User:Hi

In good roguelikes it is you against the dungeon; the creatures terrain and items all interact to make a much more interesting problem.

I wonder what it would be like in an indifferent dungeon rather than a hostile one. I can envision an enjoyable game where it is not you against the dungeon but rather the dungeon as a system that you manipulate, giving aiding some parts and fighting against other parts.

Because the tactics are so different it will take a lot to make this work.

Illustration: If there was a territorial dragon that built it's lair on top of the down stairs and I needed to get past it. - The dragon is surviving by eating salamanders and fireweed fruit. - Because the grass growing on the floor ignites when it is mature and dry it greatly increases the danger of the dragon's fire. - Fireweeds sprout more quickly than any other plant but are out competed unless there is periodic disturbance. - salamanders are produced by burning and do not reproduce but eat bugs.

My choices are starve it distract it or fight it. I could build walls or ponds to reduce the grassed land to the point that the dragon starves. I could try to establish a less flammable plant than grass to outcompete the fireweed and starve the dragon. I could bring in monkeys to steal some of the dragon's treasure so that it prioritizes chasing them over chasing me. I could release some cows and hope that the dragon is busy across the level eating them when I go for it's lair. or I could try to fight it.

The danger is that this kind of play would get too tedious when you see a solution but it takes too long to implement or relies on too much trivia for you to see.