The game is surprisingly complex in its paper-scissors-stone premise; revolving around the Dungeon the player creates in every aspect. Buying Rooms for the Dungeon attracts new monsters, with the decisions of which Rooms and their arrangement drastically altering the quantity and types of enemies that will appear. Battling monsters leads to money and items, which in turn lead to more Rooms, better equipment and ingredients for Meals. Meals improve your character's stats, allowing you to battle stronger enemies. The strings behind the puppet show are clear as day, but don't ever prevent it from being an incredibly absorbing pastime...
An ambitious but novice dungeon maker arrives in a small town known to suffer periodic attacks from violent monsters. He buys a vast plot of land at the outskirts of the town to create a grand dungeon in hopes of luring in various enemy monsters which to hunt to collect gold and items. He envisions his complete dungeon to be one so appealing as to lure the legendary Wandering Demon. Defeating this menacing monster would free the townspeople from the fear he casts upon them, while winning acclaim as a true dungeon maker for the "Architect."
Dungeon Maker is a nice little game package which will suit younger gamers - ideally those who haven't had too much experience of other role playing, turn based battle games with constant monster battling and grinding. It will no doubt be good training, and stand them in good stead for the future with its 30+ hours of gameplay.
Although being the idea of being a dungeon master is oddly appealing at first, it doesn't take long for tedium to settle in. Rising Star would have been better off bringing the Rune Factory games over here instead.
