Looking for a game with a dungeon that you LIVE in.

[RedHealer]

Can someone please help me find a game that matches this criteria? I have been searching for an ideal pick for years.

Think of the campfire segment in this one. Also the fact that you collect resources to survive like food and torches.

Most games tend to have a neat little divider between the dungeon and the "lived in" area like some sort of town. I would like to play a game where I can live in the dungeon itself. Preferably with some sort of party system.

To be clear I am not talking about a "wilderness/survival/sandbox" style experience. I know there are tons of survival style games out there with big open environments and tons to explore. I would like something more cozy like the small dungeons found in Darkest Dungeon.

The closest one I have found is called "Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cook Book". That one hits on a lot of the points I want to see though the format isn't quite right for me. Still it is the closest I have found so far.

[Nakos]

Most games like this are going to have the kind of separation that you're trying to avoid.

Umm... you might want to take a look at Vambrace: Cold Soul. It's still got the separation, but ... there is much more extended dungeon crawling, and there's still at least some "game" that occurs in the "town" area. I don't think it's really going to be quite what you're asking for, but ... it is a bit closer than Darkest Dungeon is.

Most people want (and/or like) some sort of rhythm, so .. there are higher intensity sections of the game (the dungeons) and lower intensity sections (the towns). Ideally, they're set up like Darkest Dungeon where the two parts interlock and depend on each other.

The "always on" experience that you're looking for is mostly served by sandbox style games on the PC.

You might want to look at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1621690/Core_Keeper/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/305620/The_Long_Dark/

Those are both sandbox style games, but neither is PvP focused, so... they might give you the kind of feel you're looking for.

[Veylox]

Iratus, I guess

[sekai]

I think you're talking about the traditional dungeon crawlers (cough cough Dungeons & Dragons first edition...) that later became popularised by lit-RPGs like Danmachi or even Dungeon Food where the setting involves the adventurers just going into some dungeon and more or less live there and adventuring deeper and deeper for 1 reason or another, and only make it to the surface every now and then for supply runs, turning in and taking missions, or taking breaks?

Sadly, I don't think a game that strictly revolve around that premise exist these days anymore. Games nowadays put a lot of emphasis on over-world because a lot of people find dungeon delving too monotonous. Not even Diablo was sticking with 1 dungeon since Diablo 2.

The closest modern game besides Darkest Dungeon would be things like Legend of Grimrock, which is uhh... a bit abstract.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfd74LrO06E

Even then, Legend of Grimrock is entirely combat and puzzle based. From what I can tell there isn't some kind of team rapport system that captures the feeling quite like how in Darkest Dungeon your team sits around the camp fire managing food, while your highwayman cleans his guns, crusaders giving a speech, jester cracking a joke, and everyone give each other some encouragement before taking a short nap hoping they don't get ambushed.

You'd probably have to get it from things like modded Skyrim tbh.

..........

That said, Torchlight 1's whole game was in a single dungeon that exists under the main hub town (no prizes for guessing why every subsequent Torchlight game now has over-world travel just like every other franchise...). But you're only playing with 1 character instead of a team and it's action loot grinder game so it might not be what you're looking for.

[SpaceSR]

Maybe try Rimworld, it's not a very similar genre, but you can make an underground base with a crew of randomly generated protagonists, and go on raids for resources. "Biomes! Caves" mod for mushroom and lava caves to live in and explore.

[RedHealer]

I was worried about how hard such games were to come by. I suppose I should try looking more in the direction of Metroidvanias instead. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Ghoul Hunter]

Not sure what you mean. You describe it in a strange way. Do you mean just being stuck in a dungeon and unable to return to the surface? Eye of the Beholder? Exile: Escape from the Pit?

[sekai]

Originally posted by Ghoul Hunter:

Not sure what you mean. You describe it in a strange way. Do you mean just being stuck in a dungeon and unable to return to the surface? Eye of the Beholder? Exile: Escape from the Pit?

They're asking for some kind of sandbox open world game or at least a RPG, but instead the game world only includes the dungeon and maybe 1 at best 2 towns on the surface. Where the emphasis is in the dungeon itself and less about the surface town.

They specified the latter because many games such as Darkest Dungeon and Moonlighter etc, use a gameplay loop of town -> dungeon -> town -> dungeon. OP is looking for a game where the surface and dungeon don't work in a cycle essentially.

Think of like the early edition of D&D where you just dungeon delve until you win, die, or give up. Or if you watch anime, be more like Danmachi or Dungeon Food where you get down into dungeon and kinda just do whatever you want (in Danmachi there's a town built by adventurers over the years in a relatively deep dungeon floor and seasoned adventurers would use it as a refuge and HQ and can go years without going back to surface; in Dungeon Food the adventurers ended up developing cuisines or specialised animal products using parts from dungeon creatures so they can go deeper without constantly going back to the surface for resources).

They want to spend more time doing the camping with homies in dungeons. But not that they don't wanna go back to surface, just that they don't want to be forced back to the surface, I think.

[Nakos]

There's also more traditional RPGs... the disconnect of dungeon vs town is somewhat less sharp in more traditional RPGs. It's still there, but it's not as pronounced as in Darkest Dungeon.

I'd suggest looking at the turn-based versions.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/373420/Divinity_Original_Sin__Enhanced_Edition/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/291650/Pillars_of_Eternity/

There's also this old chestnut: https://store.steampowered.com/app/208400/Avernum_Escape_From_the_Pit/

The Avernum series is by Jeff Vogel, who's as independent as it gets. Don't let the older graphics throw you off, the series is a classic, with tense fights, and a vast world to explore, most of which feels like "dungeon".

The Avernum series started off as Exile: Escape From the Pit, which was originally released as Shareware in the mid 1990s. (I was one of the beta testers on Exile II and Exile III, but ... I digress).

Regardless, those might offer you (the OP) something closer to the feel you're looking for.

[Skinny Pete]

There are the old Wizardry games, which are almost entirely in the dungeon. And Nethack. Both are incredibly ancient and insanely difficult.

[Ghoul Hunter]

Originally posted by sekai:

Originally posted by Ghoul Hunter:

Not sure what you mean. You describe it in a strange way. Do you mean just being stuck in a dungeon and unable to return to the surface? Eye of the Beholder? Exile: Escape from the Pit?

They're asking for some kind of sandbox open world game or at least a RPG, but instead the game world only includes the dungeon and maybe 1 at best 2 towns on the surface. Where the emphasis is in the dungeon itself and less about the surface town.

They specified the latter because many games such as Darkest Dungeon and Moonlighter etc, use a gameplay loop of town -> dungeon -> town -> dungeon. OP is looking for a game where the surface and dungeon don't work in a cycle essentially.

Think of like the early edition of D&D where you just dungeon delve until you win, die, or give up. Or if you watch anime, be more like Danmachi or Dungeon Food where you get down into dungeon and kinda just do whatever you want (in Danmachi there's a town built by adventurers over the years in a relatively deep dungeon floor and seasoned adventurers would use it as a refuge and HQ and can go years without going back to surface; in Dungeon Food the adventurers ended up developing cuisines or specialised animal products using parts from dungeon creatures so they can go deeper without constantly going back to the surface for resources).

They want to spend more time doing the camping with homies in dungeons. But not that they don't wanna go back to surface, just that they don't want to be forced back to the surface, I think.

So Eye of the Beholder. I think there was an Ultima game like that maybe? Menzoberranzan is another. Lands of Lore barely has towns. Exile (Avernum is the remake) has towns, but also takes place entirely underground.

[Sigi_Reuven [CH]]

Not 100% sure what you described here, but I have instantly a few games in my mind:
- Albion (Old Game)
- Summoner (Old Game)
- Eye of the Beholder (Old Game)
- Dungeon Keeper (Old Game)
- Lands of Lore (Old Game)
- Wizardry (Old Game)
- Dungeon Master (Old Game)
- Legend of Grimrock