The speed with which titles come and go on the mobile marketplace is staggering. It can be easy to miss something really great without ever even knowing it existed. Luckily, an online marketplace means these games are still available… as long as you know where to look.
One such great game is a sim game about running a village straight out of an RPG.
Game Name: Dungeon Village
Platform(s): Android, iOS
Publisher(s): KairioSoft
Developer(s): KairioSoft
Release Date: March, 2012
Price: $3.99
KairioSoft has made something of a name for themselves developing management style sim games. Most games involve you recently becoming the leader of a town/company/military, and get said town/company/military past a certain goal within a given time limit.
In Dungeon Village, you have recently become the mayor of a village plagued by monster attacks, and it’s your job to polish it up into a 5-star resort for dungeon-crawling adventures.
Boss fights are tough, but have massive rewards.
One common theme of a KairioSoft game is an independent AI. While you have control of the town itself, the actual adventurers control themselves. As mayor you need to provide a town full of food stores, weapon shops and training gyms to attract heroes and keep up a solid income.
Newspaper articles let you know how your town is progressing.
You are also responsible for organising raids and quests. Quests can be expensive, but allow you to tax your heroes for more income.
Upgrading can be overwhelming. Between; upgrading hero stats, hero gear, hero class, town events, facility levels, buying new facilities and brewing magic items, it can be hard to know where to put your resources. The first playthrough always felt like I was making the wrong decision and was constantly in debt. The new game plus mode allows you to keep certain upgrades and unlocks, it also adds a (much-needed) fast forward button. I really do feel like the second play through was more fun.
Dungeon Village really goes out of their way to give the heroes some personality. Between silly names like Harley Portler, Donkey Hotty and Seffy Roth, and the way they throw you in the air and cheer when you reach a star level.
Increasing your star rating opens up new upgrades and game systems.
The energy of the game is upbeat, fun and decidedly Japanese. The colours are bright and colourful, the music is dramatic, but in a silly chiptune way, parodying the original Final Fantasy games.
Dungeon Village has been a title that has kept me coming back through the years, its fun tone and endlessly branching upgrade system always keeps gameplay fresh. It is definitely worth the few dollar buy price and definitely worth picking up if you missed it the first time.
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Proving that micromanagement CAN be fun
Proving that micromanagement CAN be fun
Pros:
- Funny
- Engaging
- Tons of replayability
Cons:
- Drains battery
- Can be overwhelmin
- Tutorial isn’t great
- Proving that micromanagement CAN be fun
