DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon Lite - Episode 1
In 1997, Webfoot Technologies released a little game named Deadly Rooms of Death. A turn-based puzzle-strategy game, it quickly became renowned as a first-rate dungeon crawler. As the 3D age begun, Webfoot would drop support for the top-down game, but graciously allowed original developer Erik Hermansen to remake it in an open source model. This game, officially re-dubbed DROD, and released by Caravel Games in 2002. Since then, the company, in conjunction with a vibrant fan community, has published numerous quality sequels, upgrades and level packs. And now, in 2012, another milestone has been reached, with the first game in the DROD series, King Dugan's Dungeon finally receiving a port to the browser. So join Beethro Budkin, exterminator extraordinaire as he clears out every evil critter in DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon Lite - Episode 1!
Episode 1 consists of four floors of monster-fighting action. Move Beethro with the [arrow keys] (though utilizing the diagonals of the [number pad] or its laptop equivilant is recommended), and swing his sword around him clockwise or counterclockwise with the [W] and [Q] keys. Explore each level to find the exit, opening doors by triggering switches and killing various cockroaches, goblins, and other baddies. Each switch can be clicked with the mouse to reveal how it will affect the environment. With every move you make, the baddies will respond with a move of their own (and watch out for those diagonals!). You must use the layout of the rooms to your strategic advantage, and get them before they get you. Scrolls will reveal new information, stepping on a red x-tile will save your progress as a checkpoint, and [R] can be pressed to restart any room from the beginning. New elements are introduced over time, and much of the joy of the game comes from seeing how they combine to make new types of puzzles.
With its emphasis on exploration and puzzle-solving, King Dugan's Dungeon Lite - Episode 1 is a perfect gateway for those intimidated by turn-based strategy, while still fun for hardcore genre fans looking for the challenge of finding optimal solutions. As an intro to the series, quite of bit of time is spent on the tutorial, which is to be expected even if it is a bit of a slow start. Stick around though, and you'll fall in love with the game's cunning design and impish sense of humor. One drawback worth mentioning is access to the high score charts is limited to paid Caravel Game members, though if you become that addicted, it's certainly worth it. So c'mon, try it! After all... the first one's free... (Mwah-ha-ha-ha!)
Walkthrough Guide
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DROD Ep. 1 Walkthrough
Movement sequences use numpad and Q/W. The spaces are just to make it easier to read.
Backswipe
What you're doing is killing monsters by running past them without swinging your sword.
Visual guide: (B)eethro, (S)word, (R)oach, (_)floor
before:
_R_
SB_
after:
_SB
___
Level 1 Secrets and Achievements
True Smitemaster (1:6N,2W)
To clear last section without using the alcove: point sword NW to hit orb, then move:
111 QWQW 6 QWQWQWQW QWQWQW 6 QWQWQWQWQ 4444 4444 4444 4
Steady Hand (1:4N,2W; 1:4N,1W; 1:5N,1W; 1:5N,2W; 1:6N,1W)
1:4N,2W
You can't kill the top roach the first time you enter the room.
To clear the room without turning your sword, you have to come in from the East with your sword pointing West.
1:4N,1W
Enter with your sword pointing East.
1:5N,1W
Enter with your sword pointing West and backswipe each roach.
1:5N,2W
Enter with sword pointing East.
1:6N,1W
Enter with sword pointing South. Clear the roachs roughly left to right: lower left, upper, middle, middle down, middle right, then go to lower left to get the last ones into middle lower.
Secret 1:1
Entrance is from 1:6N,2W
Don't turn your sword! Hit the orb, then move:
7777 8 7 4444 111 2 9
Secret: 1:2
Entrance is from 1:6N,1W
Enter with sword pointing NW, move straight East to first arrow, wait twice, and turn.
Secret: 1:3
Entrance is from 1:2N (through 1:3N)
I found it easiest to spiral in clockwise. Just be careful not to destroy too many walls too soon.
Posted by: Konrad
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June 22, 2012 4:54 PM
Level 2 Secrets and Achievements
Calm Arm (2:3N)
Enter with sword pointing West. After opening each of the first two top gates, move all the way left then back right, then alternate up and down to kill the roaches. After opening the last gate, move below the right queen and wait for roaches to follow. Once you've killed that group, go kill the queens.
Queenburger (2:2E)
After hitting the orb, wait on the savepoint until she lays eggs. The new roaches will keep her blocked in.
One-way Ticket (2:1S)
I did it with my sword pointing West and lots and lots of backswiping.
Be Quick! (2:2S,2E)
Enter from 2S,3E lined up with closet queen and sword facing W. Kill closet queen, move diagonally down once to kill next queen against pink thing.
Be Fast! (2:2S,3E)
Enter from the secret room with your sword pointing East. Do not touch the savepoint.
I Woke Up and Just Hated Everything (2:1N,1E)
Destroy all fragile walls in this room.
Secret 2:1
Entrance is from 2:2N (through 2:1N)
Enter from the upper square.
Step 1:
456 4444 4 6666 5555 55 6 4444 4444 4444 4444 4444 4444 4 (upper X)
Step 2:
2222 2222 2222 2222 2222 2 (don't touch the X!) 3 66 5555 5555 4 666 4444 4 (now touch it)
Step 3:
8888 8888 8888 8888 8888 9 666 56 4444 1 2222 2222 2222 2 8888 8888 8888 (it should be out now)
Secret 2:2
Entrance is from 2:2S,3E
Queens don't lay eggs on red tiles, so make sure she's in one of the bottom corners when the spawn timer runs out.
Secret 2:3
Entrance is from 2:2S
Move around the arrows when she's surrounded by eggs.
Posted by: Konrad
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June 22, 2012 7:53 PM
Walkthrough part 3
Level 3 Secrets and Achievements
Get the Scroll (3:2N)
Hit the orb with sword SE, then move:
8 99 77 8
Kill the roaches that can reach you. There are now 2 left of you and one right. Point sword NE and move:
2 3 9 QQQ 2 44
Visibility (3:1N,1W)
Not too hard, just start with the roaches below you.
Invisibless (3:1N,2W)
Enter with sword pointing west, move diagonally up and kill all queens on top half. Then slowly work your way clockwise.
Speeding (3:1N,1E)
Use secret passage from entrance room, and move diagonally to secret wall.
The Eight Gates of Bill (3:1S)
Number the orbs 1-9 starting at the top, and touch them in this order:
4, 3, 6, 2, 7.
Fine Roach Control (3:2N,1E)
Enter from the bottom entrance. Get the top two roaches to bottom middle, then move them to the S shaped dead end upper left while bottom roach moves to dead end above where it started. Then lead all to the exit (make sure the third gets all the way down).
The Mystery (3:3N)
Use the secret passage from the entrance to enter room from the east.
I've Got an Eye on You
I did this in the upper corner of 3:3N,1E.
Secret 3:1
Entrance from 3:1N,2W
See Invisibless.
Secret 3:2
Enter by going south from 3:2S,2W
Point sword W, move all right to chase queens to bottom, then move to bottom to chase them up, move diagonally to get potion, place mimic on open square and kill queens.
Secret 3:3
Enter by going west from 3:2S,2W
This took so long I forget exactly how I stated. I believe I had my sword pointing NE, used the bottom alcove to flush out the bottom row of queens, killed the right row and some of the top row. Do not go into the alcoves any more! Then somehow I finished off the top row until only the left row remained. Then I repeatedly charged across the board (sometimes diagonally) with sword pointing west, got the roaches all above or below me, then turned my sword diagonal so I could backswipe while retreating. Once I mastered this, I was able to get close enough to kill a queen or two on each trip.
Posted by: Konrad
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June 23, 2012 6:24 PM
Level 4 Secrets and Achievements
Don't Look Back (4:1N)
Sword pointing SE, move up and down to spread the right roaches into a single line, use mimic potion to put clone SE of orb, then from the top right of corridor move:
9 W 6 222222
Be careful not to go back into the corridor when clearing the rest of the roaches.
Alone with the Roaches (4:1S,1E)
Kill the upper groups of roaches while standing above the potion. Then move around to arrange the west roaches into a rectangle 2 wide and 3 tall. Then turn sword NW and backswipe your way down to the lower left obstacle.
Pits are Pretty (4:1S,2E)
Mimics need to kill roaches first (note destructable walls). For the third area trapdoors, do lower right, lower left, and for last group come from the bottom and move N, W, N, E.
Emptiness of Nothingness (4:2S,1E)
Place mimic below roach, kill roach, move diagonally to get mimic past arrow, then clear trapdoors starting on the left.
Good Style (4:2E)
I kept trying to make this much harder than it was: you get the achievement when nine mimics are trapped by the arrows. I first did it with a line of them starting NE of Beethro and extending up, with one outside the inner room, but making a line left of the orb may work too (I assumed that was the easy way to beat the room, so I didn't try it until after I got the achievement).
Secret 4:1
Entrance from 4:1N
Don't kill the queens yet! Kill the center eyes, then move right and wait for eggs. Use eggs and roaches to kill rest of eyes on right. Turn sword N without killing queen, wait for egg, kill queen, let roach push you to right queen, killing two middle queens. Now kill pushing roach and wait under queen for egg with sword SW. Moment egg appears move all left, kill new roach, queen, and eyes.
Secret 4:2
Entrance from 4:1N,2E
Kill the right lower eye, use the other to block mimic before killing, then use wall to block mimic once, then use sideways arrows to kill last eye.
Secret 4:3
Entrance from 4:1N,1E
This is the entrance to the Mastery level.
Mastery
Complete all 12 secret rooms.
Posted by: Konrad
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June 24, 2012 7:08 PM
Conclusion of the Walkthrough
Resetting and Restoring Rooms
If you clear a room but fail the achievement, you can rewind to a previous savepoint and try again (clear flag is saved when you leave the room). You can also restore to a previously cleared room from the title screen or ESC menu, but then you'll have to repeat all the rooms you cleared after it, so I always leave rooms uncleared if I can't figure out the achievement.
Mimic Potions
When you touch a mimic potion it creates a mimic that you can place on any empty floor tile (same rules as for queens laying eggs). Move it with movement keys and place with wait key, or use mouse to click where you want it. If you can't place it on the current tile, its background will be red.
Post-mastery
1N,1W
Go counter-clockwise around the center.
1N,2W
Get bottom queen to meet upper right queen, then move back and forth on top side to get both near exit. Then push third queen down next to west facing arrow, get bottom two queens out, kill outside queens.
1E
Enter from East, lower part of entrance. Wait for roaches to reach the wraitwing, then move:
1 88 7 444 66
The rest is easy.
2E
Use alcoves to get roaches onto arrows and all the way left they can go. Then move to bottom savepoint and point sword NW and move:
99999 QQ 88 77 QQ 44444 Q 66
1S,1E
Enter on right side of entrance with sword East, move:
2222 222 333 4 111 4 777 444
Put mimic with lower left queen, then move:
3333 333 64
Clear rest of traps, make sure you're at top next spawn. Use top potion with top queen, then last potion with last queen.
1N,1E
Lock room, put mimic under orb, kill eyes and hit top orb, then point sword SW and move:
3 3 4 6 4 7 6 2 6 4 7 8 33 4 6 4 8 44
Then just walk around to the queen. (This probably isn't the intended solution, but it's the only one I could get to work.)
Posted by: Konrad
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June 25, 2012 5:03 PM