Deadly Rooms of Death (DROD) is a puzzle video game created by Erik Hermansen in 1996. The original version of the game was published by Webfoot Technologies. In 2000 the author reacquired the rights from Webfoot and released the source code; he continues the support and development as Caravel DROD.
Plot
DROD's story centers around Beethro Budkin, a professional dungeon-delving pest exterminator. Beethro is called to the castle by King Dugan, who explains that the castle guards, having been allowed to take their meals in the dungeon, have left crumbs everywhere and invited hordes of pests into the dungeon. Equipped with a sword, Beethro is sent down into the dungeon to clear the pests.
Gameplay
The game is entirely tile-based and takes place on a 38×32 rectangular grid. Most monsters and objects take up a single tile, though some monsters (such as serpents) take up multiple connected tiles. Each room is a separate puzzle, and to solve it the player must defeat all the monsters in the room and exit it. The player controls the movement of Beethro Budkin, a dungeon exterminator equipped with a "Really Big Sword". In the fictional world where the game takes place (the Eighth), his job as a Smitemaster is to clear dungeons of invading monsters. Most gameplay stems from, or elaborates on, this concept.
Since the game is also turn-based, monsters or objects will only move once per turn. Each type of monster has a different algorithm for its movement, depending on its location relative to the player. As a result, Deadly Rooms of Death requires logical problem-solving rather than reflexes. Each turn, the player can wait, move Beethro into any of the eight bordering squares to his current one (if not already occupied), or rotate his sword 45 degrees. Some rooms simply require finding a sequence of moves that allows Beethro to defeat all monsters without being killed; other rooms require solving more complex puzzles, thanks to game elements such as orbs that open and close doors, trapdoors that fall after being stepped on, and so forth.
Development
The game was developed by Erik Hermansen. In 1996, the game was commercially released by Webfoot Technologies as version 1.03 of the game. The release was followed shortly after with versions 1.04 and 1.11 to fix some bugs with unsolvable rooms and levels. This early version is commonly known as Webfoot DROD. As the game was commercially unsuccessful, the publisher stopped distributing the game around 1999.
Remakes
In 2000, the original author of the game got permission from Webfoot to open-source the game and he released the source code under the Mozilla Public License 1.1. With the help of several volunteers, he recreated the game from scratch, rewriting the entire game engine and creating improved graphics and new music for it. The main game screen, however, remained mostly the same as the original Webfoot version. This version, version 1.5, is commonly known as Caravel DROD, and was first released in late October 2002.
Version 1.6, also called DROD: Architects' Edition, included improvements to some of the graphics, but most importantly a level editor, and was released in 2003.
An Adobe Flash version consisting of an updated version of King Dugan's Dungeon was released in June 2012. Currently, there are 5 "Episodes".
Sequels
The second game in the series, DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold, was released on April 1, 2005 for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It follows Beethro, whose nephew suddenly ran off. While searching for Halph, Beethro ended up under the world's surface, being chased by a fiend. Everything is viewed from a top-down perspective, and the player is able to see the monsters and other objects in each room visited. and Tony Delgado of GameSetWatch.