I have been a HUGE fan of the "Dungeon Keeper" genre of games for a long time, and I really want to recommend this game, because new titles in this genre come so rarely. However, while this game has an excellent foundation for a great gaming experience, I think there are a few experience ruining miss-steps that could have easily been avoided.

1. If I am playing a Dungeon Keeper game, its because I want to actually BE the "Dungeon Keeper." .. One of the tropes that I see as becoming more common, is how you enter into a dungeon keeper style game, and you are only a middle manager. You have to balance the temperment of a really obnoxious overseer who takes all of the credit for your work, and treats you with all of the abuse and scorn of one of the minions of darkness. The whole point behind playing a game like this is to actually BE the evil overlord... after all, if I wanted to spend my day getting kicked around and suffering the abuse of my boss while he takes the credit for everything I do.. then I would just actually work retail and get paid for it.

2. Immersion - This can be a tricky balance, but getting the right tone between playing it straight and having a couple yucks is extremely important. Modern references like unions and beaucracy are conventions that immediately destroy any immersion the game is building up. How can you think of yourself as an evil overlord ruling your domain with an iron fist, when the real boss is constantly speaking "admin-speak" and quoting the dungeon leadership administration manual to you. I swear to god, I thought I was in another team building administrative seminar with my ******* boss instead of a video game. when it comes to humor that breaks the fourth wall, and pulls upon modern tropes of obnoxious beauracracy... less is definitely more.

3. Controls... Lastly, there is the issue of the ability to control your minions. If the heros of light are stomping through your dungeon in a tight group formation, and all of your minions are constantly meandering throughout the dungeon... then the dreaded forces of good can easily kill all of your minions one by one at t heir leisure. I was a fair bit into the dungeon, and if there actually is a way to focus your minions attention on an invading party, then that was not communicated at all. THAT IS BAD.... because I had to sit there and watch as my entire dungeon was gradually depopulated by a single group that wandered around, stumbling into my gaurds one at a time and cutting them down. A dungeon keeper HAS TO HAVE A WAY TO ALERT and FOCUS HIS MINIONS AGAINST INVADERS... If you are playing the actual wizard.. then this is easy.. but if you are playing just a stupid middle manager who has to sit back and do nothing as his idiot boss makes the fatal mistake of not setting up any kind of way to focus his defense.. well then, that's not very fun now, is it?

This game has a lot going for it.. I love the idea of the dark tower and the multiple levels.. but it really needed some thought from someone who loves these kind of games. I don't know if the wizard is based off one of the developers, but when I play a game like this, I am doing so to actually BE the big bad boss, not just a flunkie....

Cool dungeon management simulator

Adorable and funny, sometimes horror and bittersweet, this game puts you in dungeon manager role.

You have to hire all kind of magical creatures and build rooms for them to work and live in comfort. You also have a tavern to attract clients from the whole realm. Elves are vegetarians and orcs are carnivores, no surprises here, so your cooks are different races and must not kill each other if you want to succeed.

You can go to raid other factions from the realm to acquire magical decorations and relics which are of great help in rising your dungeon reputation. If they are angry with you, the factions will send their own brave warriors to steal money, food, relics or knowledge from you. So your guards, wizards and undead must defend the dungeon and the employees from the danger. Some of them will die, but, hey, no problem, you can always hire some more.

Your necromancer may recycle the corpses to create undead and you can also sacrifice some employees to make demons from them, you want to be evil, aren't you?

I especially like how you can decorate your dungeon. It has to be grim, but this doesn't mean that it can't be beautiful and sinister, the best stop in the realm for getting drunk or stuffed to the brim with food in the tavern, or for seeing their last beautiful magic light or fountain before dying or being tortured to death if they've come to raid you.

Pros:
- funny and adorable, sometimes sad
- good management simulation
- it's a joy to see your employees going about in the dungeon
- a lot of things to do
- many, many decorations and relics which help you build a beautiful, creepy and efficient dungeon
- the story in the campaign/tutorial is funny and well made

Cons:
- it's not very clear how some employees would help you
- some incoming raids are annoying because they come at high floors, where your guards will surely die, because they didn't have the time to train to high levels. If there is a way to direct those raids to lower floors, I didn't find it.

PS. For the newcomers: move your tavern as soon as you can on floor 2 or 3 and make it much, much bigger, like half of the floor. Otherwise you will not have sufficient income. Build rooms for dwarves only, otherwise they will go on strike.