DungeonMaster

Librasulus the Grey Lord sought the Power Gem, and the Firestaff turned on him. His body was split in two: Chaos walked free, and Order became a ghost bound to the land.

You are Theron, his apprentice. Below lies the Hall of Champions, where twenty-four heroes stand frozen in mirrors. Wake up to four. Carry them through fourteen levels to the Firestaff, and to Lord Chaos himself.

A fan recreation of FTL Games’ 1987 classic. Runs offline in one file on desktop, tablet and phone.

Click or press any key to skip

How to play

Real time, grid by grid. Everything you do happens while the dungeon keeps moving.

Moving

Arrows or WASD to walk and strafe, Q/E or ←/→ to turn. Numpad 7 8 9 / 4 5 6 works too.
On a touch screen, swipe the view: left or right to turn, up to step forward, down to step back. Or use the arrow pad.

Your hand

Click the floor at the bottom of the view to pick up an item in front of you. Click again to put it down.
With an item in hand, click high in the view to throw it.
Click walls ahead to use things: mirrors, buttons, fountains, alcoves, torch holders. Door buttons sit on the right post of the frame. Hold a key and click a locked door.
Click a champion’s hand slots to swap items with your hand. Click the champion’s bars to open their inventory; click their name to make them leader.

Inventory

Eye examines the item in your hand, or shows skills when your hand is empty. Mouth eats or drinks the item in your hand.
Watch food and water. Fill a waterskin at a fountain, or click a fountain with an empty hand to let everyone drink.
Torches burn down. Keep one lit in someone’s hand, or cast light.

Combat

Tap a champion’s weapon in the action panel, then pick an attack. Only the front row can reach with melee unless the champion in front of them has fallen.
Tap two squares of the little formation grid to swap champions’ places. Champions on the left cast and throw down the left of the corridor, those on the right down the right: a lone creature on the far side can be missed.
Spirits laugh at steel. Find a blade that bites them, or weaken them with magic. Black flames burn only under spells.
Walking into a wall hurts the champions on that side.
Hard blows can wound a body part; its slot turns red. A wounded hand fights slower and weaker, a wounded shield hand cannot block, wounded legs or feet slow the party, a wounded head spoils aim, a wounded torso carries less. Only a VI potion closes wounds.

Puzzles

Some pressure plates hold a gate open only while something rests on them. Leave an item behind. A thrown item that lands on a plate presses it.
Some squares spin you around without warning. Some plates wake fireball launchers. Creatures sometimes carry the key you need.
Water is scarce: only levels 2, 5 and 9 have fountains. Keep waterskins and flasks full.
Magic Boxes freeze the creatures in front of you. Doors crush creatures caught beneath them.
Small wall buttons can reveal hidden chambers. A carved stone eye opens to someone holding a mirror or a magnifier up to it. Reach into drains; they sometimes hide keys.
Some alcoves want an offering before a gate will open. Some gates open only when their guardian dies. Some doors have no button and must be chopped down.
Some pits open and close on a rhythm: watch, then cross. Others stay shut only while something rests on the plate before them.
Pull levers and iron rings. Rings sometimes open hidden passages.
Most creatures must turn to face you before they strike; step around them to buy time.
Each weapon offers more attacks as its wielder's skill grows, exactly as in the original: a novice swings a sword, a master also parries and chops. Magical attacks use up the item's charges.
Bows and slings need their ammunition in the other hand.
Slots take coins, sockets take gems. Illusory walls can be walked through. Keys open the gate they fit.
The dungeon is dark. Keep a torch burning or cast light.

Magic

Choose a caster tab, then a power rune (Lo is weakest, Mon strongest), then the spell runes, then Cast. Mana is spent as you pick runes. Spells known at the start:

FUL — magic torchOH IR RA — lightFUL IR — fireballDES VEN — poison boltZO — open doorVI — health potion*YA — stamina potion*YA IR — party shield

* needs an empty flask in the caster’s hand. Scrolls in the dungeon teach more.

Other keys

1–4 inventories • I leader inventory • M explorer’s map (not in the original) • Z rest • K quick save • L quick load • Esc close or menu

The goal

The Firestaff lies in a tomb on level seven, behind a door only the Master Key opens; that key lies far below, on level twelve. A hidden stair in the tomb leads straight down to level thirteen, where Lord Chaos waits. The Power Gem lies on level fourteen beside the Red Dragon, sealed in a hardened gel: cast ZO KATH RA and touch the gel with the glowing ball to free it. Hold the gem and click the staff to join them; the stairs above will seal behind you. Lord Chaos cannot be killed: cage every open side of him with the staff’s Fluxcage, stand before him, and Fuse.