History Main / DungeonCrawling

%%* ''VideoGame/{{ADOM}}'':

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* ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': The focus of the game, compared to the regular ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'''s sandbox nature.

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', this is a prerequisite for clearing each level of Aincrad. Each level's stairway-dungeon has 20 floors, and the final floor has the boss that must be defeated to clear the level.

* ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' has the Ruins, seven[[note]]though the whereabouts of one of them, the Moon, is unknown at the start of the series[[/note]] enormous structures of unknown origin filled with valuable technology and also strange monsters called Abyss. Each Ruin also contains one particularly powerful and gigantic Abyss called a Ragnarok, effectively a boss monster. People brave these dangers in order to salvage technology. In the light novels, this activity becomes more urgent when [[spoiler:the Lords, the original owners of the Ruins, reappear and explain that the world will soon be destroyed by Sacred Eclipse, the ultimate Ragnarok. The only way to stop it is to kill the other seven Ragnarok to collect crystals known as Grand Force from them, and insert these into receptacles at the deepest part of each Ruin. This will unlock the path to Avalon, TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, containing innumerable treasures and knowledge that can be used to stop Sacred Eclipse.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Xcrawl}}'' plays with this by making a "modern day with fantasy add-ons" world wherein dungeon crawling has become a RealityShow like a much more dangerous version of ''Series/AmericanGladiators'' or ''Series/{{Wipeout}}''. Those who survive long enough (and manage to entertain the audience while they're at it) will get pricy sponsorships and superstar status.

Dungeon Crawlers are also a subgenre of [=RPG=]s in which the story, setting, and town areas (usually one at most) are downplayed in favor of massive dungeons requiring level grinding, trap-avoidance, and endurance. {{Roguelikes}} are a subgenre of dungeon crawler, further distinguished by [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels procedural level generation]] and [[ClassicVideoGameScrewYous highly unforgiving game mechanics]].

* ''IWokeUpAsADungeonNowWhat'': As you might expect, this story is built heavily around adventurers descending into dungeons. There is a detailed explanation of why this system works. Adventurers descend into dungeons to harvest loot from the dungeon's treasure chests and from the corpses of its minions. Dungeons, meanwhile, get mana from adventurers fighting and dying within them, and so are incentivized to provide loot to attract adventurers. In addition, dungeons cycle pure mana back into the environment, and that mana is required for life to thrive, so people have a strong incentive to tend and feed their dungeons.

* The ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series rarely does this, due to its genre (PuzzleGame). However, ''[[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask Miracle Mask]]'' features a chapter where a young Hershel Layton and his friend Randall explore a very deep, intrincate labyrinth known as the Akbadain Ruins. The chapter, which spawns eight floors of puzzles to gather and solve, traps and obstacles to tackle, and enemy dodging, is played very similarly to the dungeons in ''Zelda'', and the control scheme is similar as well (going as far as replacing the point-and-click interface). The following game, ''[[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy Azran Legacy]]'' has its own version of this experience with the final level, [[spoiler:Azran Sanctuary]], which by default retains the point-and-click gameplay but its puzzles replicate the crawling of the Akbadain Ruins (including the use of buttons and the D-pad to move the characters).

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** Lampshaded by Farengar, the CourtMage of Whiterun. Most quests seem to involve "delving into an ancient ruin" to defeat a particular enemy or to acquire an item for the QuestGiver.
*** The core of the ''Skyrim'' GameMod ''VideoGame/ConanHyborianAge'' consists in the exploration of a BonusDungeon loosely inspired by ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' to find an ancient sword forged in a special metal, while fighting the monsters inside.

* This is the entire premise of ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Orario is built on top of a multiple-level dungeon, and its ''entire existence'' depends on this trope--the {{plunder}} from the dungeon monsters is an energy source in the universe, and while a lot of Adventurers do this for sheer heroism, there're also a lot that do it just for living. The story follows the personal growth of an Adventurer who initially does this... [[HaremSeeker to seek a harem]].

Dungeon Crawlers are also a subgenre of [=RPG=]s in which the story, setting, and town areas (usually one at most) are downplayed in favor of massive dungeons requiring level grinding, trap-avoidance, and endurance. {{Roguelikes}} are a subgenre of dungeon crawler, further distinguished by [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels procedural level generation]] and highly unforgiving game mechanics.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' is a contemporary dungeon crawler that pays homage to games like ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' and introduces some spins of its own, most notably the F.O.E.s which are visible [[BeefGate boss-like]] [[BossInMookClothing enemies]] that move with each step you take. In most games, the dungeons explored are located within the fabled Yggdrasil Labyrinth, though in ''Legends of the Titan'' and ''Nexus'' they're located in an overworld (as the goal in those games is ''reaching'' the Yggdrasil).

[[Films -- Live Action]]

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* ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer'' has you exploring the titular location, delving deeper and deeper into these elaborate tunnels filled with musical monsters, tantalizing treasure, and unimaginable power capable of raising the dead--or as is often in the player characters' cases, delaying it for a while.

This is what many {{Role Playing Game}}s (especially video game ones) are all about -- at least historically -- but it is actually one of TheOldestOnesInTheBook, since even myths feature it (a trip into the underworld is part of TheHerosJourney, after all). However, it was the ''Cliffhanger'' film serials of the early 20th century [[TropeCodifier that defined the trope]], and the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movies that made it popular again later.

* Urban Explorers are in a sense, the real-life equivalent of dungeon crawlers if one thinks about it: They explore abandoned locations ranging from mines to deserted complexes, and oftentimes have to be careful of various dangers in the wild (though this may vary from hostile squatters to natural incidents like say, cave-ins). Bonus points if they're exploring a actual castle dungeon.

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[[caption-width-right:379:Link, in search for another shiny new gadget.]]

* ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'': A major industry and social activity for adventurers. The manga centers on a particular party crawling a specific dungeon, and in doing so examines all the questions people don’t bother to ask about them. What separates a dungeon from a regular old ruin? What does a sudden influx of valuable dungeon loot do for nearby towns? Where do the monsters come from, and how do they survive down there? How can dungeons be in such good repair after decades or centuries without human maintenance?

* This is the entire premise of ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. Orario is built on top of a multiple-level dungeon, and its ''entire existence'' depends on this trope--the {{plunder}} from the dungeon monsters is an energy source in the universe, and while a lot of Adventurers do this for sheer heroism, there're also a lot that do it just for living. The story follows the personal growth of an Adventurer who initially does this... [[HaremSeeker to seek a harem]].

* In ''Manga/BlackClover'', dungeons are underground vaults with magic traps that hold valuable items. Because of their danger and relics, they're explored by Magic Knights. An entire story arc is dedicated to exploring a dungeon.
* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', this is a prerequisite for clearing each level of Aincrad. Each level's stairway-dungeon has 20 floors, and the final floor has the boss that must be defeated to clear the level.

* The four get to go on one of these (and manage to avoid another) in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World''. They comment on the illogic of the setting; [[ActualPacifist they kill nothing]]; and they're thoroughly bored with the experience by the time they've looted everything. And they're not real happy when their hours of tedious trudging results in only around 9,000 Swords worth of treasure, when they were hoping for five or six times that amount. They avoid a second dungeon crawl when they arrive at Boidan Mine just after another group of adventurers has already sacked the place but hasn't left yet.

* One early fantasy depiction of Dungeon Crawling was the Fellowship's passage through the goblin-infested Mines of Moria in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]''. No treasures or rewards, unless one counts the goal of getting through them to the other end, but the Balrog even provides a final boss of sorts. Throw in the original fantasy party, the dense labyrinth, a whole host of goblins, and other assorted monsters. It's probably the TropeCodifier of the genre.
* The Creator/LordDunsany story ''The Hoard of the Gibbelins'' is one of the earliest examples and is close to an UrExample of the genre.
* Common in ''Literature/FafhrdAndTheGrayMouser'' stories such as ''The Jewels in the Forest'' and ''Thieves House''.
* There are some scenes reminiscent of this trope in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', although they omit the "and take the monster's stuff" step once the monster (Lucy) has been tracked to her underground crypt and dispatched. Later vampire novels have added other elements of this trope, like death-traps (''Salem's Lot'') and guardians to protect the sleeping undead.
* ''Literature/TheIronTeeth'' web serial’s dungeons are formed by crystals, and contain valuable treasures. Monsters such as slimes also dwell within them. One of them is near Herad's base. She was eager to find and explore it, but fortunately she couldn't find the entrance.
* Seems to be given a knowing nod in the ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' story "The Desecrator", in which desecrator is the Dragaeran term for archaeologist, but the job has the typical fantasy cast of raiding ancient structures for treasure and having to fend off magical barriers.

* As its title suggests, the majority of the plot of ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth]]'' is DungeonCrawling through the mythical Labyrinth, which actively rearranges its layout and, as a bonus, is borderline-alive and trying to make sure visitors never come out.
* ''Literature/TheWanderingInn'': As expected for an RPG-Mechanics Verse. A dungeon discovered beneath Liscor kicks off a major part of the plot.

* ''Literature/TheBandsOfMourning'' both plays this straight and subverts it. The titular artifact is hidden at the end of a dungeon filled with deadly traps, an occurrence so bizarre that [[ThisIsReality the characters comment on how weird it is.]] In the end it turns out that the dungeon contains multiple layers of fakeouts to confuse thieves, and [[spoiler: the actual Bands of Mourning are HiddenInPlainSight outside of the dungeon.]]

* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' gave us the MadeForTVMovie ''Hercules in the Underworld'', which was inspired by the story of Hercules' twelfth labour (see Mythology below).

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is the TropeCodifier. "Killing evil and stealing its stuff" is the game's unofficial motto, after all. Wizards Of The Coast even released a book for 4th Edition which was blatantly titled "Dungeon Delve". It is literally a book containing 30 dungeons, complete with maps and descriptions of each area, as well as stat-blocks for the monsters and items found in each area, making it really easy for Dungeon Masters to prepare a dungeon crawl, since all the work is done in advance.
* ''TabletopGame/MetamorphosisAlpha'' used a variant of the original ''D&D'' rules to explore a giant spaceship, the ''Warden''.
* The equally venerable ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' features DungeonCrawling in the form of exploring derelict spaceships, asteroid-bases and so on.

* The old Creator/{{TSR}} board game ''TabletopGame/{{Dungeon}}'', which literally is "wander through the wizard's dungeon picking up treasure."
* Unsurprisingly, the expansive card game series ''TabletopGame/{{Dungeoneer}}'' is centered around dungeon crawls. Interestingly, it allows each player to play as the "dungeon lord" for other players while simultaneously giving each player a PC to explore the dungeon. The cards themselves form the layout of the dungeon like a board game.

* ''TabletopGame/MiceAndMystics'' is a series of dungeon crawls where the players are fantasy characters transformed into mice. It follows a linear story campaign, but is notable in that it is purely cooperative and no player is needed to be the "dungeon master".
* ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles'' board game "Siege of the Citadel" is a campaign-style board game with a series of dungeon crawl style assaults on the titular citadel.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' allows for this style of play (alongside many others), and has had many dungeon-based adventures published for its four editions over its thirty-odd year existence. The original ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' wargame can be used to stage underground battles between adventurers and monsters too, and this was very much a popular use for it in its early days.
* ''TabletopGame/HeroQuest'' was a simple dungeon crawler boardgame, produced jointly by Creator/GamesWorkshop and MB Games in the late 80s with the successor ''Warhammer Quest'', set in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world. A more complex and in-depth version with some RPG elements called Advanced Heroquest was produced by Games Workshop alone. Sci-fi versions set on giant derelict spacecraft -- Space Crusade, Advanced Space Crusade and Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress -- followed the same pattern.
* The Creator/GamesWorkshop BoardGame ''TabletopGame/SpaceHulk'' is basically this genre RecycledInSpace liberally crossed with the Creator/JamesCameron film ''Film/{{Aliens}}''.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Thunderstone}}'' is a deckbuilding game in which you build your deck in the village, then take it to the dungeon to kill monsters.

* ''TabletopGame/BaseRaiders'': After the world's superheroes and villains all mysteriously disappear, an entire underground industry based on locating, breaking into, and looting their abandoned secret bases crops up.

* ''TabletopGame/SpaceHulk'' itself has one player control an elite force of SpaceMarine Terminators clearing out a space hulk of genestealers controlled by the other player. Terminators are among the most elite veterans of a Space Marine Chapter, their centuries of service giving them the right to bear the WalkingTank-like suits of Terminator armor. They rarely win against the 'nids.

%%* ''VideoGame/NetHack'':
* ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer'' has you exploring the titular location, delving deeper and deeper into these elaborate tunnels filled with musical monsters, tantalizing treasure, and unimaginable power capable of raising the dead--or as is often in the player characters' cases, delaying it for a while.
* The very core of ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and its many, many sequels is Dungeon Crawling. Many of them serve as securing areas for sacred {{Plot Coupon}}s, though on rare occasions you'll find a dungeon with a more unique purpose. These dungeons are often themed around an element or concept, and the puzzles and enemies present will have something to do with it either in gameplay or in motif. However, other dungeons in the series have famously relied on meta concepts, such as the Spirit Temple in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' for relying on the skills of both Child Link and Adult Link, the Stone Tower Temple in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' for greatly downplaying the BigBoosHaunt theme of its mainland of residence in favor of basing itself on concepts like inverting gravity and using all four physical forms of Link for puzzle-solving, or the Sky Keep in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' for being ''in itself'' an overarching puzzle in terms of how to get across the rooms.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' came out in 1981. But Richard Garriot (of ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'') released ''Akalabeth'' in 1979. The game name comes from part of ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''; such "homages" were common with Garriot in his early games. Of course, ''Dungeons and Dragons'' came out in 1974... around the same time "Dungeon" was a popular game on mainframe computers.
* Also released in 1979 was Creator/{{Epyx}}'s ''VideoGame/TempleOfApshai'', where the entire point of the game was to enter the Apshai temples, fight the monsters, and grab the loot.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' was originally a classic first-person crawler like those mentioned above, then became a third-person crawler with occasional first-person elements.

* The ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series intersperses semi-randomized dungeon crawling with visual novel style character interactions.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' is a contemporary dungeon crawler that pays homage to games like ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' and introduces some spins of its own, most notably the F.O.E.s which are visible [[BeefGate boss-like]] [[BossInMookClothing enemies]] that move with each step you take. In most games, the dungeons explored are located within the fabled Yggdrasil Labyrinth, though in ''Legends of the Titan'' and ''Nexus'' they're located in an overworld (as the goal in those games is ''reaching'' the Yggdrasil).
* ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheMonsterLair'' features this -- with a dungeon you make yourself -- along with a deconstruction of some of the assumptions usually implicit to this premise; having a dungeon near your town is considered ''desirable'', as it acts as a tourist attraction, lures monsters out of the wilderness where they pose more of a danger to ordinary people, and the items monsters hoard in dungeons can be quite valuable. In this game and ''VideoGame/MyWorldMyWay'', which is an [[IntercontinuityCrossover otherwise unconnected game that takes place in the same world]], "Dungeon Maker" is a respected profession.

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'''s Dungeoneering skill is exactly what you'd expect.%%ZCE
* A huge chunk of the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' gameplay has always been the instances -- sections of the world that, once entered, become exclusive to a player or a group of players for they to fight their way through without other players' interference. Their entrances are usually indicated by a blue, swirling portal. Even if you level up never setting a foot in any instance, the late game at the top levels of most expansions is all about crawling from dungeon to dungeon to find the best equipment and defeat the plot's final bosses. Unless, of course, you choose the [=PvP=] route, but then you'll be missing most of the game's plot and dynamics. There are two types of instances: dungeons (designed for 5 people) and raids (designed for 10 or more people). Dungeons you find everywhere and exist so you can get equipment with good stats even in the lower levels. The five members are three damage dealers (melee or ranged), one healer, and one tank. Raids have a normal mode (10 players) and a heroic mode (25 people), the latter being much more difficult but with better payoffs. And then there are the mythical raids that can only be accessed and completed by 20 people and have no scaling. Whichever the case, more tanks and healers are in order. Finally, the rewards you get by either looting the elite creatures/bosses or completing instance-specific quests range from rare weapons and armor sets to epic mounts.
%%* The {{Roguelike}} ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl''%%ZCE
* ''VideoGame/SolomonsKeep'' for the iPhone is one, where you use a student wizard to traverse the eponymous keep, fight monsters and bosses, loot treasure and defeat the evil necromancer- as his graduation exam, no less.
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' with the Rubikon Dungeon Construct. The Modrons, beings of pure Law, are trying to study dungeon crawls in order to understand them, so they create a simulated dungeon with randomly generated rooms, filled with identical constructs that drop "loot" which looks valuable but is entirely worthless, even as ShopFodder. Somewhere in the dungeon is the Evil Wizard Construct, who is a CardCarryingVillain that you have to fight because that's what evil wizards are for.
* The many, many caves you have to explore in the various Franchise/{{Pokemon}} games. Places like, for example, [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Silph Co. and the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town]] also count, as they both have stuff to find and are crawling with enemies to defeat, and usually contain one final Boss.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** Dungeon Crawling is a staple throughout the series. It fits in nicely with Tamriel being an AdventureFriendlyWorld where EverythingIsTryingToKillYou. You can't throw a rock without hitting a cave, ruin, or tomb ripe for exploring. Additionally, looting such places of weapons, armor and other things [[ShopFodder you can sell at a later date]] tends to be the main method of earning money in the series.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** Lampshaded by Farengar, the CourtMage of Whiterun. Most quests seem to involve "delving into an ancient ruin" to defeat a particular enemy or to acquire an item for the QuestGiver.
*** The core of the ''Skyrim'' GameMod ''VideoGame/ConanHyborianAge'' consists in the exploration of a BonusDungeon loosely inspired by ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' to find an ancient sword forged in a special metal, while fighting the monsters inside.
** The series' spin-off game ''[[VideoGame/AnElderScrollsLegendBattlespire Battlespire]]'' is essentially a pure Dungeon Crawler in a series otherwise known for being a WideOpenSandbox WesternRPG. The game drops you off in a dungeon full of nightmarish imagery populated by the BigBad's LegionsOfHell.
* In both ''VideoGame/MegamanLegends'' games, the protagonist is a Digger, someone who made exploring the many enigmatic ruins in the ScavengerWorld their profession. True enough, exploring these ruins is how you acquire most of the equipment and money you need.
* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' has both Krazoa Palace and the two Force Point Temples. In terms of gameplay, the four satellital regions of Sauria are explored like dungeons, but they're more into DungeonTown territory.
* The trope is downplayed in ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'', since the dungeons and mini-dungeons are a secondary aspect of the games, both in plot and in gameplay, and only two of them (Moon Cave and Oni Island) are noticeably complex.
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'': One of the major gameplay devices is exploring underground caves that are based on different everyday places (such as a shower, a toy room, or the natural habitat of a particular group of creatures). These caves can be either short, long or ''gargantuan'', depending on the case. The caves' different sublevels are also semi-randomized; they'll always have the same stuff (Treasures to collect, enemies to defeat, eggs to break, obstacles to destroy or avoid...), but where all that stuff is and where you start off is picked at random every time you reach said sublevel, even by reloading a save.
* Dungeons are present in the first ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', but almost all of them are optional and relatively small. Most of the time you'll be exploring the wilderness instead. The second game put much more emphasis on dungeons though, with more, larger and more complex dungeons, and very few wilderness areas to explore. Both {{Expansion Pack}}s added massive {{Bonus Dungeon}}s for your crawling needs: Durlag's Tower and Watcher's Keep, both of which have multiple levels, nasty monsters and traps, and of course treasure.

* The second ''VideoGame/AdventureTime'' game, ''Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T KNOW!'', was a somewhat tedious ''VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}}'' clone featuring ''Adventure Time'' characters and based around clearing out the dungeon under Princess Bubblegum's palace.
* The original ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' is a dungeon crawler with shooter combat.
* ''VideoGame/RecettearAnItemShopsTale'' is part "item shop simulation" and part Dungeon Crawler. For this purpose you choose one of up to 8 different adventurers, go to one of up to 6 different dungeons and start hacking away at monsters to loot useful stuff.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series, alien Vaults replace your standard dungeon. Exploring them makes up a very small part of the game; most if it is actually finding them. Obeying tradition, opening up a Vault always leads to one final boss battle-class monster fight.

* ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' has the 100 Rooms of Doom dungeon.
* This also happens in the [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG various]] ''[[VideoGame/PaperMario Mario]]'' [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi RPGs]][[note]]This even includes ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', which is essentially a {{Metroidvania}} platformer game.[[/note]] in some form or another.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dwerve}}'' is a TowerDefense dungeon-crawling RPG which defend against an army of trolls and monstrous creatures using traps and turrets.

%%* ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'' is an early arcade game example.%%ZCE
%%* ''Dragon Buster'' is another arcade game from [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] that does this.%%ZCE
* The ''VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}}'' series takes from two to four players through a variable number of different dungeon levels.
%%* ''VideoGame/ArkandianLegends'', though only one half, the other's a StrategyRPG.%%ZCE
* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', as one would expect from the name.
** The Ruins were once the seat of the family's power, now twisted by eldritch forces and overrun with the undead. The Warrens are an ancient network of aqueducts and tunnels, overrun by discarded summoning experiments known as [[PigMan the Swine]]. For looser definitions of "dungeon", there are also the Cove (a maze of caves haunted by [[FishPeople pelagics]] and their allies), the Weald (a claustrophobic forest swarming with monstrous fungi), and (with the Crimson Court DLC) the Courtyard (a lavish garden transformed into a decaying marsh infested with half-mosquito vampires). Looming above it all, with a difficulty level of 6, is the Darkest Dungeon itself, a nightmare of powerful enemies, [[ArcSymbol stress symbols]], red mist, [[spoiler:flesh, organs...]]
** It's worth noting that ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' is actually a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]], showing just how stressful and terrifying dungeon crawling would be in reality. The game incorporates a [[SanityMeter stress system]] that keeps track of how much mental strain any given hero has been placed under by the horrors of the dungeons, and accumulating too much stress results in them crossing the DespairEventHorizon and becoming [[HeroicBSOD afflicted]]. [[spoiler:Heroes who go into the titular [[EldritchLocation Darkest Dungeon]] will GoMadFromTheRevelation and receive unique dialogue, from doomsaying to simply begging for help.]] Add to that permadeath, [[NintendoHard high difficulty]], a very creepy art style and a general sense of gloom and foreboding, and you've got a ''very'' nasty dungeon crawling experience.
* ''VideoGame/GraveyardKeeper'' has one beneath the church, which hints at the darker, gruesome past of the setting. It's filled with the requisite monsters and treasure, though instead of trying to clean it out for profit/the greater good, you're actually helping an eldritch cultist find suitable materials and sacrifices for his dark rituals.
* There are three types of dungeons for you to trek through in ''VideoGame/{{Hytale}}'':
** Normal dungeons can be found throughout the game world by locating the structure above it. These dungeons contain their own challenges and enemies, plus a "Final Room" awaiting you at the end.
** Challenge Dungeons force you to complete a particular challenge inside before you can get the rewards. The lanterns outside the door of each Challenge Dungeon will remain orange until that challenge is completed, so you'll know if you've completed one.
** You can find entrances to Portal Dungeons scattered around, which ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]]) contain a portal that teleports you to a hand-crafted location. In these areas, you have a limited selection of blocks you can break, and you'll have to rely on other skills to get through. You'll need to meet certain requirements to enter Portal Dungeons, though.
* The ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' series rarely does this, due to its genre (PuzzleGame). However, ''[[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheMiracleMask Miracle Mask]]'' features a chapter where a young Hershel Layton and his friend Randall explore a very deep, intrincate labyrinth known as the Akbadain Ruins. The chapter, which spawns eight floors of puzzles to gather and solve, traps and obstacles to tackle, and enemy dodging, is played very similarly to the dungeons in ''Zelda'', and the control scheme is similar as well (going as far as replacing the point-and-click interface). The following game, ''[[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy Azran Legacy]]'' has its own version of this experience with the final level, [[spoiler:Azran Sanctuary]], which by default retains the point-and-click gameplay but its puzzles replicate the crawling of the Akbadain Ruins (including the use of buttons and the D-pad to move the characters).
* In ''VideoGame/LostPig'', the player character stumbles into a mysterious underground location that's already been cleaned out by dungeon crawlers, to the considerable annoyance of the gnome whose home it is. [[spoiler:The game's LastLousyPoint is awarded for not behaving like them, and leaving things where they belong when you've finished borrowing them.]]
* ''VideoGame/MinecraftDungeons'': The focus of the game, compared to the regular ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'''s sandbox nature.
* ''VideoGame/AlmostEpicAdventuresNeverlootedDungeon'': is a dungeon crawler with an emphasis on treacherous deadly traps with an ''ImmersiveSim'' design phylosophy, where the player can create its own solutions to overcome the dangers.
* ''VideoGame/RuinaFairyTaleOfTheForgottenRuins'': The gameplay involves exploring nodes on a map in order to activate events and expand the visibility of the map. These nodes can contain any combination of rewards, traps, battles, and lore.
* ''VideoGame/SkeletalAvenger'': The game is about a [[DemBones recently-resurrected skeleton]] battling through a dungeon full of monsters.

* ''VideoGame/VambraceColdSoul:'' You work your way through a series of dungeons which are areas in a ruined city. Each district has about 15 dungeons, and you need to traverse five to reach the district's final dungeon. Maps don't change from one run to another, but their contents and encounters are randomly generated.
* In [=PLATO=] computer's ''VideoGame/{{dnd}}'', you play through a randomly generated dungeon with labyrinthine corridors, treasure, booby traps, and wandering monsters. Notably there's no map (unless you draw one yourself) and there's no hidden doors, which are staples of dungeons in later games of this genre.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' started off as this, before the CerebusSyndrome hit it. The first compilation book is even called ''Dungeon Crawling Fools''. There's also a lampshading of the activity by the cleric Malack in reference to his membership in an evil adventuring party, "Ah, the life of an adventuring cleric. I remember it well. A perpetual struggle to maintain the hit point totals of four or five nigh-suicidal tomb robbers determined to deplete them at all costs."
* A common occupation in the kingdom of Hilla in ''Webcomic/LatchkeyKingdom''. Willa [[LittleMissBadass (who is 13)]] regularly defies death to retrieve ancient treasures, then uses them to buy groceries.
* In ''WebComic/HeroOhHero'', the town of Rauel's economy is based on raiding dungeons which appear in the desert and disappear 24 hours later.
* ''Webcomic/MarbleGateDungeon'' is about a young cleric and her dwarf companion exploring a massive MegaDungeon that exists on another dimension and contains at least ''twelve thousand'' levels. The dungeon is as inexplicable on her world as it is out of universe and full of treasure as well as monsters.
* ''Webcomic/ScenesFromAMultiverse'': The basis of the immensely popular Dungeon Divers storyline, ''SFAM’''s longest ongoing plot to date.

* As a HeroicFantasy parody with a heavy RPG influence, ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' has several examples, in particular "Dungeon", "Guardians of Sunshine", "The Limit", "Dad's Dungeon", "Lady & Peebles", "Mystery Dungeon", "Vault of Bones"...

* One early fantasy depiction of Dungeon Crawling was the Fellowship's passage through the goblin-infested Mines of Moria in ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]''. No treasures or rewards, unless one counts the goal of getting through them to the other end, but the Balrog even provides a final boss of sorts. Throw in the original fantasy party, the dense labyrinth, a whole host of goblins, and other assorted monsters It's probably the TropeCodifier of the genre.

* Parodied by ''[[https://hero-park.fandom.com/wiki/Hero_Park_Wiki Hero Park]]'', where you operate a small village that is rebuilding its economy by secretly populating the local dungeons with tame monsters and fake treasure, so as to attract wealthy heroes who will pay for swords and armour and wands and healing potions and provisions. If you're lucky, they might even get infected by the undead, and have to pay for healing at your temple!