Super Dungeon Maker Review

Being a dungeon master isn’t just for D&D any more – FIRECHICK and rokaplay’s Super Dungeon Maker lets spelunking adventurers create the campaign of their dreams. Does this digital creation tool stand out, or does Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series have the genre on lock?

Super Dungeon Maker Review

If you did not know any better (or were starved waiting for a new title in The Legend of Zelda series before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom), you’d swear that Fink is the reincarnation of Nintendo’s Link. Although this feathery fellow might not look the part, he packs a sword, can lift up bombs like the best of them, and even possesses a handy-dandy hookshot. He is part and parcel a replica of the Hero of Time, but there is one key difference in this adventure: He can pave his own way.

Super Dungeon Maker lives up to his name by letting players create dungeons to their exact specifications. No longer will players have to wander aimlessly to make it to the end of each area and defeat the boss; the control is completely within the players’ toolset.

And what a toolset it is. Players can adjust switches, spawns, enemies, items, and even doors. There are also different styles to choose from, from ice to fire to forest – players will no doubt know the drill. The system found here is fairly intuitive, using a drag and drop functionality within a grid set setup that is easy enough to understand. Get lost? No need to worry; one can just as easily undo any function and there are detailed descriptions for each and every adjustable element that can be accessed by hovering over the options.

Once players craft up the proper layout of breakable walls, enemies, movable blocks, and boss rooms, it’s off to the races. Players can just as easily reset their placement, jump right back into editing, or can play to their hearts’ content. There’s even little quirks players must be aware of; after all, how can one see in the dark or expect to overturn a foe if the proper preparations aren’t made first?

However, its inspiration also has decades of time on Super Dungeon Maker, and it shows. With only a handful of motifs and limited items, The Legend of Zelda series absolutely trumps the amount of options found in its suite of titles. While the team has plans to constantly update things, the amount of things to play around with here is fairly limited. After all, with only three types of bosses (one of which is a carbon copy of a foe from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past), it can quickly feel like this adventure is a bit smaller in scale.

However, leave it up to the creativity of others to give Super Dungeon Maker some legs. Players can share their dungeons online, which can then be sorted by Hot, Top, and New. As of May 5 there are 332 pages of eight dungeons each in the Steam version; while it may require a bit of sorting, titles like “Lis’ Beach Minigolf,” “Awakened Tower,” and “Chicken’s Awakening” absolutely show promise.

Super Dungeon Maker’s Fink might not have the pedigree of The Legend of Zelda’s Link, but paving the way for one’s own adventure shows promise. The suite of options is a bit limited as of this writing, but this toolbox has enough to let spelunkers have a grand ol’ time.

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