Fatal Labyrinth

Fatal Labyrinth is a Roguelike that was originally available via the failed (and Japanese only) Sega Meganet service, eventually re-released for the the Sega Genesis. The aim of the game is to reach the the 30th floor of the titular labyrinth in an attempt to recover a holy goblet from a dragon.

Considering the genre, it isn't quite that simple.


 * Character Level: Instead of numbers, each level has a different title.
 * Death by Gluttony: You never know how much food is on the ground, and if you reach 99+ fatigue, you die on the spot, your last words being "I'm stuffed".
 * Everything Trying to Kill You: Even the food is trying to kill you.
 * Have a Nice Death: Depending on how much money you have when you bite it, more or less people will show up at your rock/modest headstone/shrine.
 * Inventory Management Puzzle: You've got different menus for potions, staffs, weapons, scrolls, armor and rings. There is only so much you can carry in each, but they're independent from each other. So you have to manage six different inventories.
 * Randomly Generated Levels: Sort of. There are 28 different level designs for as many levels (10, 30 and 31 are always the same), but they appear randomly... level 4 in one playthrough could be level 23 in another, albeit with different coloured tiles. Played straight with item and enemy placement though.
 * Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Granted, you'll likely be carrying around multiple weapons, but throwing a weapon you aren't intending to use is actually a valid strategy. Throwing any useless equipment is a good way to test for Ghosts and Mimics.
 * Wizard Needs Food Badly: The player needs to eat to survive, and food is finite per floor.
 * Yet Another Stupid Death: As expected for the genre. Try reading an unidentified Sleep Scroll on floor 31, or drinking a Digest Potion when there's no food in sight, or tackling a dragon, wizard or robot-type enemy on low health. Fortunately, Yet Another Stupid Death is averted here: alarm tiles and pit traps are merely annoying and Ghosts and Mimics are easily avoidable (see Throwing Your Sword Always Works above).
 * Considering the rarity of ways to cure oneself of an ailment or that there's an equal amount of nasty effects available from consumable items like scrolls and potions, using unidentified ANYTHING will invariably lead to Yet Another Stupid Death.