Dungeon Munchies

Dungeon Munchies is the kind of game that feels like it might be good in another two or three years. Despite the shoddy visuals, awful performance, sloppy movement mechanics, and unoriginal crafting systems, it feels like there could be a good game somewhere in here. With a few tweaks, this combat system might have some promise, and the core loop of crafting-fighting-repeat seems like an interesting riff on the main idea of Monster Hunter. Unfortunately, that potential has yet to fully present itself here - this is an Early Access release with all the issues and lack of cohesion that implies. We'd recommend you pass on Dungeon Munchies, and instead suggest either looking into Dead Cells or Dragon: Marked for Death. There are some quality traits here, but it's not enough to redeem Dungeon Munchies.

Also underbaked is the level design. All levels have the same look and feel to them. This area of gameplay could have spent more time in the oven. The only unique aspect is the enemy design. And the bosses are also well-created. It’s too bad because you can tell a lot of time when designing the baddies, but nothing is memorable without better-designed levels.

Overall, I have to say that Dungeon Munchies is by far one of my favorite games I’ve played recently. I had so much fun with it, and I really enjoyed what it had to offer, especially considering the small size of the team that put it together. If you’re looking for some 2D action platforming experience, I highly recommend you give Dungeon Munchies a try.

I still really enjoyed my time with Dungeon Munchies. It’s a unique game with a truly twisted and delightful sense of humor. Combined with a unique cooking mechanic and tons of ways to customize your experience, I feel it’s a game any fan of the indie scene should check out. I just hope developer maJAJa is able to implement some tweaks to improve the experience, or use what they’ve learned from this game to make their next one even better.

In the end, the impression that I have is that for every positive point, there seem to be at least two negatives. I'm not saying the game is bad altogether. Let's just say it doesn't appeal to everyone. Perhaps the game works better if we savor it slowly, returning to it sporadically to tackle a dungeon or two.

Dungeon Munchies has one really clever idea, which, sadly, doesn’t make up for how mundane the rest of its gameplay and presentation are. The novelty of cooking parts of your fallen enemies and acquiring their powers wears off quickly once you realize the rest of the game is still an ugly platformer with really simplistic combat.

There is quite a bit to like about Dungeon Munchies, but unfortunately, the major components that matter in a video game, especially one that is a side-scrolling action platformer, let the rest of its parts down. The platforming is extremely unwieldy and frustrating. The fact that I have to intentionally injure my character to try to progress through a stage should tell you enough. Throw in the combat that’s just kind of there, and it ultimately just winds up as an unsatisfying gameplay experience. It’s sad really because I liked the story enough to want to keep pushing through, the characters are silly and funny, and it has good music and art design as well. It is quite possible that Chapter 3 gets added to the game eventually, maybe by then some of these issues will be fixed.

Combat wasn't bad, but I always generally wanted more of the better parts of the game, like the slick soundtrack. By the end of my time with Dungeon Munchies, I certainly wasn't full. I felt like it deserved more and could be more, maybe a little more time in the oven.

After seeing the trailer for Dungeon Munchies on the Latest Nintendo Direct Indie Showcase I thought it looked like a fun game that may be right up my street. Unfortunately, even though Dungeon Munchies does have a few things going for it, I found it hard to get through and found myself, in the end, forcing myself to play. I am, however, glad for games like this. The indie space is where the developers can push the boat out and try new things, even if sometimes they don’t quite come off.

Dungeon Munchies looks like a demo of itself or at least a hollow shell of a project that stopped trying before it started. Not all unique indies hit the mark at first but this title seems to get almost everything wrong. There are many similar games on the Nintendo Switch that are much more fun and interesting. Stay away and move on.