold and stone are required for most building and upgrading projects. These are also used for training and summoning minions. Should you run out of these resources, you can go to raids in order to acquire these from other dungeons, or spend gems to get the required amounts. Keep in mind, though, that other players may steal these items from you, as well.
Imps
Imps are the workers that you can command for building, upgrading, and digging through rocks. Players are provided with one imp initially, but more can be purchased using gems. An imp can only do one task at a time, so you can either speed up tasks using gems or buy multiple imps. You can also increase the productivity of imps for a certain period by slapping them from time to time.
Building
Different types of buildings can be created within Dungeon Keeper, and all serve different types of functions. Some will allow you to store more gold and stone, while others will allow you to train minions so that they would have better stats. Others, on the other hand, will allow you to generate mana and research spells. There are also traps and doors that can be created so that invaders would have a difficult time entering your territory. Take note that you would need to have the available space in order to place different items within your dungeon, and this is done by digging through rocks in order to have free space.
Some rooms will have traps of their own, but others will need to be actively defended so that they would not be destroyed easily. In order to increase the attributes of rooms, such as health, attack, and other stats, upgrading them is a must. Upgrading will also sometimes unlock other items so that you would be able to build them within your dungeon. Both building and upgrading would require resources as well as time, but using gems would be able to circumvent these restrictions.
Out of all the things that you could build, the Dungeon Heart is the most important room of all. It serves multiple functions, but the biggest of which is that increases your capacity of building within your dungeon as well as unlocks more content with each level increased. It must also be the most guarded section of your dungeon as, if it gets destroyed during raids, you would instantly lose the battle and you would have to revive it in order for you to be operational again. Conversely, capturing your enemy’s Dungeon Heart should also be your top priority. Leveling up your Dungeon Heart would require basic resources at first, but further along you would need to acquire points via PvP sessions in order to upgrade this room.
Minions
Minions serve as your troops for both attacking and defending. Troops can be summoned and trained, with the number of minions that you can call upon depending on your population cap, which is determined in turn by the number of Hatcheries that you have. Minions can also be trained so that they would have better stats. More minions will be unlocked by upgrading your Dungeon Heart and certain types of buildings. It is very important to know your minions’ strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to effectively deploy them in battle. Having large quantities of troops is also recommended as this would allow you to swarm dungeons even if you have lower level units.
Spells
Spells are special skills that you can activate. Spells will require mana to trigger, which is automatically generated by the Dark Library. Upgrading your Dark Library will also open up new skills to learn. Learning new spells will require resources as well, so make sure to upgrade the structure so that you can call upon powerful abilities that can help you during attacks or when defending your dungeon.
Players should take note that spells can also be upgraded, but only by using them often. Upgraded spells will make them more powerful, allowing you to call upon them with better effectiveness.
Achievements
Achievements are missions that you can accomplish in order to both earn additional gems and to get the most out of the game. These also serve as tutorials so that you would be able to encounter all functions and items available. Achievements involve building a certain item, or upgrading a structure a certain number of times. Focus on performing achievements as these can provide you with a more linear strategy to build up your dungeon, and earning free gems is not bad, either.
Game Modes
Dungeon Keeper provides players with different game modes and will have players either defending their dungeon or attacking others. Campaign mode is the game’s Story Mode, and is free to play. For PvP and Survival Modes, however, players will have to spend coins, but this is where players would be able to get the highest rewards in terms of resources and reputation, which are required for building, upgrades and summoning. There’s also a feature where you can test your dungeon against attackers. This, too, will require gold.
Boosts
Boosts are items that can be purchased and can provide players with beneficial upgrades for a limited amount of time. Boosts include allowing players to collect more loot during raids, and more. Use boosts wisely, though, as these would require premium currency to acquire.