During PAX West 2026, I happened to notice a game on the show floor that looked like it had been ripped straight out of the 32-bit era. Naturally, that got my attention, so I made my way over to the booth to get a closer look. That game was Dungeon Lurker, an upcoming 2D action roguelike from 13AM Games, that was designed to resemble 32-bit games from many of our yesteryears.
The first thing that caught my attention was its old-school look and gameplay, which immediately reminded me of games such as Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara and other side-scrolling action titles I grew up playing. Except Dungeon Lurker takes that familiar style and mixes in roguelike elements, along with plenty of monsters, weapons, upgrades, and other ways to keep you alive as you push deeper into its cursed dungeon.
The goal of Dungeon Lurker is pretty simple on paper. You make your way through the dungeon, fight off whatever decides it wants you dead, and try to become stronger along the way. You’ll run into everything from goblins and ghouls to werewolves, while picking up equipment, spells, potions, charms, and other goodies that can hopefully keep your run going a little longer.
I only had about 10 minutes with Dungeon Lurker, so I didn’t exactly get the chance to dig deep into everything the game has to offer. Most of my time was spent running through a dangerous cavern and beating the crap out of anything that got in my way. And you know what? That was perfectly fine with me. The combat was easy to pick up, though it did take me a moment to figure out the magic system. Meanwhile, the full of enemies were constantly coming at me, and I was having fun pretty much from the moment I started playing. I even managed to nearly solve a puzzle before my time was up and I had to hand the controller over to the next person waiting to give the game a try.
Despite how short my demo was, I walked away wanting more. By the time my session ended, I was already telling 13AM Games that Dungeon Lurker was a blast and that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it again. Sadly, that’s going to have to wait until 2027, when Dungeon Lurker is expected to be playable during a Steam Next Fest. Until then, I’ll see if I beat down the lines on PAX West 2026 expo floor and get another round in before the show is over.
Currently, Dungeon Lurker doesn’t have a release date, but it is heading to PC via Steam whenever 13AM Games is ready to unleash its horrors onto the world.
