Tiny Dungeons

Thoughts by Mr Creosote (19 Apr 2025) – ZX Spectrum

In the overcrowded genre of roguelikes, most entries today are actually Roguelites. Meaning they just pick a couple of the aspects from the standard definition. And then, it’s highly interesting which ones they choose. In 2021, the makers of Rogue64 considered randomly generated dungeon levels and item identification to be the essential core of their game. Just one year later, Tiny Dungeons is based on a similarly simple sub-set, but made of pre-generated levels featuring different characters and enemy types.

The first few levels are smooth sailing. Bump into the few monsters to dispose of them. Or just shoot them with spells before they even manage to approach. Chests containing energy, shields or mana are plentiful. Teleporters and key/locked doors guide players where to go next.

Though then, step-by-step and almost unnoticed, things become gradually harder. Enemies with ranged attacks appear. Some even summon more monsters. It’s not just about who strikes first anymore. The turn-based battles become quite tactical. Suddenly, it makes sens that the player can switch between three characters: the powerhouse warrior who packs quite a punch, the magician who blasts fireballs and the middle-of-the-road rogue. Which enemy to approach as who? Which to keep at range, which to engage in hand-to-hand combat? How to separate this waiting group? Is there a way to sneak up, out of the enemies' lines of sight, to recharge and attack them from behind afterwards?

Without introducing all too many in-game resources, Tiny Dungeons drops its casual first impression quickly. It is much more than a simple “bump into enemies until they drop dead” game. Does it have different weapons, armour? No. A variety of spells? No. Potions? None. Special hero abilities? Sorry, none as well. The fighting may not be up to the complexity level of Tales of Maj'Eyal, but it easily surpasses the likes of Diablo.

The crisp graphics provide good overview and different tile types are clearly recognisable. Small animations are nice to look at and help focus on the relevant parts of the screen. Essential information is permanently displayed without taking up too much space. Extra screens, such as an inventory, are unnecessary. Keyboard controls are as easy as they come, even if unfortunately, keypresses are not reliably detected when hitting them in too quick succession. This slows down things a bit, hampers the efficiency of movement.

And yet, each level feels like a little puzzle. There is a little bit of random luck involved for sure, when the dice determine hit or miss as well as the amount of damage from a given range. Yet, when the “level failed” message appears (and nicely offers to restart the level, i.e. there is no “permadeath”), there is the clear feeling of having made a mistake which lead to the demise. This, unlike bad luck, is a great motivator to keep going!