Dungeon crawler

The dungeon crawling concept refers to RPGs in which the exploration and progression lies on guiding a single character or a party of characters in a dungeon-like environment. The word dungeon is used with an ample definition in this genre, relating to any levels or areas acting as mazes or labyrinths, featuring multiple paths and courses. Dungeon crawlers are not defined by specific core game aspects such as movement, perspective and combat. For this reason, the term is commonly attributed in conjunction with other RPG sub-genres, such as action and turn-based RPGs. This genre is closely related to the roguelike genre due the featuring of dungeon-based exploration in such games. However, roguelikes are primarily defined by several other distinct mechanics which weigh beyond the general dungeon crawling aspect, hence the differentiation of the genres.

pedit5 is regarded as the first dungeon crawler video game. Other notable games from the genre include Legend of Grimrock, Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Wizardry, Might and Magic, The Bard's Tale and Shin Megami Tensei.