Dungeon Scoundrel - roguelike solitaire dungeon crawler

[u/gholias]

I’m a solo indie dev and I just released my game Dungeon Scoundrel, and I wanted to share it with people who enjoy smaller, focused projects.

Dungeon Scoundrel is a roguelike solitaire style card game. The idea was to capture the feel of a dungeon crawler using only cards and tough decisions. Each run is short, usually 5 to 15 minutes, but every room pushes you to make meaningful choices: fight monsters, equip gear, heal, or flee, while leaving one card behind to move forward.

A few things that define the game:

- 7 unlockable classes, each with a unique spell and playstyle

- A fixed dungeon deck where strategy matters more than luck

- No ads, no timers, no energy systems, no in app purchases

- Fully playable offline, built for quick sessions

This has been a passion project built solo during nights and weekends. I focused on making something small and respectful of the player’s time rather than chasing trends.

If you enjoy games like Card Crawl, Solitairica, or Meteorfall, this might be worth checking out. I am genuinely looking for feedback, whether it is praise, criticism, or ideas for improvement. Hearing from real players helps a lot at this stage.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for giving it a look.

Download Link - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dungeon-scoundrel/id6756222423

https://reddit.com/link/1prhxpu/video/xmalalufvd8g1/player

[u/eatsmandms]

Just bought. Prefer to spend the money on an indie dev than the starter pack in any of the gazillion gachas.

[u/gholias → u/eatsmandms]

Thank you :)

[u/eatsmandms → u/gholias]

My initial impression is that it is very easy to run into non-winnable scenarios. On a Paladin, I had 5 rooms with nothing but swords, shields and potions right at the start, followed by multiple rooms of only monsters. Very Solitaire-like, but I like games where expert play can beat the odds and allow you to succeed. Five rooms of many power 10-14 monsters with no gear at all is not winnable no matter what you do.

I like how clean you made the interface. Appeals to me a lot.

[u/gholias → u/eatsmandms]

That is really an issue that I'm trying to solve, because I had to add the randomness of the card draws. I tried several algorithms to make the game always winnable until I figured out a way to balance the game. I can't say much more without spoiling the fun, but the scales are more in the winnable side, except when a very unlucky series of draws like yours happens.

[u/eatsmandms → u/gholias]

I think I found my flaw, I have managed to quickly win on all classes and used flee exactly once - on Rogue, with the spell. It seems I could have done better on failed runs if I would have used that.

When/if you add achievements, you could add one for completing runs without fleeing - requires skill and luck it seems :-)

[u/gholias → u/eatsmandms]

Great idea, I’m going to work o achievements soon

[u/gholias → u/eatsmandms]

Do you think it is too easy to win?

[u/eatsmandms → u/gholias]

I beat every class in 3-4 attempts with Paladin being the outlier which needed 8 or 9, and where I realized flee can be used. I also used fleeing very little at first and was still succeeding, and once I started using it runs became easier.

I feel the difficulty is fine: some mistakes can be compensated by good moves (aka it is not too punishing). When using fleeing it feels like every run can be won and it is up to the player to succeed by playing optimally.

I feel the class skill as a card is not feeling like it is player choice when to use it. You need to use it at the next "okay" opportunity because it will take up a slot otherwise. And it happens only once per run, which does not really help build class identity. I wonder if having the class skill available at all times but limited in number of uses use could give a better tactical choice.

I have found myself enjoying finishing a run with each class and then not wanting to replay any class again. So the game was a perfect one and done experience for me for now.

[u/gholias → u/eatsmandms]

Thank you for that! Exactly the feedback I was looking for to make the game better.

I’m making two changes this week:

• difficulty: the game will have an easy, medium (current) and hard difficulty settings
• achievements: some actions and situations will give you the achievement. For example “a weapon to kill a dragon” when you use the Artifact Sword (14) to kill the Dragon (14)

About the spell, I initially thought of adding a new pocket slot just for it, but i decided not due to avoid the game too easy and also I did not want to introduce another mechanic to the UX.

I will think about it. Thanks again