ABOUT DUNGEON CRAWL 94

A Dream Project Built One Night at a Time

Dungeon Crawl 94: What Was Taken is an independent dungeon-crawling RPG created by solo developer Devon Underwood.

I'm not a full-time game developer. I'm a plumber and small business owner from Tennessee with a background in computers and IT. Making a video game was simply something I had wanted to do for a long time.

Eventually, I decided to stop thinking about making one and actually do it.

Dungeon Crawl 94 was developed over roughly six months, mostly in the evenings after work and family responsibilities. What started as a personal project gradually grew into a complete RPG released on Steam, Android, and iOS.

WHY “94”?

I was born in 1994, and the game was designed around my love for the games I grew up playing.

Dungeon Crawl 94 intentionally embraces an old-school approach to gaming. It doesn't try to tell you exactly where to go or explain every secret.

You're expected to explore.

You're expected to get lost sometimes.

You're expected to experiment, discover things, make mistakes, and figure out how the world works.

That sense of discovery is a major part of what I wanted the game to capture.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF DUNGEON CRAWLER

Dungeon Crawl 94 combines traditional RPG mechanics with a unique perspective-based rendering system designed specifically for the game.

The world is built on a grid, but the renderer transforms that grid into a curved, pseudo-3D perspective as the player explores.

Behind that presentation is a traditional RPG with character stats, classes, equipment, magic, merchants, crafting, companions, quests, secrets, randomized elements, and multiple ways to approach combat and exploration.

Some things are easy to find.

Others aren't.

There are mechanics and secrets that players may completely miss on their first playthrough.

That's intentional.

BUILT BY ONE PERSON

Dungeon Crawl 94 was designed, programmed, balanced, tested, and assembled primarily as a solo project.

That means it doesn't have the budget or development team of a major studio.

What it does have is a lot of experimentation.

I was able to build unusual systems, hide things in strange places, and occasionally leave mechanics alone simply because I thought they were fun.

Even some unintended strategies and exploits became part of the experience.

If you discover a clever way of doing something that I didn't anticipate, that's part of the fun.

WHY I MADE IT

One of the biggest reasons I finally committed to making Dungeon Crawl 94 was my family.

I have children watching what I do, and I wanted them to see that having an idea isn't the same thing as pursuing it.

You don't have to quit your job or completely change your life to try something you've always wanted to do.

Sometimes you work during the day, come home, take care of your responsibilities, and then spend a couple of hours building something.

Eventually, those hours add up.

Dungeon Crawl 94 is the result of those hours.

AND NOW THERE'S A $1,000 CHALLENGE

After releasing the game, I decided to do something a little unusual.

I'm putting a $1,000 cash prize behind a special Dungeon Crawl 94 skill challenge.

Players will have to prove that they understand the game well enough—and survive long enough—to complete a specific set of objectives on Hard difficulty.

The full Challenge details, Gameplay Rule Book, eligibility requirements, and Official Rules are available on the $1,000 Challenge section of this website once published.

THANK YOU FOR PLAYING

Whether you spend a few hours with Dungeon Crawl 94 or decide to hunt down every secret I buried in it, thank you for giving an independent game a chance.

I made the game I wanted to make.

Now it's yours to explore.

— Devon Underwood
Creator of Dungeon Crawl 94: What Was Taken