How to play · Rules

How to play Dungeons of Gloom

Full guide: gather a party of heroes, explore rooms, fight by rolling dice, collect loot and reach the exit alive. Controls on muta.pro and tactics for beginners.

Play now

In brief

Goal
Lead the party to the exit
Players
1–4
Game
30–60 min
Difficulty
Hard
Genre
Role-playing

Goal of the game

Dungeons of Gloom is a cooperative adventure where a small party of heroes descends into gloomy catacombs. Your task is to bring at least one hero to the exit cell (it is marked with a door 🚪 in the far corner) without losing the whole party. Victory comes when a hero reaches the exit: the «Escape successful!» screen appears. But if all heroes fall (each one’s health drops to zero), the game is lost — «The party has fallen».

Preparation

The party has up to four heroes of different classes — warrior, mage, archer, healer. Each has their own stats: health pool, attack modifier, damage die and a set of items in the inventory. The dungeon is a grid of rooms and corridors; monsters lurk in some places, chests with loot stand in others, and the exit waits in the far corner. Heroes act in turn — the active character is highlighted with a «TURN» marker.

How a turn unfolds

Movement

On your turn, click an adjacent free cell and the hero steps onto it. Cells available for a move are highlighted in blue. Each turn a hero crosses several cells, exploring rooms and corridors.

Attack

An enemy in an adjacent cell is highlighted in red. Click it or use the «⚔ Attack» button — dice are rolled: a d20 to hit plus a modifier against the enemy’s defense, and a d6 for damage on a hit.

Crits and misses

A «twenty» rolled on the d20 is a critical hit with double damage, a «one» is a miss. The die glows green on a crit and red on a fumble, so the result of the roll is visible at once.

Searching for loot

Stand on a cell with a chest and press «🔍 Search» — the hero searches it and gets random loot: a healing potion or a unique item that goes into the inventory.

End of turn

Press «End turn →» to pass play to the next living hero. Once every hero in the party has acted, the monsters strike — and a new round begins.

How it looks: sample turns

Typical situations in the dungeon. Blue tokens are your heroes, red ones are monsters. A blue frame shows where you can step, a red one whom you can strike, the door 🚪 is the exit.

🪨
🪨
🛡
🪨
🚪
Movement. The active hero (gold frame) can step onto any adjacent cell highlighted in blue. The goal is to work your way to the exit 🚪.
🪨
🪨
🏹
🧟
🛡
🐺
🪨
Attack. An enemy in an adjacent cell is outlined in red. Click it — the dice rolls begin. Stay as a party to hit one target with two heroes.
20
d20 · crit!
×
d6 · damage ×2
Critical hit. A «twenty» came up on the d20 — the hit is guaranteed and the d6 damage is doubled. A «one» on the d20, on the contrary, is always a miss.
🧪Healing vial+8 to health
Hero health
💎Gem of Gloomitem into inventory
Loot from a chest. A search yields a potion or an item. When the health bar turns red (below a third), drink a potion before going back into battle.

Victory and defeat

There is no numeric score in the dungeon — the outcome is binary. Victory if a hero reaches the exit cell 🚪: the party is credited with a successful escape. Defeat if all heroes die — each one’s health drops to zero under the monsters’ onslaught. So protect the healer, heal with potions and don’t go into battle wounded: one fallen hero weakens the whole party, since the monsters strike every round.

Controls on muta.pro

🖱️
Step by cell
Click an adjacent highlighted cell and the active hero moves onto it.
⚔️
«⚔ Attack» button
Click the enemy’s red cell or the attack button — the d20 and d6 dice rolls begin.
🔍
«🔍 Search» button
Standing on a chest, search it and get a potion or item into the hero’s inventory.
⏭️
«End turn →»
Passes the turn to the next hero; the party and the log are shown on the left, with the dice and chat below.

Tips for beginners

Stick together

A party bunched together covers the wounded and hits one target with several heroes — the enemy is easier to finish off.

Protect the healer

Don’t expose the healer to blows: they raise the fallen and keep the party’s health in the green.

Search the chests

Potions and items from chests are your only source of healing and reinforcement deep down.

Don’t charge in wounded

The health bar turns red in the danger zone — retreat and heal up before attacking.

Party strategy

The Dungeons of Gloom are won not by one hero's strength but by positional discipline: monsters hit every round, so what matters is not "how much damage did I deal" but "how many hits did I take". A party that moves as a single group and opens up one enemy at a time loses half as much health as a lone hero charging ahead.

Hold a two-cell front

Lead the party through corridors and narrow passages where only one or two monsters can reach you. In an open room the enemies surround the hero from all sides and each deals damage on its own turn.

Warrior in front, healer behind

Send in the hero with the most health first — he takes the hits. The healer and archer follow behind him, striking and healing from there without coming under the monsters' reply.

Focus one target

Two heroes on adjacent cells finish off one monster per round. A dead enemy no longer hits — that cuts incoming damage faster than wounding two by half.

Keep potions in reserve

Don't spend loot right away: stockpile at least one potion per hero for the depths of the dungeon, where the enemies are denser and there are no more chests.

🛡

The warrior (🛡) plugs the narrow passage: the monster (●) can reach only him, while the healer (✚) heals from a safe cell behind his back.

Combat and dice tactics

A fight is decided by a pair of rolls: a d20 to hit (plus the hero's modifier against the enemy's defense) and a d6 for damage. A "twenty" is a crit with double damage, a "one" is a guaranteed miss. You can't change your modifier in combat, but you can choose whom and when to strike, and that's the real tactic.

Hit the wounded, not the fresh

A monster with health left will die from a single blow and stop striking back. Aiming at a full-health enemy means leaving two of them alive at once.

Count the hit threshold

If you hit a weak enemy on almost any roll, let the hero with the weak modifier finish it off, while the strong one strikes the armored target.

A crit is the moment to push

Rolled a "twenty" on a dangerous monster — bring the target to death this same round with the whole party, while the enemy is weakened.

🏹
🛡
🧟
🐺

The warrior and archer focus one zombie (highlighted): the enemy killed this round won't strike back, while the wolf (🐺) is left for the next one.

Classes and party composition

The party holds up to four heroes — warrior, mage, archer, healer — and they differ in health, attack modifier and damage die. Solo play leads the whole party in turn, so a balance of roles matters more than a set of the "strongest" fighters.

Warrior — the party's shield

The most health and reliable hitting up close. His job is to stand first in the passage and hold the line, not to chase the finishing blow.

Archer and mage — damage from range

They strike from behind the warrior without exposing themselves. The mage is good against armored targets, the archer for finishing off a wounded one a cell away.

Healer — economy of turns

A single heal costs less than losing a fallen hero and his turns. Keep the healer off the front line: without him the party melts away in a couple of rounds.

A full party of four

The most heroes means the most turns and damage per round. For a first run take all four: it forgives more mistakes.

Solo challenge

A smaller party is harder: fewer hits and less healing. Go with a warrior + healer duo if you want to test the discipline of positional play.

Common mistakes

Most losses in the dungeon aren't down to bad dice but to greed and a broken formation. Let's look at the slip-ups that most often doom the party.

  1. Running ahead with one hero. A scout in an open room takes hits from all the monsters at once and falls before help can reach him.
  2. Wading into a fight wounded. A red health bar is the signal to retreat and drink a potion. Every extra round under fire multiplies the risk of losing a hero.
  3. Hoarding potions to the last. The opposite extreme: a dead hero won't drink a vial. Heal before you reach zero health, not after.
  4. Spreading damage across all enemies. Wounding three by half is worse than killing one: the unfinished monsters hit at full strength the next round.
  5. Forgetting about chests. Walking past a chest means giving up the only healing and upgrade in the depths, where there is no more of it.
  6. Putting the healer in the front row. Lose the healer and the party loses its healing and usually loses within a few rounds.
🏹

Mistake: the archer (highlighted) ran ahead alone and is surrounded by three monsters (●) — three hits per round, and the party won't make it in time to help.

Frequently asked questions

Can you play solo?
Yes. The game is built for 1–4 heroes, and solo you control the whole party in turn.
Why doesn’t the attack land?
The d20 roll plus modifier must be at least the enemy’s defense. If a one comes up, it’s a miss. A «twenty» always hits and with double damage.
What to do if a hero is wounded?
Use a healing potion from the inventory or bring up the healer — they restore health. The health bar turns red when it drops below a third.
When do the monsters attack?
After every living hero has finished their turns, the enemy phase begins: the monsters strike, and the next round starts.
How is it best to build the party for a first run?
Take all four heroes: warrior, mage, archer and healer. A full lineup gives more turns and damage per round and forgives more mistakes than a small party.
Should you explore every room or run for the exit?
A sensible middle ground: search the chests along the way for potions and items, but don't push into dangerous rooms without need. Extra fights wear the party down, and the goal is to get at least one hero to the exit.
How is it best to distribute attacks among the heroes?
Focus one target and finish off wounded enemies: a killed monster stops striking back. Let the strong hero hit armored targets, while the weak one finishes off those it hits on almost any roll.
What do you do when the dice won't cooperate?
You can't change your modifier in combat, but you can cut your reliance on luck: hold formation, hit one target with two heroes, and don't enter a fight wounded. Position matters more than a single roll.
Is it more dangerous to play with a smaller party?
Yes. Fewer heroes means fewer hits and less healing per round, so the discipline of positional play becomes critical. A warrior plus healer duo is a good challenge for experienced players.
Why does the party die in the very first rooms?
Usually the reason is a broken formation: one hero runs ahead into an open room and takes hits from all the monsters at once. Move as a group through narrow passages where one or two enemies reach you.
Ready for a game?
Create a room, invite a friend by code or play against a bot.

Similar games