Dungeon Clawler Review (PC Game, 2026)

My favorite genre of game right now is non-traditional rogue-likes. By that I mean games centered around rogue-like mechanics that are not action/adventure games. Give me rogue-like rhythm games, rogue-like card games, even rogue-like crane games.

That's the easiest way to describe developer Stray Fawn's Dungeon Clawler, a rogue-like dungeon crawling deck-builder game centered around a crane game mechanic.

Sir Bunalot lost one of his hands to a literal Card Shark. Now he is on a mission for revenge, fighting through 20 layers of a dungeon using the resources he can pull from a crane game. Grab shields, daggers, swords, and magical weapons you acquire by winning battles. Make it to bosses to earn bigger advantages when drawing cards. Grow your strength, defense, magic, or other abilities. Defeat bosses and earn even bigger rewards. If you can defeat the Card Shark in one final battle, you win back your hand and begin to unlock other unlucky gamblers.

What, you thought you were the only one?

I cannot tell you how many hours I've put into Dungeon Clawler since it entered Early Access on Steam. It's part of my morning routine. It's how I unwind after a long day of teaching. It's where I go to when I need a kick of excitement or a challenge or just something different to play. The rogue-like deck-building mechanics make each run unique, and the wide variety of unlockable characters gives you many fun challenges to conquer in the dungeon.

Maybe you want to play as Benny Beaver. He comes with two dams for extra defense that are refilled by collecting wooden objects from the machine. Or maybe you want a fast-paced challenge with Bernie. He earns 100% more coins but is the only character with a time limit on how long you have to drop the claw. Or maybe you want to bring a pet along and play as Felina. Her cat Cream Puff gains strength when you gain strength and attacks the enemies any time they attack you.

There are currently 18 playable characters in the full release of Dungeon Clawler and you can mix and match their abilities. See, these characters can't exactly reattach their lost hands; they wear them as talismans with special effects. And once you beat the game with a character, you can wear their hand and wield their power with any other character. You can use three hands at a time, so you can suddenly be Hare L. Quinn with her harpoon hook earning bonus coins from Bernie and fighting with Cream Puff from Felina at your side.

The difficulty can also ramp up with the Debt Level system. As you raise your level, you start adding more challenges to the run. The enemies get tougher, you earn less resources, and your health gets weakened as you move up. Defeating the Debt Level opens up the next level for each character you have unlocked, so you can eventually have 18 characters with 20 Debt Levels to explore. And that's not even counting the option to continue in Endless Mode when you defeat the Card Shark.

You can see how easy it is to get sucked into this game for one more round. The controls are simple, the concept is easy to understand, but the options for how you choose to play feel limitless.

Dungeon Clawler is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Playstation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and mobile platforms.