dungeon crawler
noun
: a video game where the gameplay is primarily focused on defeating enemies while exploring a usually randomly generated labyrinthine or dungeon-like environment
A dungeon crawler is a genre of … game where a player must guide a character through increasingly difficult levels of dungeons while confronting monsters, traps, and other obstacles.—
Christopher Breen
Christopher BreenOriginally conceived to be an expansion for Daggerfall, Battlespire is a more "pure" dungeon crawler that forgoes many broader role-playing elements in favor of handing you a weapon, sending you into a dangerous pit, and allowing you to grow … your character as you work your way to safety and glory.—Matthew Byrd
Matthew ByrdExamples of dungeon crawler in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Old school computer gamers will be intimately familiar with the dungeon crawler genre, popularized by games like Wizardry and Eye of the Beholder, which involves moving in first-person on a grid, taking on monsters, finding treasure and delving deeper into a labyrinth.
—
Jason Bennett,
Arkansas Online,
28 June 2026
The author of this newsletter has joined the legions of fans obsessed with the postapocalyptic story of a pantsless man and his talking cat, who have been forced to play in a dungeon crawler style video game, but for real!
—
Alex Knapp,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2026
Most dungeon crawlers explore the heroes role, but fewer games take the perspective of the support characters who help the wizards and warriors on their journey.
—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
11 Dec. 2025
The 2000 action-RPG (ARPG) by Blizzard Entertainment has long been considered the gold standard for fantasy dungeon crawlers, and is generally thought of as one of the best games ever made.
—
Diego Argüello,
Rolling Stone,
6 Dec. 2024
There's a lot of excitement surrounding the dungeon crawler and, as expected, a lot of questions.
—
Jason Fields,
Newsweek,
5 Dec. 2024
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Jason Bennett,
Arkansas Online,
28 June 2026
The author of this newsletter has joined the legions of fans obsessed with the postapocalyptic story of a pantsless man and his talking cat, who have been forced to play in a dungeon crawler style video game, but for real!
—
Alex Knapp,
Forbes.com,
5 June 2026
Most dungeon crawlers explore the heroes role, but fewer games take the perspective of the support characters who help the wizards and warriors on their journey.
—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
11 Dec. 2025
The 2000 action-RPG (ARPG) by Blizzard Entertainment has long been considered the gold standard for fantasy dungeon crawlers, and is generally thought of as one of the best games ever made.
—
Diego Argüello,
Rolling Stone,
6 Dec. 2024
There's a lot of excitement surrounding the dungeon crawler and, as expected, a lot of questions.
—
Jason Fields,
Newsweek,
5 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Dungeon crawler.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dungeon%20crawler. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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