The ''Mystery Dungeon'' (''Fushigi no Dungeon'' in Japan) series is a [[LongRunners long-running]] series of {{Roguelite}} DungeonCrawler games originally created and developed by Creator/SpikeChunsoft.

Although the exact specifics of gameplay change between each iteration of the series, each game shares common elements. Players control a character (and potentially a small team of AI-controlled companions) as they traverse a [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels randomly-generated]], [[BoobyTrap trap-laden]], multi-floor dungeon. Traversal and combat are [[TurnBasedCombat turn-based]], with both players and enemies moving at the same time across gridded floors and taking turns when encountering each other. Items randomly scattered around the dungeon can be picked up and used to help or hinder your progress. ContinuingIsPainful is in effect, as being knocked out or otherwise being unable to continue in any way results in the player being kicked out of the dungeon, losing many of their items and potentially their money in the process while having to restart the dungeon from the beginning. Between dungeon dives, players are able to interact with a HubCity, where they can adjust their party, pick up essentials, store items for safekeeping, and change inventory in accordance with their next destination. The franchise is infamous for its NintendoHard difficulty and occasionally LuckBasedMission nature, as dungeons become increasingly punishing and resources afforded to the player become increasingly scarce.

The series has a long history of {{Licensed Game}}s in collaboration with a variety of other video games, often being spinoffs of other popular franchises with the "Mystery Dungeon" name in the title. Many of the themed games take elements of their source material and interpret them into the ''Mystery Dungeon'' formula, creating unique experiences with each new game despite sharing the same core elements. Unfortunately, due to the series' niche popularity outside of its home country, quite a number of ''Mystery Dungeon'' titles are rendered NoExportForYou.

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[[folder:''Mystery Dungeon'' Games]]
->Games released internationally will be '''bolded'''.
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Original ''Mystery Dungeon'' games ]]

* ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer'': Chunsoft's first original video game series and the only ''Mystery Dungeon'' games to not be based on an existing property. The series follows the titular Shiren, a {{Ronin}} who goes on a variety of adventures in a fantasy version of Feudal Japan.
** ''Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer'' - Released December 1, 1995 for the Super Famicom. Ported to [=iOS=] and Android in March 2019.
*** '''''Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer''''' - A VideoGameRemake of ''Shiren the Wanderer'', released on December 14, 2006 in Japan and March 2008 internationally for the Nintendo DS.
** ''BS Shiren the Wanderer: Save Surala'' - Broadcast via {{Platform/Satellaview}} from May 1996.
** ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: Moonlit-Village Monster'' - Released November 22, 1996 for the Game Boy. Ported to PC and Android.
** ''Shiren the Wanderer 2: Oni Invasion! Shiren Castle!'' - Released September 27, 2000 for the Nintendo 64.
** ''Shiren the Wanderer [=GB2=]: Magic Castle of the Desert'' - Released July 29, 2001 for the Game Boy Color. Received a VideoGameRemake for the Nintendo DS on November 13, 2008.
** ''Shiren the Wanderer Gaiden: Asuka the Swordswoman'' - Released February 7, 2002 for the Dreamcast. Ported to PC in December 2002.
** '''''[[RecycledTitle Shiren the Wanderer]] (2008)'''''[[note]]''Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Castle'' in Japan[[/note]] - Released June 5, 2008 in Japan and February 9, 2010 internationally for the Nintendo Wii. Ported to the [=PlayStation Portable=] on January 28, 2010 in Japan.
** ''Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil's Navel'' - Released February 25, 2010 for the Nintendo DS. Ported to the [=PlayStation Portable=] on October 18, 2012.
** '''''Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate''''' - Released December 9, 2010 for the Nintendo DS. An UpdatedRerelease was ported to [=PlayStation Vita=], Nintendo Switch, PC, and [=iOS/Android=], with the Vita and Switch/PC versions released internationally.
** '''''Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island''''' - Released January 25th, 2024 in Asia and February 27th 2024 in NA/EU for the Nintendo Switch.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Licensed ''Mystery Dungeon'' games ]]

* ''Franchise/DragonQuest'': The original progenitor of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series, the first ''Mystery Dungeon'' game was developed as a spinoff of Chunsoft's own ''Dragon Quest'' series starring Torneko, the merchant from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV''. The ''Torneko'' games established most of the core mechanics for the rest of the franchise, although the game sports a unique mechanic in the ability to upgrade Torneko's shop using money.
** ''Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon'' - Released September 19, 1993 for the Super Famicom.
** '''''World of Dragon Warrior: Torneko: The Last Hope''''' - Released September 15, 1999 in Japan and November 15, 2000 internationally for the [=PlayStation=]. Ported to Game Boy Advance on December 20, 2001 in Japan.
** ''Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 3: Mystery Dungeon'' - Released October 31, 2002 for the [=PlayStation 2=]. Ported to Game Boy Advance on June 24, 2004.
** ''Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mysterious Dungeon'' - Released April 20, 2006 for [=PlayStation 2=].
** ''Dragon Quest Mystery Dungeon MOBILE'' - Released August 7, 2006 for mobile devices.
** ''Dragon Quest More Mystery Dungeon MOBILE'' - Released September 14, 2009 for mobile devices.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': The ''Final Fantasy''-themed ''Mystery Dungeon'' games are part of a spinoff series of ''[[VideoGame/ChocobosDungeon Chocobo]]'' games, which star the titular MascotMook of the franchise. ItemCrafting is a key mechanic, with Chocobo having the ability to combine gear to make better gear. Starting with ''Fables'', the ''Final Fantasy'' JobSystem is featured as a core mechanic.
** ''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon'' - Released December 23, 1997 for the [=PlayStation=]. Ported to the [=WonderSwan=] in 1999.
** '''''Chocobo's Dungeon 2'''''[[note]]''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2'' in Japan[[/note]] - Released December 23, 1998 in Japan and November 30, 1999 internationally for the [=PlayStation=].
** '''''VideoGame/FinalFantasyFablesChocobosDungeon'''''[[note]]''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time'' in Japan[[/note]] - Released December 13, 2007 in Japan and in 2008 internationally for the Nintendo Wii. Ported to the Nintendo DS on October 30, 2008 in Japan.
*** '''''Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!''''' - An UpdatedRerelease of ''Fables'', released March 20, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch and [=PlayStation 4=].
* ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'': This iteration incorporates mechanics from ''The Tower of Druaga'', such as EquipmentBasedProgression and hidden treasure chests. Many game elements are unique to this installment, such as 3D terrain and fixed levels, making it an obscure black sheep in the series.
** '''''VideoGame/TheNightmareOfDruagaFushiginoDungeon''''' - Released July 24, 2004 in Japan and October 27, 2004 internationally for the [=PlayStation 2=].
* ''{{Franchise/Gundam}}'':
** ''Mobile Suit Gundam: Mystery Dungeon'' - Released April 19, 2004 for mobile phones.
* ''VideoGame/TwinBee'':
** ''[=TwinBee=] Dungeon'' - Released May 13, 2004 for mobile phones.
* ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'': The ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'' series is by far the most popular iteration of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' franchise, and likely the first games many will think of when discussing the series. This version of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' games features many ''Pokémon''-themed elements, such recruiting hundreds of potential party members via DefeatEqualsFriendship and ElementalRockPaperScissors combat.
** '''''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team]]''''' - Released November 17, 2005 in Japan and in 2006 internationally for the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.
*** '''''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX''''' - A VideoGameRemake of ''Rescue Team'', released March 6, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch.
** '''''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Explorers of Darkness]]''''' - Released September 11, 2007 in Japan and in 2008 internationally for the Nintendo DS.
*** '''''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky''''' - An UpdatedRerelease of ''Explorers'', released 2009 for the Nintendo DS.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonAdventureSquad'' - Released August 4, 2009 for the Nintendo Wii's [=WiiWare=] service.
** '''''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity''''' - Released November 23, 2012 in Japan and in 2013 internationally for the Nintendo 3DS.
** '''''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon''''' - Released September 27, 2015 in Japan and in 2015/2016 internationally for the Nintendo 3DS.
* ''VideoGame/OneWayHeroics'': This version of ''Mystery Dungeon'' incorporates the AdvancingWallOfDoom from its source material as a major gameplay mechanic, forcing the player to continuously move right through the dungeon.
** '''''Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics''''' - Released July 30, 2015 in Japan and in 2016 for the [=PlayStation 4=] and [=PlayStation Vita=].
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': Incorporates CharacterCustomization and JobSystem from the ''Etrian Odyssey'' games. The notorious "F.O.E." mechanic also makes an appearance, where the player must HoldTheLine against "D.O.E."s to protect the HubCity.
** '''''Etrian Mystery Dungeon''''' - Released 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS.
** ''Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2'' - Released August 31, 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS.
[[/folder]]

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!!Tropes common to the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series:
* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
** There is often a button command to rapidly pass turns while standing in place, which can be useful in the event that you need to recover HP or wait for something to happen without being forced to run in circles aimlessly.
** More modern games offer a Suspend Save feature as a way to pause progress in the middle of a dungeon, allowing you to pick up the game later without having to start over.
* BlackoutBasement:
** ''Shiren 4'' and ''5'' feature an InUniverseGameClock where dungeons can become enshrouded in darkness at nightfall. One of the most notable effects of this "feature" is that during night, your field of vision is reduced entirely to a single square around you, making it very easy to get jumped by the astronomically-tougher foes. This was removed in ''Shiren 6''.
** In ''The Nightmare of Druaga'', the glow coming off Gil's body is actually Ishtar's Protection. The more you can see, the easier it is to map the area, but as you search the dungeon Ishtar's Protection weakens until it fades completely, severely limiting field of vision. The only way to restore it is to sacrifice items in your inventory to Ishtar, which replenishes her Protection based on the quantity and quality of the items offered.
** Quite a number of late-game and post-game dungeons in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' have this feature. If you're standing in a room you can see everything in the room you're in, but in corridors you can only see one tile around you.
* BoobyTrap: A universal staple of ''Mystery Dungeon'' dungeons. Some traps are visible, most are not, and only some traps are harmful. There's also a chance that a trap will turn out to be a FakeTrap and not do anything.
* BrutalBonusLevel:
** If you didn't think the games were hard enough, there's quite a few "special" dungeons unlocked in the post-game that are even more difficult than the rest of the game. ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' is the most notorious, including many extremely luck-based dungeons such as Purity Forest and Wish Tower, while the ''Chocobo'' games have their own "special rule" dungeons that impose similar restrictions.
** In ''The Nightmare of Druaga'', going back to a dungeon you've previously cleared will give you the option to "Break down the door" instead of using a Key on the floor exit. Doing so transports Gil to a bonus dungeon with significantly more powerful enemies that do not drop Experience, but has a better chance of rewarding rare items.
* ContinuingIsPainful:
** Being defeated in a ''Mystery Dungeon'' game is incredibly demoralizing. You lose a huge chunk of your inventory, which can include multiple valuable and/or powerful items, and you will lose most, if not all of the money you were carrying. Some games offer ways to protect some of your valuables, such as in-town storage, Ishtar's Shrines in ''The Nightmare of Druaga'', or the rescue system in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' and the Nintendo DS remakes of the ''Shiren'' games.
** Played with in games that feature a NoGearLevel BrutalBonusLevel. You can't bring anything in, but since you start with no items anyway, being KO'd simply takes away whatever you got from the dungeon, meaning no long-term detriment.
* DungeonShop: Almost every game has a shop found in the middle of the dungeon where you can use the money you've picked up to buy various items and consumables. Just make sure you have ''enough'' money for whatever you want to pick up, [[ShopliftAndDie unless you have a death wish.]]
* EscapeBattleTechnique: The Escape Scroll/Orb/spell/etc. One of the only surefire ways to leave a dungeon safely, allowing you to keep everything you've acquired. Carrying a means of getting out is an extremely important way to retain progress even if you cannot complete the dungeon in the (common) event that a situation suddenly takes a turn for the worse.
* EquipmentBasedProgression:
** In games where the {{Roguelite}} elements are more pronounced, the player can improve their character long-term by making or obtaining better equipment. ''Shiren the Wanderer'', ''The Nightmare of Druaga'', and the ''Chocobo'' games prominently revolve around using equipment.
** ''Red Rescue Team'' and ''Blue Rescue Team'' have Hidden Machines just like the main ''Pokémon'' games, which are required to enter certain dungeons via either having a Pokémon that knows the move or carrying the HM as an inventory item. This mechanic was removed permanently starting from ''Explorers'', and did not return for ''Rescue Team DX''.
* HelloInsertNameHere: The ''Chocobo'' games, ''Pokémon'' games, ''Etrian'' games, and ''One Way Heroics'' offer customizable player names.
* LevelDrain:
** In many games, leaving the dungeon resets your level back to Level 1. This makes leveling up mainly a temporary means of character improvement while putting more emphasis on your equipment and items.
** Quite a number of items can manually decrease levels, either for the player or any unfortunate victims that you happen to use them on. Bitter Herb from ''Shiren'' and Doom Seed from ''Pokémon'' are just two examples.
** ''One Way Heroics'' uses your Level as a form of currency. You can pay Levels in certain places to gain stronger forms of power, such as increasing Critical Rate, Combo chance, or Weight limit. Your FairyCompanion may also offer you the ability to save your game at the expense of 5 levels.
* LevelUpFillUp: Some games heal you to full HP upon leveling up, allowing you to conserve healing items. More common in the games which reset your level after each run, but also features in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon''.
* LimitedLoadout: No ''Mystery Dungeon'' game will ever let you carry as many things as you want. In most cases there's a hard cap on how many items you can bring at once, and attempting to add more than you can carry will force you to drop something. ''One Way Heroics'' has a Weight stat that determines the total weight of objects on your person; it's possible to exceed this stat by holding more items, but doing so causes the player to become overburdened, significantly restricting their abilities.
* MarathonLevel: 99-floor dungeons. Good luck.
* OddballInTheSeries: The ''One Way Heroics'' installment is distinct for not actually taking place in a dungeon whatsoever, and thus eschewing some traditional ''Mystery Dungeon'' mechanics such as standard map generation and progression while still retaining the standard ''Mystery Dungeon'' gameplay. For this reason it is named "Mystery ''Chronicle''" instead of "Dungeon".
* PasswordSave: In most handheld installments such as the ''Shiren the Wanderer'' remakes and DS games and the ''Pokémon'' games, you can generate passwords in the event of a defeat and send them to other players as a rescue request. The player receiving the password can then embark on an expedition to revive your party in their game, and if successful, they will receive a password to send back to you so you can pick up where you left off.
* PostEndGameContent: The series tends to pride itself on having vast post-games where a large quantity of new dungeons, items and features are released to the player. In many cases the ''bulk'' of the game is actually in the post-game, with the main story merely serving as a primer for the more difficult content.
* RareCandy: Some consumable items directly raise your level. The Cheery Grass, Joy, and Joy Seed (''Shiren'', ''Torneko'', and ''Pokémon'' respectively) increase the user's Level by 1, for starters. A few extremely rare items can give multiple levels at once, or at least have a chance to do so.
* RandomlyGeneratedLevels: Most dungeons are randomly generated. In most standard fare ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, they are generally assembled by linking randomly chosen pre-made rooms together via hallways. Some games, such as ''One Way Heroics'', utilize significantly different generation styles. ''The Nightmare of Druaga'' distinctly has no randomly generated floors for the entire main story; they only appear in optional content and the post-game.
* RegeneratingHealth: You will recover HP every few turns you're not in combat as long as your Belly stat isn't 0. If your Belly reaches 0, you will take damage every few turns instead.
* {{Roguelite}}: Some games incorporate such elements, such as being forced to Level 1 at the start of each dungeon and removing items from your inventory. Not every game does this, but games that don't sometimes have BrutalBonusLevel dungeons which impose this restriction.
* SaveScumming:
** Actively averted in many titles, as limited saving or auto-saving is used as a preventative measure to stop the player from trying to save their lost items or money in the event of a defeat. Attempting to do so will be treated as a loss anyway.
** Unlike most ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, you ''can'' do this (to an extent) in ''The Nightmare of Druaga''. The game just [[NoFairCheating really doesn't like it when you do.]]
* ShopliftAndDie: Steal from {{Dungeon Shop}}s at your own peril. Doing so spawns either the most powerful enemy in t he game or endless amounts of extremely powerful and dangerous enemies that [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard always know your location]] and will chase you relentlessly until you either escape by moving to the next floor, or keel over. NoFairCheating also kicks in to prevent the player from using items or techniques such as Escape Scrolls/Escape Orbs to easily run off with pilfered goods. Unfortunately, [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption doing this is the only way]] to recruit Kecleon in most of the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' games and acquire Thief's Memory in ''Final Fantasy Fables'', meaning that you will have to do it at some point if you want HundredPercentCompletion.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: There are at bare minimum three different categories of items which are nearly universal to all ''Mystery Dungeon'' games (with a few exceptions), with only the names and some functionalities changing between titles.
** Food: "Bread", "Onigiri", "Apples", "Greens", etc. These are items specifically meant to replenish your Hunger/Belly stat, which will [[WizardNeedsFoodBadly cause you to start losing HP if it reaches 0]]. Eating them when already full will slightly increase the maximum value of the stat, and the largest ones will fill you up completely ''and'' increase the maximum.
** Edible Consumable: "Herbs", "Grass", "Seeds", "Potions", etc. These are items that have effects when ingested, which can produce positive or negative effects, typically on whoever ingests it -- which, in the case of negative effects, you can force enemies to do by throwing it at them. They usually slightly increase the hunger stat, which might save you in a pinch, but their main purpose is their magical effect -- though sometimes the magical effect ''is'' to do something with hunger.
** Magical Consumable: "Scrolls", "Wonder Orbs", "Spell Books", etc. These are magical items that have powerful, wide-ranging effects and can affect either the user, enemies, or even entire floors. They typically don't do anything when thrown except maybe a little bit of damage, but there are occasional exceptions.
* TimedMission: Taking too much time on a floor will cause the game to notify you about imminent danger. If you spend even more time on the floor after that without moving on, the game will eventually throw you out of the dungeon via a "strong wind" or something of the kind, which has the same effect as a TotalPartyKill.
* VideoGame3DLeap: ''Torneko's Great Adventure 3'' introduced the first ''Mystery Dungeon'' game with 3D graphics for gameplay.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: If the lead character bites it, the whole expedition is a bust. Very few games avert this, most notably ''Rescue Team DX'' where losing your current Pokémon will cause the next one in the party to take over, as long as it was one of the three Pokémon that was in your party at the start of the dungeon.
* WizardNeedsFoodBadly:
** One of the other key mechanics of the series is the Belly[[note]]Although the specific name varies by game; "Fullness", "Hunger", and "Energy" have all been used at some point[[/note]] stat. Starting at 100, Belly slowly ticks down as you move and fight through the dungeon. You have RegeneratingHealth while you have at least 1 Belly, but as soon as it hits 0 you will start ''losing'' HP until you are KO'd or restore it. Belly can be restored by eating food items; all food-based consumables will restore some Belly, but there are always items specifically made to recover large quantities of Belly, such as Apples, Bread or Gyshal Greens. Maximum Belly can also be temporarily increased in certain ways, while Shiny Pokémon start with ''200'' Belly. ''The Nightmare of Druaga'' substituted this mechanic for Ishtar's Protection, which is mechanically similar but affects visibility rather than health recovery.
** A BrutalBonusLevel in ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2'' takes this to the extreme by forcing the player to ''always'' have 0 Belly, essentially putting them on a timer.

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