Dungeons and Dragons and JRPGs share more DNA than the average fan may realize. After all, D&D inspired some of the most iconic RPGs in Japanese pop culture, from Dragon Quest to Final Fantasy. To this day, many fantasy anime draw from the same dungeon-crawling tropes of the 1980s. This D&D fan game marries these two titans of nerd culture with a classic recreation.
Creator MrAlcoro, alongside his friends, faithfully recreated The Tomb of Horrors back in 2019 in RPG Maker, and have now released it to the public. For a student project, it's surprisingly ambitious. To adapt any of the DnD books into a game presents many challenges, and that goes double with a classic such as Tomb of Horrors. I mean this with love, but those challenges are deeply felt from the first minute.
Typos, bugs, and unbalanced encounters make themselves known very fast. The creator admits as much in their game's description, To make things even more hilariously unfair, Tomb of Horrors remains as deadly as ever. On top of every issue discussed so far, you're likely to experience a party wipe from an errant step. Even saying all that, I highly recommend playing this fan game.
Because amid the jank, there's a charming sincerity and dedication to this adaptation of a D&D classic. Almost every object in the game is interactive, as likely to show cool flavor text as to spray you with acid. Plus, the difficulty draws directly from the original rule book, the brutal era that OSR players masochistically adore. While waiting for the next offering from the DnD release schedule, give the Tomb of Horrors RPG a shot.
You can play the Tomb of Horrors by MrAlcoro on itch.io here.
For more D&D classic chats, the Wargamer Discord has plenty of old-school fans to yap with.