Granduel - Shinki Dungeon no Hihou is one of those late-era Game Boy Color dungeon crawlers that flew under the radar outside Japan. You pick from a few classic RPG classes—fighter, mage, thief—and dive into a grid-based dungeon where every step could mean running into monsters or hidden traps. The pixel art has that nice, chunky GBC charm, especially the enemy sprites.

What makes it stand out is how brutal it can be early on. You’ll get wrecked if you charge in blindly, so scouting ahead and managing resources feels tense in a way modern roguelikes would later perfect. There’s also this weird, almost puzzle-like element to some of the dungeon layouts where you’re nudging blocks or hunting for switches. Definitely not for the impatient, but satisfying if you like methodical RPGs.

Fun fact: The title roughly translates to "Granduel: Treasure of the Divine Dungeon," which sounds way more epic than the actual box art suggests.