Dungeon Boss, a mobile game by Bossfight Entertainment, puts players in control of a group of recruitable heroes in order to clear increasingly difficult dungeon stages. Heroes can gain levels, ranks, and ascensions in order to make them stronger and more effective during battles. Most gameplay in Dungeon Boss revolves around entering each chapter's stages and defeating the monsters and final boss that show up. Consideration of hero and monster elements, class, and speed are important to success and add a welcome level of strategic thinking to the otherwise repetitive-seeming battles. Once unlocked, players are also able to challenge the Tower of Pwnage, a multi-level dungeon guarded by other players' hero teams. This, along with AI controlled PVP, add a good mix of activities to break chapter clearing up with. Further adding to the battle experience are the signature skills of each hero. Where most mobile titles do little more than give each skill a different name, Dungeon Boss gives each hero their own unique look and skill flair.

While it isn't felt as much in the very early game, Dungeon Boss's free-to-play structure kicks in relatively fast. While most heroes can be unlocked by repeatedly clearing specific stages each day, this process can take the better part of a week for the first unlock and significantly longer for rank increases. This, along with the need to farm for upgrade materials and limited supply of the stamina needed to explore dungeons constantly nudge players to the various in-game shops. Stamina, which can be purchased with the semi-premium currency, gems, is of much less concern than the drive to utilize the magic portals which allow for players to much more easily collect hero tokens and materials. Additionally, various hero-centric premium packs become available that, for $5-$30, allow players to gain enough of the items needed to quickly rank up their heroes. There are also other more expensive packages available to players as well. The current pay structure, compared to other games, actually feels pretty well balanced. While players will constantly feel a pull to the various shops, very little (a few heroes) is actually locked behind a pay-wall. Because of this, patient players can easily reach the late game without spending much, if any, actual money. Those who do decide to spend money are rewarded with access to VIP perks, which unlock benefits such as free keys, portal credits, and daily login reward multipliers. I've spent a few weeks playing Dungeon Boss since PAX and I have to say that it gets solid marks as far as free-to-play games go and is definitely worth at least a look.