The Save Spot

Monster’s Den: Book of Dread

Four brave and adventurous souls set out to explore the depths of a dark and mysterious, blah, blah, blah. I will rarely say this, but in some cases the story in a game simply doesn’t matter. And Monster’s Den: The Book of Dread is one of those games.

The Book of Dread is the most compelling internet browser-based game I’ve ever played. I couldn’t stop. As of this moment I’ve played The Book of Dread 10x longer than I played Supreme Commander. If this game was around when I was in college I never would have finished a paper on time.

And the sad thing is, I’m not exaggerating.

The game does all of this without any shiny graphics, any cool sound effects, or stunning FMVs. What we’re left with is a tried and true game play.

The game consists of a series of dungeon floors. With each floor you clear, you gain one level. And with each level you kick more of evil’s ass. Simple. Efficient.

But don’t let the simplicity fool you.

There’s several things that make this game fun. The first is the simplicity of the design. In a world of highly complex games (which I love by the way), sometimes all you want to do is play for 15 minutes. This is the strength of games like Rock Band, or consoles like the Wii.

Within each battle lies some serious strategy. Especially at early levels. Since there is no way to reload a battle - when you die, you don’t get to restart. You’re forced to live with the consequences of your (poor) strategy. Each death carries with it a penalty of random equipment loss. That means that great armor you just bought, or that sweet sword could be gone with one careless round.

Painful, but not too steep.

This penalty actually affects you before you enter a battle. Rarely have I been so nervous going into a fight knowing that I could lose my favorite gear. As with all risk though, the thrill comes when you survive. Not only did you win, but you got to keep your favorite gear. What could be better?

Kill – Loot – Equip – Repeat. Anyone who’s played Diablo will be quickly at home with the inventory system. Part of the fun of these games is finding new equipment. And there’s plenty of gear to be found. Purple is elite, blue is rare, green is magic, and white apparently comes from Wal-Mart.

I can’t stress enough how much fun The Book of Dread is to play. And did I mention it’s free?

Do yourselves a favor, don’t walk, but jump on a T1 and click your way into battle. Your gaming addiction will thank you.