17 Best Dungeon Crawler Games to Play on Android and iOS

There is something about spells, monsters, treasures, dungeons, and one hero to conquer them all that makes dungeon crawler games appealing. This is how we all came to know the video game Pedit5. Developed in 1975 by Rusty Rutherford on the PLATO interactive education system, many dungeon crawler games have been developed from the heels of this “Original Gangster” that first introduced the ability to save characters for later games.

It appeals to many because of the plethora of elements in the gameplay and battle mechanics. So, whether you are tired of mobile strategy games or the need to slay a monster is gnawing right through your skin, dungeon crawler games might be your perfect escape.

Related: Top 25 Android Strategy Games You Should Download

What is a Dungeon Crawler Game?

As stated in the title, dungeon crawler games do involve a dungeon where most of the gameplay takes place. The hero is often conflicted by a labyrinthine pathway, teeming with monsters and other forms of challenges. The majority of these games use classic turn-based combat tactics in demanding encounters.

Objectives per game vary, depending on the storyline they follow. That is a feature that makes this game an escape – you don’t get the same storyline in each game. Similar to strategy games, the hero gets to decide the outcome of the game by choosing the moves to make, the spells to cast, and the tactics to employ in order to beat the enemies. The changes in internal storylines and how the gameplay is tailored to that show how different and ambitious the genre has become since 1975.

Best Dungeon Crawler Games on Play Store and App Store

Revive the fun of the genuine adventure games inspired by some of the best RPG games in the market today. This list has a rundown of the 17 best dungeon crawler games available to download on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

1. Caves

Caves (roguelike) is one of the most popular games in the dungeon crawler niche. Staying true to the elements of the genre, players will have to crawl through dungeons and defeat the enemies crossing their paths. Along the way, players will have to collect loots and other essential items to help them progress through the labyrinthine dungeons and advance to the next level. Moreover, Caves is characterized by its retro-style pixel graphics and controls that are fairly comprehensible for mobile platforms.

Download Caves for Android

2. Yet Another Pixel Dungeon

Yet Another Pixel Dungeon is a classic roguelike game for mobile with source codes fashioned after Pixel Dungeon v.1.7.5. This game has so much to offer to players, making it more appealing than the other spin-offs of the original Pixel Dungeon game. Indeed, this game challenges players’ abilities to think fast considering even the environment can turn against them while the game is in progress. Of course, players can expect the usual suspects in gameplay and elements such as collecting loots, difficulty level options, and a whole lot of dungeons to go about.

Download Yet Another Pixel Dungeon for Android

3. Moonshades: Dungeon Crawler RPG

Players who enjoyed legendary dungeon crawler games like Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder will surely find Moonshades: Dungeon Crawler RPG just as fun and adventurous. Moonshades is still growing and evolving, with an aim to revive some of the best old-school RPG and puzzle gaming experiences.

Moonshades follow the story of the Kingdom named Harten, which has been invaded and since plagued by demons from another realm. This has left anyone foolish and brave alike trembling and lying on the grounds of the city. The known survivors are now in hiding on the mountain called Greydawn. As if to give hope to end the nightmare once and for all, two wanderers arrived to fight the demons and close the portal where they all came from once and for all.

Download Moonshades for Android

Download Moonshades for iOS

4. Battle Chasers: Nightwar

This game will surely give players a run for their time. This turn-based role-playing video game has been developed by Airship Syndicate and published by THQ Nordic. It was initially released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in October 2017, which was followed by the release for Nintendo Switch and Linux in 2018.

This dungeon crawler game is hailed for its old-school anime-inspired RPG gameplay from the 90s like Final Fantasy, but recent updates have included more modern and fresh ideas in its combats to make it more interesting even to this day. The recent updates of Battle Chasers included the addition of tactical tempo in action sources and resource management.

Download Battle Chasers for Android

Download Battle Chasers for iOS

5. Quest of Dungeons

Quest of Dungeons is one of those decent dungeon crawler games available for iOS and Android. Your role as the hero is to defeat the evil Dark Lord who has stolen all the light. Your goal is to locate his lair by passing through procedural labyrinths where you would not find items/enemies in the same place in each round of play.

Strategy in this game is exhibited by turn-based movement like some roguelikes. The gameplay is quite simple: navigate through the dungeon, loot as many as you can, and survive the enemies that teem the area. In addition, players would get to enjoy four difficulties, boss encounters, and the all-important permanent death. The game is inexpensive and the graphics are better than most other dungeon crawlers.

Download Quest of Dungeons for iOS

Download Quest of Dungeons for Android

6. Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition

Don’t Starve is a fun survival roguelike game (just as what the name of the game suggests) that has permanent character death and maps that are randomly generated.

Imagine this: you are stranded in the wilderness and the goal is to survive. You have to take advantage of your surroundings and the creatures that teem it in order to survive. It isn’t exactly a roguelike dungeon crawler game, but it does feel like one at the very least.

Download Don’t Starve for iOS

Download Don’t Starve for Android

7. Space Grunts 2

Space Grunts is one of those deck-builder dungeon crawling games that combine turn-based gameplay and 1950s Roblox settings. The game level begins with the hero being sent to a planet to investigate a distress signal. Challenges befall the hero as he sweeps the terrain through. The hero has access to a deck of card options as he goes through the game. The cards replaced the usual tools and loot options and contain the hero’s options to defend himself, what to do with items collected along the way, and the sorts.

What distinguishes Space Grunts 2 from its predecessor is the addition of the deck-building feature through its gameplay.

Download Space Grunts 2 for Android

Download Space Grunts 2 for iOS

8. Sproggiwood

This Freehold Games-developed dungeon crawler game is another roguelike game. Many players agree that this game has the best graphics in this genre. It has the typical gameplay of most dungeon crawling games: players enter dungeons, loot them, defeat enemies, and survive by dodging death. Recent updates of the app introduced more options and playable characters.

However, some players would not give other games a run for their money by paying for a Sproggiwood premium pass. For one, there is no campaign mode in the game, which is a big shake-my-head for the game. Hopefully, this is what developers are still working on.

Download Sproggiwood for Android

Download Sproggiwood for iOS

9. Void Tyrant

Void Tyrant is yet another dungeon crawling game that combines card collecting and other roguelike game experiences. The gameplay includes collecting cards, building decks, and playing cards to avoid figuring in trouble. While the free version of the game does include the whole game, the premium version offers achievements and leaderboards.

Players might want to go for the premium version because some players complained the “Watch an ad to get back in the fight!” revival feature is not worth the time. Nonetheless, the game is well thought of and original when it comes to its objectives and storylines.

Download Void Tyrant for Android

Download Void Tyrant for iOS

10. Pathos: Nethack Codex

Pathos is one of the older games in the genre and has consistently provided updates to make it more playable to this day. Despite its graphics fairing below average and its controls being more complex than normal, its gameplay is quite good. Players can expect similar gameplay mechanics to Nethack, a classic ASCII roguelike game from the early 1980s. The beauty of this game is that it is advertisement-free, giving players more time to enjoy descending into the dungeons and defeating the big bad guy.

Some players even say this is a great dungeon crawler game to play even on midranges and budget phones.

Download Pathos for Android

Download Pathos for iOS

11. Eternium

Eternium (formerly known as Mage and Minions) is a game developed by fanatics of RPG who then squeezed the best elements in this game. The game size is extremely huge due to the crisp graphics used in this dungeon crawler game.

A lot of players have given this game a thumbs up because of its effortless “tap to move” and innovative “swipe to cast” controls. And this has been further supported by its principle of “no paywalls, never pay to win”. The game is completely free to play and making purchases are optional using Gems (the in-game currency).

Download Eternium for Android

Download Eternium for iOS

12. Ailment

Ailment is a roguelike dungeon crawler game set in a spaceship where the hero wakes up after three days of deep sleep in a distant galaxy. He wakes up knowing all his crewmen are now his enemies. He has to go on a quest to find out the truth about what happened before he went unconscious.

Players did commend the game for its storyline and great gameplay. All of these come on top of great pixelated graphics. However, some players are not big fans of the graphics, saying the frame rate is sketchy.

Download Ailment for Android

Download Ailment for iOS

13. Soul Knight

In Soul Knight, the magical stone that maintains balance in the world has been stolen by aliens, throwing the world at the mercy of a thin line. As complex as the storyline goes, the gameplay of this game is quite easy, smooth, and simple. The game employs classic roguelike elements, making this the best shooter game one could find for mobile.

The best things about this game are its graphics and the ability to play the game offline. The only downside this game has is it does not allow a multiplayer connection and has few P2W in-app purchases.

Download Soul Knight for Android

Download Soul Knight for iOS

14. Elemental Dungeon

This dungeon crawl game requires the hero to navigate through random dungeons and summon the four elements to cast powerful spells to defeat the hoards of monsters that lurk on the map. The gameplay is quite similar to other roguelike games wherein the hero finds powerful items, meets and defeats powerful creatures, and solves the mysteries of the dungeon by playing unique classes.

Unlike Soul Knight, Elemental Dungeon allows multiplayer connection — enabling players to invite friends to their quests to make the game more fun. However, some players reported the energy drops for completing levels are so little. Some think this makes progression painfully slow and find the pits inconsequential.

Download Elemental Dungeon for Android

Download Elemental Dungeon for iOS

15. Rust Bucket

Rust Bucket is a turn-based dungeon crawler game whose gameplay is fast, making it perfect when a player is on a commute. Players are able to explore dungeons the deeper a player goes along the game. The game has distinct enemies teeming each dungeon with their own set of rules to overcome.

However, some players are irked by the ads across the game, with some saying players would still get cross-promotion despite buying the premium version. Nonetheless, the majority of the players commend the degree of difficulty embedded in each level, with some claiming it gets better on each quest.

Download Rust Bucket for Android

Download Rust Bucket for iOS

16. Dark Raider

Dark Raider is the new offer from the creators of action-filled games like Tribemen. The gameplay includes the usual raiding of dungeons, challenging and fighting waves of enemies, and defeating powerful bosses of random maps generated within the game.

Some players reported the game has a good concept which has not been exhausted well. Others say it is very old-school and Diablo-like. A few others say the way the character can only attack horizontally is what makes the game lame. Nonetheless, others think the game is pretty solid and has a great combination of moves and techniques.

Download Dark Raider for Android

Download Dark Raider for iOS

17. Minimal Dungeon RPG

Minimal Dungeon RPG is considered an awesome loot-heavy dungeon crawler game for Android and iOS. Like what its name suggests, everything in the game is pretty much minimalistic — from its NPCs, creatures, and resources that can be collected. Despite that, the gameplay remains the same as traditional RPG and is pretty much roguelike.

Some players reported the game has a different take on illustrating the world. Some say its simplistic user interface is satisfying enough to make them play more frequently, while others assert the game could have been more rogue-light instead. Players will have the ability to go in and out of dungeons, and have the ability to continue from where they left off — something that is not available in other games.

Download Minimal Dungeon for Android

Download Minimal Dungeon for iOS

Final Thoughts for Dungeon Crawler Fans

It may have come to your mind that these games are no different from other strategies, MOBA, and RPG games available on the App Store and Google Play Store. At one point, that might be true. But, it might have also crossed your mind that there are elements that significantly differentiate these games among others. No matter the nuances in elements and gameplay, one thing is for sure — these games will surely give you a run for your time — wherever, whenever.