Crazy brutal. That is what I have to say about Deep Dungeons of Doom by Bossa Studios. DDD is unlike any RPG I have played before. In a good way. It has a real simple concept of play that is easy to jump into and brutal to master. That is something that is often the goal of game designers and Bossa does pretty well at it.
DDD puts you in the armored shoes of a Crusader as he frees dungeons across the kingdom from evil monsters. The game opens up with you crawling through a castle sewer to rid it of a monster that has eaten too many of the king’s people. The game then plays in a variety of other locales such as an abbey.
Each dungeon pits you in one on one sparring matches on each floor of the dungeon. The deeper you go, the more powerful the monsters. Each battle is a series of timed button presses in which you attack the monsters and defend from their attacks. Upon killing the monster you are rewarded with gold, which can be used to buy permanent upgrades to your stats, and dungeon specific gear and upgrades. So while you are facing stronger foes as you descend, you are also getting stronger.
This is probably the first game I played that I noticed any controller lag on my Ouya. The lag isn’t horrible by any real degree but it can be the determining factor on if you successfully block that fatal blow or not.
DDD is a microtransaction supported game. The game grants you 3 continue tokens for free. Using these when you die places you right back at the floor in which you died. Once you run out, dying means starting the whole dungeon over. You can purchase varying numbers of continues from the store if you feel like you need more. I am not aware if there is a way to earn continues in the game aside from spending real money. Completing a dungeon rewards you with an extra continue. So you can stock up if you are careful. I would recommend that you take the time to practice playing the game a few times before dropping serious money on continues. The game offers a data reset option that will start you from scratch with the original 3 continues. If you use them all up in the first couple of dungeons, you will be better off just resetting the data than spending money. The further you get into the game, the better looking those paid continues will be.
You can also buy gold in various lots as well. This will help you strengthen your character in the upgrade store. While the dungeons will give you gold to spend, it doesn’t seem to be enough to really get the feel for this option. For example, the introductory dungeon granted me 49 gold both times I tried it. The first upgrade option costs 50 gold. The designer missed an opportunity to hook the players on the idea of the upgrade store right out of the gate. Had the first dungeon granted you 50 gold instead, the player could have spent it right away and opened up more upgrades. However, it seems that the game was designed to force you to grind if you don’t want to spend large amounts of real money.
There is one purchase that to me seems the most reasonable of them all, and would have been made sweeter if it included some amount of gold and continues along with it. For $2.99 you can purchase additional dungeons to play. This is essentially an expansion of the game and can extend its life. So if you enjoy the game, this is well worth the purchase.
There is a lot of fun to be had with this game even if you don’t want to spend money. I find that the price vs what you get for the microtransactions are a little off balance and remind me of the worst of the worst of Facebook and mobile free to play games. However, if you do like the game and want to support the developers, then the dungeons are the best value. Finally, spend your money wisely.
What you get for free: The primary set of dungeons with options for microtransactions.
What you unlock for paying: Additional gold and continues as well as additional dungeons.
Cost for microtransactions: $0.99 – $149.99 for microtransactions, $2.99 for additional Dungeons
Verdict: Spend wisely
