Dungeon Keeper Review
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0.51
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5
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I’m sure the fact that I haven’t given this game a score Captain James Hook could count to on his bad hand will earn me a fair bit of scorn, but hear me out. While Dungeon Keeper isn’t the same game that’s been a permanent fixture on my Top 10 list for years, it is a decent freemium title that happens to incorporate the theme from one of my favorite games. And honestly, that ain’t half bad.
Excavating, building, summoning, and collecting resources (Gold, Stone, and Gems) is only half the battle. Players will also take part in Raids that include a series of story missions, special limited-time events, and attacking other players. Certain rooms function in a manner not unlike towers from a tower defense game, and different creatures have different strengths, weaknesses, and attack preferences, so a dungeon’s layout and population can be extremely important.
What’s really impresses me are all the little design elements that make playing Dungeon Keeper significantly less painful than I’d feared. A third imp can be saved up for and bought using gems (premium currency) fairly quickly and helps to move construction along. Imps can also be slapped to boost their efficiency for a limited time. Refilling excavated tiles is instantaneous and totally free, which is great because there will be mis-taps. Even being attacked by other players isn’t so bad because it makes one’s dungeon impervious for a bit.
To reiterate: I love the original games immensely. But when I dove into this version I was expecting a freemium sim, and that’s exactly what I got. In fact it was better than I expected thanks to some clever tweaks to the standard formula and a theme that fits surprisingly well. It’s totally not a portable Dungeon Keeper, but it is an enjoyable freemium sim.
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