What is it with monstrous eating mechanics in games of late? Last week it was carnivorous post-Soviet elevators, now it’s retro fantasy RPGs that devour themselves. In Super Dungeon Muncher, you are a teeny-tiny hero navigating a corridor-shaped map full of fireball traps and crumbling platforms, spinning coins and patrolling critters. That’s the “Super Dungeon” part. The “Muncher” part refers to the corpulent red monster guzzling the whole level in your wake.
Much like our own The Maw, the Muncher is a creature that operates according to its own understanding of time and physics. You and all the creatures within each dungeon map are locked to a grid and take turns to move, as in, say, Shiren The Wanderer. The Muncher, however, exists in real time, reaching gluttonous hands out to grasp the map’s edges and drag everything into its gullet. It’s sort of like rewinding a video of a printer, except that printers have better table manners.
In addition to staying ahead of the Muncher’s gnashing molars, you’ll need to perform such traditional RPG duties as buying new weapons and kit from swiftly-masticated shopkeepers, finding keys for locks, and destroying or circumventing obstacles such as trees or cracked blocks. Speed is of the essence, but it looks like you can also delay or even deter your ravenous nemesis by feeding it less tasty things like toilets.
Super Dungeon Muncher is out today on Steam and eventually Itch.io and Google Play. For a more wholesome species of edible game, check out former L.A. Noire developer Jenn Sandercock’s creations.
