Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Introduction
Dungeon Inn is a cozy strategy management game that has an amusing story. The premise? Sara and her crew end up trifling with a scary dragon who catches them red-handed stealing from him. As they now owe him a great debt, he requires a weekly tribute. Or else they perish. After panicking for a short amount of time Sara comes up with a plan to open up an inn just outside of the dungeon. The problem is the two guilds that regularly go on adventures in the dungeon hate each other. Your job is to keep the two guilds out of eyesight of each other while making as much money as possible from them. It's risky, but we are certainly up for the task, yeah?
Gameplay
The first thing to notice is that there are two modes to choose from. You can either play the campaign mode or you can go for the gusto in hard mode. Naturally, I went with the normal mode to get a feel for the game. It is a top down turn-based game which is a game type that I've seen less frequently. When you first start a week, you have to complete a number of different objectives that get progressively harder. Depending on how many you succeed at, you'll get closer to your goal of paying off the dragon.
In order to make it through the week, you will need to place signs on either side of the level to entice adventurers to rest at the inn or to earn some money. You have a prize wheel, an inn promotion, a speed boost, and a treat stand. The prize wheel will stop the adventurers for a couple of turns because they hope to win something. If you place down the inn promotion sign, any adventurer passing it will be convinced to rest for the night. The speed boost will increase the movement speed of adventurers which can be handy during rainfall where movement speed is hindered. Finally, the treat stand will entice the adventurers to buy something as they pass by. Each of these tools are instrumental to the success of your goals. Remember, the two guilds can't be entering the inn at the same time because if they do, they will fight.
So let's talk about the combat. Unlike other strategy games where you direct the fight, in Dungeon Inn, you cannot choose what the characters do. Instead, you send a helper to boost the odds in favor of one side, but even if you don't, the winning side will be suspicious of the inn. When the suspicion level gets too high for either group, it's curtains for you and your cushy money making gig. Thankfully, if you find your suspicion level to be higher than you'd like, the game has a couple events that will reduce it. They aren't particularly frequent though, so be careful!
Graphics and Audio
Dungeon Inn has charming graphics that feel hand-drawn which suits the cozy strategy game quite well. It's a 2D game and as a result, everything is a bit cartoony, which is not a bad thing as I love the graphics style it has.
In terms of the UI, Dungeon Inn is a simple game to navigate. The story is told through snapshot cutscenes and short dialogue instances. The levels are not cluttered and the pictures on the signboards are easy to understand. Even upgrading the various rooms when you are managing your inn between weeks or having conversations with your crew is intuitive. In fact, every interaction in the game is based on a simple point and click system, making Dungeon Inn a breeze to get into.
As for the audio, I found it to be a little underwhelming. When you're managing your inn or talking with your crew, you will hear the soothing sounds of calming background music. The issue lies in the level music specifically. In no way is it bad, but there is only one song that you hear every single week. At first, I found it to be quite nice, but over time - particularly if you have to repeat a level in order to succeed - the music gets repetitive. I can only hope that as the developers work through the early access stages, that they add more music!
That said, I did appreciate the distinct sounds of tea or beer being poured for the adventurers. Each sound bite is quite short, but it gives the sense that you're actually in the inn. And when certain random events occur, you get to hear a glass breaking or someone punching the bags too hard in the gym. When combat occurs outside the inn, you will hear a comical batch of sound effects which remind me of the old Batman cartoon (The one with Adam West, specifically.) It felt like I was watching something from a comic book. Basically, the audio adds to the charming aspects of the game, despite the repetitive music found in the levels.
Overall Thoughts
Even though Dungeon Inn is in the early access stages, they have included a roadmap on their Steam page which gives an estimate on new features and levels to be added. The first of those planned updates is the inclusion of syncing game files over the cloud. They will be improving the user experience and are making changes based on player feedback. Later in 2025, Spiral Up Games will add Steam Deck support and will add additional challenges like flooding and heatwaves. By the time 2025 is coming to a close, they will be adding more features and adding to the story, so buckle up!
I had a fantastic time playing Dungeon Inn. It's a cute little strategy game that doesn't drown you in abilities or tons of sub menus. The story is simple to follow and gets to be more challenging as you continue to play. At this time, it doesn't have much replayability as the spawning of adventurers appeared to be static (A fact that is only apparent if you had to redo parts of a week in order to complete the objectives.) I also really love the variety of the characters. Each one has a different skill level and will sometimes have their own events that may or may not get you more money and/or levels!
Overall, Dungeon Inn has a lot of potential to be a great strategy game for players who are interested in something a little less intense than what is offered by the big dogs in the genre. It's an indie game that is fun to play and has an entertaining premise behind it. While the game can certainly use a little polish, it has a solid foundation that I found myself smiling all the way through! Suffice it to say, I can't wait to see how it evolves with player feedback and additional challenges to tackle. I highly recommend Dungeon Inn to anyone that enjoys strategy games.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
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