In which I refuse to use the phrase 'Knowledge Metroidvania'...

Last weekend, after being let down by the dismal Blue Prince, I played through realMyst (2014) and then Riven (2024). They are some of the best games of all time. The environments and atmospheres are like nothing else. A curious part is that the 'puzzles' are closer to archaeology than anything else: most of your time is spent operating or deducing the nature of mechanisms from context. This usually involves codes or con-langs, but sometimes requires deductions based on the layout of the structure or even the culture/environment of the past inhabitants.

It's made me want to write a dungeon that allows a similar level of engagement and puzzle solving. I think it could be an interesting experiment to combine this kind of play with more traditional dungeon crawling elements (combat, resource/hireling management, tabletop improvisation, faction/NPC politicking)! Some ideas of things I could include are:

• strange numbering systems
• doors that require (multiple) keys
• clues that don't initially register as clues
• following pipes and wires and mechanisms
• items that have been broken but can be re-assembled
• rotating rooms or closing doors that force alternate routes
• equipment that reveals secrets
• switches that unlock or reveal barred passages
• Scrawled clues or documents
• Murals that provide clues
• Fast travel that requires unlocking 'stations' or the inputting of codes

The only dungeon that does this, as far as I'm aware, is Arden Vul. While I have problems with the verboseness and some of the room keys, it's one of the only things that has done the legwork (and to do something like this you need a lot of legwork). The dungeon has:

• teleporters with an address system
• a lot of fully written or fleshed-out old documents
• a consistent mythology and history that you can make deductions based on
• Hidden items that reactivate mechanisms and change the nature of the dungeon
• Big 'levers' that significantly alter the layout or contents of the dungeon
• distinct 'layers' and architectural styles that
• the Obsidian Gates!
• Repositionable statues that are hinted at through murals (with deeper murals suggesting secret solutions and functions)

I think that to pull off something like this, you need a good amount of 'breathing room' for the puzzle pieces to sit in. If there's only keys and locks, it will probably feel stifling or artificial. This is something that Riven is aware of: there is a lot of traversing nice but 'unnecessary' environments. This is also why Arden Vul's 'archaeological' elements have captured my imagination so much since I read it: despite having so much lore, I think less than 10% of the 1000 rooms tie into the mysteries or puzzles of the place.

That's why this morning I sat down and generated part of a dungeon using some compiled tables from the AD&D DM's handbook and OSE. I'd previously put together and printed out a bunch of the tables. However, after spending an hour or so playing around with the tools and 'filling in the gaps', I felt unsatisfied with the method. It looks nice, but I think I can do better.

That's why I brewed up my own method and wrote up this post. I've previously been good at generating a random layout with donjon and hallucinating the contents and inhabitants just from a map. This is just me riffing on the Wolves hexfill procedure in order to make my own version of that.

I don't think the following procedure will work for everyone, but it provides me with just enough of a prompt to imagine a complex's history and logic before then embarking on the legwork of linking up the errant passages on the map and writing up the rest of the room keys on the page.

Hope this has given you some ideas!

A Dungeon-Fill Procedure

1. Rooms

You enter a room. Note the nature of the room.

Then, note size.

Then, note exits.

2. Passages

When you come down a passage, roll once. For longer passages, roll twice. For highways, roll thrice.

At every doorway or junction, 1-in-6 chance of a door.

3. Other features

4. Finally

Sense the logic:

• Determine zones and territories.
• Connect rooms with corridors and ideas.
• Spill features and inhabitants into adjacent chambers.
• Block and hide passages.
• Add switches and keys that uncover them.