History VideoGame / MysteryDungeon

** '''''The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon''''' - Released July 24, 2004 in Japan and October 27, 2004 internationally for the [=PlayStation 2=].

** '''''Shiren the Wanderer 6: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island''''' - To be released January 25th, 2024 in Asia and February 27th 2024 in NA/EU for the Nintendo Switch.

* PasswordSave: In 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.

** Food: Also called "Bread", "Onigiri", "Apples", "Greens", etc. These are items specifically meant to replenish your Hunger/Belly stat, which will cause you to start losing HP if it reaches 0.
** Edible Consumable: Also called "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.
** Magical Consumable: Also called "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.

** Later ''Shiren the Wanderer'' games introduced the InUniverseGameClock. 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.

** ''BS Shiren the Wanderer: Save Surala'' - Broadcast via {{UsefulNotes/Satellaview}} from May 1996.

* NintendoHard: A very persistent element of the ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, and one of the main reasons the series has struggled to gain widespread appeal outside of Japan. Dungeon crawls are exhaustingly extensive, combat can get very brutal and challenging in later stages, dying is extremely punishing, and RandomNumberGod is always in play even when measures are taken to limit it.

** '''''Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island''''' - To be released January 25th, 2024 in Asia and February 27th 2024 in NA/EU for the Nintendo Switch.

* ShopliftAndDie: Steal from {{Dungeon Shop}}s at your own peril. Doing so spawns either a BonusBoss 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.

* RandomlyGeneratedLevels: All 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 ''The Nightmare of Druaga'' and ''One Way Heroics'', utilize significantly different generation styles; in the former, walls are used to generate ''Druaga''-esque mazes, while in the latter, the entire world is randomly generated.

* ''VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga'': Similar to the original ''The Tower of Druaga'', this version of ''Mystery Dungeon'' revolves heavily around EquipmentBasedProgression, with Gil's armor and weapons influencing both combat and exploration. Map generation is also unique compared to other ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, using thin walls to replicate ''Druaga''-like floors rather than rooms and hallways.

** 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.

** 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 offer items to one of Ishtar's Shrines, which replenishes her Protection based on the quantity and quality of the items offered.

* 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.

* ''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''.

** One of the other key mechanics of the series is the Belly (known as "Fullness" in some games) 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 ''Mystery Dungeon'' (''Fushigi no Dungeon'' in Japan) series is a [[LongRunners long-running]] series of {{Roguelite}} DungeonCrawler games created and developed by Creator/SpikeChunsoft.

* HelloInsertNameHere: The ''Chocobo'' games, ''Pokémon'' games, and ''Etrian'' games offer customizable player names.

* RandomlyGeneratedLevels: With some exceptions, the layout of each floor in a dungeon is assembled from randomly arranged preset rooms connected by hallways.

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]], 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.

** ''Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer''
** ''BS Shiren the Wanderer''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer GB: Moonlit-Village Monster''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer 2: Oni Invasion! Shiren Castle!''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer [=GB2=]: Magic Castle of the Desert''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer Gaiden: Asuka the Swordswoman''
** ''[[RecycledTitle Shiren the Wanderer]] (2008)''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil's Navel''
** ''Shiren the Wanderer: The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate''

** ''Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon''
** ''World of Dragon Warrior: Torneko: The Last Hope''
** ''Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 3: Mystery Dungeon''
** ''Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mysterious Dungeon''

** ''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon''
** ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2''
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyFablesChocobosDungeon''
*** ''Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!''

** ''The Nightmare of Druaga: Mystery Dungeon''

** ''Mobile Suit Gundam: Mystery Dungeon''

** ''[=TwinBee=] Dungeon''

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team]]''
*** ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX''
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Explorers of Darkness]]''
*** ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky''
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonAdventureSquad''
** ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonGatesToInfinity''
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon''

** ''Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics''

** ''Etrian Mystery Dungeon''
** ''Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2''

* ShopliftAndDie: Steal from {{Dungeon Shop}}s at your own peril. Doing so spawns either a BonusBoss 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, [[ViolationOfCommonSense doing this is the only way to recruit Kecleon]] in the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' games and Thief's Memory in ''Final Fantasy Fables'', meaning that you will have to do it at some point if you want HundredPercentCompletion.

* ShopliftAndDie: Steal from {{Dungeon Shop}}s at your own peril. Doing so spawns either a BonusBoss 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, [[ViolationOfCommonSense doing this is the only way to recruit Kecleon]] in the ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon'' games, meaning that you will have to do it at some point if you want HundredPercentCompletion.

** 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.

* ''{{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 recriting hundreds of potential party members via DefeatEqualsFriendship and ElementalRockPaperScissors combat.