Mystery Dungeon (
Japanese: 不思議のダンジョン,
Hepburn: Fushigi no Dungeon) is a series of
roguelikevideo games. Most of the titles were developed by
Chunsoft; other titles were developed by different companies with permission from Chunsoft to use the trademark.
Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of the Dragon Quest series, conceived the Mystery Dungeon series as Chunsoft's first original work, basing the design on the game Rogue.[1] Most Mystery Dungeon games center on exploring a dungeon with randomly generated layouts and fighting other characters in those dungeons in a
turn-based manner; every time the player performs an action, such as attacking or walking, the opponents also take action.[2]
The first game, Torneko's Great Adventure (1993), stars a shopkeeper character from Dragon Quest IV. The games of the Mystery Dungeon series can be largely divided into five groups: those related to the Dragon Quest series; the Shiren the Wanderer series; those related to the Chocobo series, itself a spin-off of the Final Fantasy series; those related to the Pokémon franchise; and individual
spin-off games of other franchises. Of the games, only the Shiren series are based on original characters rather than those of other franchises. The Mystery Dungeon games have had varying levels of success. Of them, the Pokémon games have had the biggest impact, with the first game in the subseries selling millions of copies.[2]Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon also sold over one million copies.[3]
Originally released in Japan under the title Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 2 – Fushigi no Dungeon (ドラゴンクエストキャラクターズ トルネコの大冒険2 不思議のダンジョン, Doragon Kuesuto Kyarakutāzu Torneko no Daibōken 2 Fushigi no Danjon, lit. Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko's Great Adventure 2 – Mystery Dungeon)
Features Torneko, the merchant from Dragon Quest IV
Also available on
Game Boy Advance (2001, as Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 2 Advance)[6]
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GB: 〜Tsukikage-mura no Kaibutsu〜 (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレンGB 〜月影村の怪物〜, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren GB 〜Tsukikage-mura no Kaibutsu〜, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer GB 〜Moonlight Village Monster〜)
Developed by Chunsoft and published by Nintendo[19]
Originally released in Japan under the title ''Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren 2: Oni Shūrai! Shiren-jō! (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン2 鬼襲来!シレン城!, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren 2 Oni Shūrai! Shiren Jō!, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 2: Demon Invasion! Shiren Castle)
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GB2: Sabaku no Majō (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレンGB2 〜砂漠の魔城〜, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren GB2 Sabaku no Majō, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert)
Also available on Nintendo DS as Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren DS2: Sabaku no Majō (2008)[21]
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren Gaiden: Onna Kenshi Asuka Kenzan!' (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン外伝 女剣士アスカ見参!, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren Gaiden Onna Kenshi Asuka Kenzan!, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer Side Story: Swordswoman Asuka Arrives!)
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren 3 Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン3 からくり屋敷の眠り姫, Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 3: The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Mansion)
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren 4: Kami no Hitomi to Akuma no Heso (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン4 神の眼と悪魔のヘソ, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren 4 Kami no Me to Akuma no Heso, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 4: The Eye of God and the Devil's Navel)
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren 5: Fortune Tower to Unmei no Dice (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン5 フォーチュンタワーと運命のダイス, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren 5 Fōchun Tawā to Unmei no Daisu, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 5: Fortune Tower and the Dice of Fate)
Also available on PlayStation Vita (2015),[28] Nintendo Switch and Windows (2020),[30] and smartphones (2022)[31]
Originally released in Japan under the title Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren 6: Toguro-jima Tanken Roku (不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレン6 とぐろ島探検録, Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren 6 Toguro tō Tankenroku, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 6 - Coil Island Exploration Record)
Originally released in Japan under the title Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time (チョコボの不思議なダンジョン 時忘れの迷宮, Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyū)
Enhanced port titled Cid and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon: The Labyrinth of Forgotten Time DS+ (Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon Toki Wasure no Meikyū DS+) released on
Nintendo DS in Japan on October 30, 2008[40]
Remake titled Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy, including a new buddy system not included in the original, was released on
Nintendo Switch and
PlayStation 4 in March 2019[41]
Originally released in Japan under the titles Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 青の救助隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Ao no Kyūjotai) and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 赤の救助隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Aka no Kyūjotai)
Only slight differences between the two games besides Pokémon exclusive to each game, primarily due to the Nintendo DS's two screens
Developed by Chunsoft and published by Nintendo[45][46]
Originally released in Japan under the titles Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Time Exploration Team (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 時の探検隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Toki no Tankentai) and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Darkness Exploration Team (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 闇の探検隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Yami no Tankentai)
Only slight differences between the two games besides Pokémon exclusive to each game
Developed by Chunsoft and published by Nintendo[47]
Originally released in Japan under the title Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Sky Exploration Team (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン 空の探検隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Sora no Tankentai)
Sister game to Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, expanding on their plot
Three versions of the same game, released on
WiiWare
Developed by Chunsoft and published by Nintendo[48][49]
Titles translate as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Keep Going! Blazing Adventure Squad, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Let's Go! Stormy Adventure Squad, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Go For It! Light Adventure Squad
Only minor differences between the three games, and saved games can be shared between them
Originally released in Japan under the title Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Magnagate and the Infinite Labyrinth (ポケモン不思議のダンジョン マグナゲートと∞迷宮隊, Pokémon Fushigi no Dungeon: Magnagate to Mugendai Meikyū)
^"1998年ゲームソフト年間売上TOP100" [1998 Game Software Annual Sales Top 100].
Famitsū Gēmu Hakusho 1999 ファミ通ゲーム白書1999 [Famitsu Game Whitebook 1999] (in Japanese). Tokyo:
Enterbrain. 1999.
Archived from the original on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2015-05-26.